About design philosophy _ are minimalists right or not ?

[gino1961]

Hi i would like to thank you all for the very kind and valuable advice and very interesting information
I see generally speaking two extreme and opposite approaches to amp design
On one side the objectivists who relying on instrumental measurements show the superior THD and noise performance of high open loop gain and global feedback designs
The other side of the subjectivits who do not care much about lab reports but prefer very simple circuits with low parts count low open loop gain and little or zero feedback claiming a more natural sound
one of the two must be wrong

 

[Petrushka]

I bought a GAS Thaedra preamp at an estate sale. Unfortunately, it didn’t work at all, and the interior was a nightmare. Carver has some preamps that seemed a bit baroque. Actually, a lot baroque.

Give me something that fits on a card and doesn’t choke the landfill.

 

[gino1961]

maybe it is just about what minimalism can mean
about line preamps a friend of mine likes minimalist designs Just one opamp per channel with some passive parts around
and a volume control of course

 

[MaxwellsEq]

one of the two must be wrong

Which one?

 

[gino1961]

I have noticed something
It's almost impossible to get with a discretes design the Thd plus noise figures of decent opamps
Some high end manufacturers are shifting from discretes to opamps
Could it be that used to distortion we miss it when it's not present?
I will try asap a very low THD and noise line preamp and check again my favourite tracks