deltanine
Member
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2021
- Messages
- 10
- Likes
- 4
Greetings All!
I've been enjoying ASR as a passive participant in the community for a while now. I can't thank you
all, and Amir!, for the wealth of information presented here. I enjoy the concept of an objective based
approach to audio, and I'll share why.
I work in Luxury Hospitality, specifically ritzy five star hotels. I see a lot of interesting consumer behavior
that is driven by subjectivity. I am also a student of wine... a notoriously subjective field. Blind tasting
is actually a component of exams I am currently studying for. To prepare for this challenge, my girlfriend
is helping me by pouring blind tastings for me to evaluate at home. I've got about 20 bottles in the kitchen
which she is using the Coravin system to "access". If you're not familiar with the Coravin... look it up! Its
an amazing tool for those that appreciate wine.
My point is... by removing the label from the wine tasting experience... crazy things can happen. SO much
of our expectations regarding the enjoyment of any particular wine are wrapped up in that label!! Stories
of wine forgery at the highest level, like the tale of Rudy Kurniawan, prove that for many consumers, what
is in the bottle is almost less important than what is on the label.
I'm fascinated by the relationship of labels, price, and quality in the wine industry. "Enjoyment" of fine wine
is often dependent on one's expectations based on other's subjective opinions. Critics like Robert Parker are
able to move the entire industry with his opinions. In fact, he "Parkerized" wine across the world, and we
are just now starting to swing back from his preference for concentrated, overripe powerhouses. He "invented"
the 100 point rating scale for wines which many see as a joke in the industry. One review from Robert Parker
can make or break an up and coming winemaker.
I used to think wine was entirely subjective... ripe to snake oilsmanship... a joke. Once I began studying it in
earnest though I realized that they actually teach that there are two sides to appreciating wine. One subjective...
and one objective. Anyone can rattle of a list of flavor characteristics such as ripe raspberry, tart black cherry,
and baking spices and be "correct"... but the "Structure" of a wine is actually measurable. Evaluating the
structure of a wine, the tannin, acid, and alcohol levels is a skill that can be measured. Because of this, I came
to respect and aspire to master the deductive method of wine tasting.
So in this respect, the wine community operates with the understanding that sensory evaluation must involve
both subjective, and objective concepts simultaneously. They are not mutually exclusive. The difference between
a master somm, and a level one somm, is that the master is able to identify both the objective AND subjective
components of a wine MORE frequently. Not necessarily every time, but more consistently. Also, I think that a master
somm is better at identifying the most common frequently observed subjective components of a wine consistently.
An entry level somm basically gets a pass on the subjective components, but is held to a standard that they must be
able to correctly identify the objective components consistently.
Whew! Which brings us to audio! And I LOVE music. All types of music. I'm a hobbyist audio nerd. I've soldered a
few cables... I've got some Martin Custom Audio woodies I installed on my Grado's. I've had amps / speakers and systems
going back to the 90's. But I have ALWAYS felt that there is a huge element of shadiness, and snake oilsmanship in the
audio industry. I've actually purchased speakers out of the back of a van!
So I have NEVER bought into the subjective reviews the way that subjective writers seem to think I should. A lot of their
writing reminds me of the way I first looked at wine reviews. This is bullshit!
I think I'm right at home here on ASR
With ALL that being said. I have some questions for this community, because I'm truly ignorant of a lot of the
electronic speak that goes on here. I need ya'lls help! (Yes I'm in Virignia lol)
Currently my system: BlueSound Node (Gen 3) --> Coax --> RME-ADI2 DAC --> RCA --> Musical Fidelity M1PWR --> Paradigm
Founders 40b and JLAudio D110 RCA in from the M1PWR loop out
Question 1: For this setup... what Ref Level on the RME will make the best use of the IcePower modules in the M1PWR?
Auto Ref (which ends up being -5 at my listening levels) or +7?
Question 2: I'm eyeing a March Audio Hypex just as much for the balanced connection as for the newer modules. Will moving
from RCA and IcePower to XLR and Hypex provide an audible benefit to the Paradigms, or is it just a minor incremental gain? Would
the balanced setup change the Ref Level recommendation?
Question 3: If YOU were buying a March Audio Hypex for the Paradigm 40B's (Room / Anechoic 92 dB / 89 dB) would you go
NC122 or NC252 or 2x NC122 bridged and why?
Thank you all for taking the time to read and comment!
Cheers,
Brian
I've been enjoying ASR as a passive participant in the community for a while now. I can't thank you
all, and Amir!, for the wealth of information presented here. I enjoy the concept of an objective based
approach to audio, and I'll share why.
I work in Luxury Hospitality, specifically ritzy five star hotels. I see a lot of interesting consumer behavior
that is driven by subjectivity. I am also a student of wine... a notoriously subjective field. Blind tasting
is actually a component of exams I am currently studying for. To prepare for this challenge, my girlfriend
is helping me by pouring blind tastings for me to evaluate at home. I've got about 20 bottles in the kitchen
which she is using the Coravin system to "access". If you're not familiar with the Coravin... look it up! Its
an amazing tool for those that appreciate wine.
My point is... by removing the label from the wine tasting experience... crazy things can happen. SO much
of our expectations regarding the enjoyment of any particular wine are wrapped up in that label!! Stories
of wine forgery at the highest level, like the tale of Rudy Kurniawan, prove that for many consumers, what
is in the bottle is almost less important than what is on the label.
I'm fascinated by the relationship of labels, price, and quality in the wine industry. "Enjoyment" of fine wine
is often dependent on one's expectations based on other's subjective opinions. Critics like Robert Parker are
able to move the entire industry with his opinions. In fact, he "Parkerized" wine across the world, and we
are just now starting to swing back from his preference for concentrated, overripe powerhouses. He "invented"
the 100 point rating scale for wines which many see as a joke in the industry. One review from Robert Parker
can make or break an up and coming winemaker.
I used to think wine was entirely subjective... ripe to snake oilsmanship... a joke. Once I began studying it in
earnest though I realized that they actually teach that there are two sides to appreciating wine. One subjective...
and one objective. Anyone can rattle of a list of flavor characteristics such as ripe raspberry, tart black cherry,
and baking spices and be "correct"... but the "Structure" of a wine is actually measurable. Evaluating the
structure of a wine, the tannin, acid, and alcohol levels is a skill that can be measured. Because of this, I came
to respect and aspire to master the deductive method of wine tasting.
So in this respect, the wine community operates with the understanding that sensory evaluation must involve
both subjective, and objective concepts simultaneously. They are not mutually exclusive. The difference between
a master somm, and a level one somm, is that the master is able to identify both the objective AND subjective
components of a wine MORE frequently. Not necessarily every time, but more consistently. Also, I think that a master
somm is better at identifying the most common frequently observed subjective components of a wine consistently.
An entry level somm basically gets a pass on the subjective components, but is held to a standard that they must be
able to correctly identify the objective components consistently.
Whew! Which brings us to audio! And I LOVE music. All types of music. I'm a hobbyist audio nerd. I've soldered a
few cables... I've got some Martin Custom Audio woodies I installed on my Grado's. I've had amps / speakers and systems
going back to the 90's. But I have ALWAYS felt that there is a huge element of shadiness, and snake oilsmanship in the
audio industry. I've actually purchased speakers out of the back of a van!
So I have NEVER bought into the subjective reviews the way that subjective writers seem to think I should. A lot of their
writing reminds me of the way I first looked at wine reviews. This is bullshit!
I think I'm right at home here on ASR
With ALL that being said. I have some questions for this community, because I'm truly ignorant of a lot of the
electronic speak that goes on here. I need ya'lls help! (Yes I'm in Virignia lol)
Currently my system: BlueSound Node (Gen 3) --> Coax --> RME-ADI2 DAC --> RCA --> Musical Fidelity M1PWR --> Paradigm
Founders 40b and JLAudio D110 RCA in from the M1PWR loop out
Question 1: For this setup... what Ref Level on the RME will make the best use of the IcePower modules in the M1PWR?
Auto Ref (which ends up being -5 at my listening levels) or +7?
Question 2: I'm eyeing a March Audio Hypex just as much for the balanced connection as for the newer modules. Will moving
from RCA and IcePower to XLR and Hypex provide an audible benefit to the Paradigms, or is it just a minor incremental gain? Would
the balanced setup change the Ref Level recommendation?
Question 3: If YOU were buying a March Audio Hypex for the Paradigm 40B's (Room / Anechoic 92 dB / 89 dB) would you go
NC122 or NC252 or 2x NC122 bridged and why?
Thank you all for taking the time to read and comment!
Cheers,
Brian