What electronic audio products you want tested most

[holbob]

I'd like to see things like xlr and rca attenuator's, and xlr and rca high pass filters being reviewed. Seeing if they are truly transparent or messing with the sinad. Also to see if the high pass filters are any good!

 

[Valhalla]

I'd like to see the difference between L-pad atteunator and autotransformer in measurements to see if autotransformers provide any kind of advantage over resistors.
I also love to see measurement from Weiss DAC 502 so I can work something out about digesting 9000USD price tag for such product with least electronic board/PSU whatever in that humble all sheet metal chassis.

Spoiler: Weiss

I also like to see measurement of Skogrand Stravinsky 30,000USD speaker cables that claim to achieve air di-electric which will make a huge difference on the sound to rationalizes the price!
any measurement of OCC (stands for Ohno Continius Casting Copper AKA PCOCC/UPOCC, etc...) would be much appreciated. We (the company I work for) have manfactured a loudspeaker cable consisting an OEM oval-shaped single core PCOCC-AD (Annealed and deepcryogenic treated PCOCC) with PTFE insulation with an extra layer natural raw silk insulation (for domestic market in Iran and it's not so expensive about 200USD/3m pairs). it's a pretty good speaker cable but I doubt about how much all these make difference from scientific point of view. I wish I could send a pair to @amirm so he could kindly measure them but I think shipping anything larger than letters from Iran to US would be next to impossible. :-(

Spoiler: Ohno!

 

[Adahn]

Pro audio interfaces didn't even make the list. Desperately need more reviews of those. It's the wild west out there, especially when it comes to adc preamps.

 

[paulraphael]

Wasn't in the survey, but audio interfaces (ADC/DAC) are high on my list.

 

[Harmonie]

The all in one SPL Phonitor X

 

[axbarker]

I like to get a gauge of what categories of products I should be testing more (electronics only). So please vote.

As usual, I won't necessarily listen to you all. But like to have the data anyway.

If you are a visitor and not a member, this is your opportunity to join and have your voice heard.

You can vote for more than one product but please be selective.

It would be great to measure the impact of power conditioners or regenerators on day and amplifier performance. ie what is the delta on an alreaqdy tested day (eg Chord Qutest) of supplying that from a $20,000 BS Audio regenerator for example.

 

[Fly2High]

Is there any reason to believe power supplies affect the output performance or sound?

Is there a way to determine if the included supply is adequate under extreme musical requirements?

Not sure I am wording this correctly but I tend to be in a more budget or mid priced area and I always hear of companies making sacrifices to hit a price point and I was wondering if a component's power supply could be too low in amperage or could not sustain the voltage under heavy demands if the sound would be affected? If it would, what kind of measurement could we do to compare power supplies, especially when some are internal?

 

[Plcamp]

Opamp based crossovers would be interesting to me. What real limitations, if any, do such devices provide to signal path performance?

 

[bigguyca]

Listed in order of importance of measurements:

Marantz SR8015 AVR - New HDAM's have current sources. Do current sources help mediocre HDAM performance? Quite a bit of interest.

Anthem AVM 70 AVP - New unit with lots of interest

Monoprice 2, 3, 5, or 7 channel power amplifier - Lots of people buy these, how do they really perform?

Monoprice 9 or 11 channel power amplifier - How well do the 100W channels perform in addition to how well the 200W channels perform. Do all of these channels crammed into one chassis work any better than an AVR?

Emotiva XPA-2, 3, 5 or 7 channel Gen3 power amplifier, both RCA and XLR inputs - Lots of people buy these. They measured poorly in Stereophile.

Emotiva XPA-9 or 11 Gen3 power amplifier, both RCA and XLR inputs, both high and low output channels. Do all of these channels crammed into one chassis work any better than an AVR?

Trinnov Altitude AVP - It would be nice to see how well these actually perform. Just expensive or great?

Storm Audio ISP MK2 AVP - Premium AVP

Anthem MCA 225, 325 or 525 Power Amplifier - A bit pricey, but perhaps solid amplifiers

 

[differenceclouds]

I was happy to see the NAD 2200 review, and I just know there are a bunch of old power (and integrated) amplifiers out there that deserve some love. Maybe some old Hafler stuff? Might be interesting to see how an amp regarded as a classic like a late 70s Sansui actually measures, not necessarily to say it shouldn't be seen as a classic, but to see what is actually going on with it through the ASR lens.

 

[IowAudio]

At this point I'm good with DACs, there's plenty for $100-ish that are more than good enough. I want to see more expensive gear exposed, seems a lot of it is subjective marketing BS and these guys are con men. The cheap stuff doesn't surprise me when it measures bad but does when it measure good like the Aiyma A07.

Most of all I want to see popular vintage gear like Marantz, Sansui, and Pioneer etc tested. So many claims this was the best of audio gear and maybe it was, maybe they're nestalgic or stuck in the past idk. I want to see how the old stuff compares to the new stuff. I'd like to see some testing on turn tables and specs on vinyl. Lastly see more testing and info on op amps or tube amps.

Is there anyway we can get Amir more help so he isn't getting over whelmed? SO much gear to test and only one Amir

Thank you Amir for volunteering so much of your time and knowledge to the community.

 

[differenceclouds]

Most of all I want to see popular vintage gear like Marantz, Sansui, and Pioneer etc tested. So many claims this was the best of audio gear and maybe it was, maybe they're nestalgic or stuck in the past idk. I want to see how the old stuff compares to the new stuff. I'd like to see some testing on turn tables and specs on vinyl. Lastly see more testing and info on op amps or tube amps.

I'm definitely curious about vintage receivers as well, but I think it's silly to hold them to modern standards. There is definitely a vintage "sound" and people like it for a reason. I would love to see what that "sound" looks like by the numbers. My vote is for a Sansui 331.

 

[Plcamp]

I'm definitely curious about vintage receivers as well, but I think it's silly to hold them to modern standards. There is definitely a vintage "sound" and people like it for a reason. I would love to see what that "sound" looks like by the numbers. My vote is for a Sansui 331.

I don’t know that you could expect any vintage gear to actually perform at original standards, unless refreshed already...and if that were done the unit would not be original parts anyway. So I doubt the results would be ‘portable’ in the sense you could expect a randomly obtained unit would be anything close to what’s measured.

is there a “vintage sound”, or is that just a myth? Perhaps “vintage sound” is what you get with old equipment that has noisy transistors, degraded caps, filthy pcb’s and contaminated controls. (I did a Luxman L100U integrated amp, with several dozen transistors with silver plated leads, causing silver migration...all had to be replaced).

I have repaired quite a few vintage and semi vintage products last few years. I really doubt that, once refreshed, they have substantially different sound or performance to newer gear.

 

[differenceclouds]

I don’t know that you could expect any vintage gear to actually perform at original standards, unless refreshed already...and if that were done the unit would not be original parts anyway. So I doubt the results would be ‘portable’ in the sense you could expect a randomly obtained unit would be anything close to what’s measured.

is there a “vintage sound”, or is that just a myth? Perhaps “vintage sound” is what you get with old equipment that has noisy transistors, degraded caps, filthy pcb’s and contaminated controls. (I did a Luxman L100U integrated amp, with several dozen transistors with silver plated leads, causing silver migration...all had to be replaced).

I have repaired quite a few vintage and semi vintage products last few years. I really doubt that, once refreshed, they have substantially different sound or performance to newer gear.

Point taken for sure. I'm no expert but I do think there's a reason some amp designers like Nelson Pass keep bins of dead stock transistors lying around, and it's not about perfect reproduction. Though just bringing him up on this site is likely to bring out strong opinions (I've never heard one of his experimental amps but I am curious...)

 

[Descartes]

AV processor please we need to find some good ones!

 

[Plcamp]

Point taken for sure. I'm no expert but I do think there's a reason some amp designers like Nelson Pass keep bins of dead stock transistors lying around, and it's not about perfect reproduction. Though just bringing him up on this site is likely to bring out strong opinions (I've never heard one of his experimental amps but I am curious...)

David Hafler claimed, with his xl280 product, that not only had he created the perfect “wire with gain” device...but that it could be proven that is true with a test box that you could borrow from dealers...as I understand it you could do a null test using that device, and adjusting an internal trimpot to optimize the null.

He claimed perfection, many years ago. That’s a fun claim that I would love to see tested with today’s tools.

 

[differenceclouds]

David Hafler claimed, with his xl280 product, that not only had he created the perfect “wire with gain” device...but that it could be proven that is true with a test box that you could borrow from dealers...as I understand it you could do a null test using that device, and adjusting an internal trimpot to optimize the null.

He claimed perfection, many years ago. That’s a fun claim that I would love to see tested with today’s tools.

Reminds me I need to give my hafler SE120 some love (looks to be of the same era as xl280). Great power amp, but the binding posts always come loose from the inside which is a pain.

 

[IowAudio]

1. The best we could do with vintage is gear that's been properly serviced. Yes it won't be the same as new but at least be operating to original spec. A friend of mine had a completely restored Sansui G9000. Very clean and powerful but still had the vintage "warmth". I just want to see the numbers, what were they roughly achieving back then. And I might use them in a passionate debate because I've been written off many times by vintage jerks. I've talked in person with many guys that still think good audio died in the 70s and everything new is plastic Chinese junk. They may be a little outta touch and I'd like more objective data maybe they're right... maybe not.

2. I think many people with expensive pretentious gear don't wan't to send it in for fear it may measure bad.... idk maybe also cause its expensive. I knew a few guys back in the day that had nice sports/muscle cars maybe with a little work done. They would cruse and goose it around, show it off, talk about it BUT NEVER race on the street or the track for fear they'd get beat. This way they could make up tons of BS and never have to back it up. I know its not apples to apples but reminds me of the same behavior.

 

[Plcamp]

“Very clean and powerful but still had the vintage "warmth".”

I suppose that might mean big harmonic distortion. Or someone fiddled with the tone controls. But if it sounds different to any other amp, then one, the other or both are not performing to spec.

 

[IowAudio]

I'm not sure may have been the original unserviced L100 speakers. Why are they known for their vintage sound. Even units that have been fully serviced to spec. Theres a hand full of retired electrical techs repairing these on YouTube that seem to know what there doing many people still claim vintage sound even after full service. Are you saying a properly working vintage amp should sound similar to a modern amplifier? Could low damping factor attribute to what ever the warm vintage sound?