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What is your audio Philosophy?

fas42

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It's not as if the general principles are mysterious: to reproduce the full audible spectrum at high SPLs with low distortion and noise requires certain minimum, obvious levels of "engineering" - and minimum levels of real hardware. A portable TV with a 3 inch full range speaker (or whatever) cannot reproduce bass, cannot reproduce upper treble, cannot reach higher volume levels without distorting electronically and mechanically, is noisy, has peculiar dispersion patterns and so on. There's nothing you can do to get anywhere near "high fidelity" to the recording without completely rebuilding it - there would be nothing left of the original. Why bother?
No, you wouldn't bother ... if the limitations are too severe - I managed to get a larger TV to do decently, but a smaller bedroom one had major issues from the word go, and after some experimenting showed no promise anywhere - it was pointless continuing.

Of course good engineering from the start is the real answer, but this is still hard to find; why do systems hooked together from any components of reasonable cost not sound brilliant, from the get go, every time? That's where the crack in the mirror is ...
 

Sal1950

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you might as well drive your car over to a mechanic, say Sal :D, and tell him, "Fix my car!" and walk off, having only uttered those 3 words as the full extent of the conversation.
I could do it, I've got the magic dust! A Synergistic-"balanced with the planets phase" set of battery cables. They are made out of OF Silver with proprietary tri-layer insulation. Each set with their own atom exciter/accelerator 9 volt battery ultrasonically-welded to the positive lead, and the rare earth enhanced field magnet running the full length of the negative lead. Both have been cryogenic treated for ultra low impedance in sub zero weather.
They will cure the wow and flutter of your suspension, and increase performance in power, mileage, handling.
I've also got some magic dots to put on your air cleaner, grown in both the red and blue variety depending on the climate where you live.
No need go to your d-stealer and pay the high prices for a computer diagnostic, I've got ya covered! :cool:
 

Thomas savage

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I could do it, I've got the magic dust! A Synergistic-"balanced with the planets phase" set of battery cables. They are made out of OF Silver with proprietary tri-layer insulation. Each set with their own atom exciter/accelerator 9 volt battery ultrasonically-welded to the positive lead, and the rare earth enhanced field magnet running the full length of the negative lead. Both have been cryogenic treated for ultra low impedance in sub zero weather.
They will cure the wow and flutter of your suspension, and increase performance in power, mileage, handling.
I've also got some magic dots to put on your air cleaner, grown in both the red and blue variety depending on the climate where you live.
No need go to your d-stealer and pay the high prices for a computer diagnostic, I've got ya covered! :cool:
Funny sal, I know a guy who used to run race cars and always cryogenically treated the break pads! Swore this made them last a few more laps...
 

Cosmik

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... why do systems hooked together from any components of reasonable cost not sound brilliant, from the get go, every time? That's where the crack in the mirror is ...
Personally, I don't think there's any mystery. I think that most audio systems are shrines to an obsession with some sub-element of audio systems. So we have amplifier creators who are fascinated by valves (tubes) or large transformers or potentiometers or CNC milling machines, and their products are manifestations of those fascinations. Or they take something that was a feature of their first stereo or the first thing they ever built, like a passive speaker crossover, and create a shrine to that, even if it is a tiny box that doesn't work very well as a speaker, but is made of very nice looking wood, has a tweeter made of diamond and costs $10,000.

On the other hand, as was mentioned in another thread today, if a company has a breadth of expertise and vision and a certain pragmatism, it can create the Kii Three or the Beolab 90 where good performance is almost a given. The performance of those two products would not change if different DACs, amplifiers or speaker drivers were substituted for the exact ones used, because their design is robust and, in a certain sense, basic.
 

fas42

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Funny sal, I know a guy who used to run race cars and always cryogenically treated the break pads! Swore this made them last a few more laps...
Yes, the stupidity of all those heat treatments that people use in the metal industries - when will they ever learn?!

Strange thing, cryogenic engineering is actually nothing more than a heat treatment, where we're living at the hot temperature, and the material is being quenched to a significantly lower one - no surprises here ...
 

Fitzcaraldo215

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Yes, the stupidity of all those heat treatments that people use in the metal industries - when will they ever learn?!

Strange thing, cryogenic engineering is actually nothing more than a heat treatment, where we're living at the hot temperature, and the material is being quenched to a significantly lower one - no surprises here ...

The surprise would be if a cryogenically treated material made any significant audible improvement in bias-controlled listening tests.
 

Sal1950

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The surprise would be if a cryogenically treated material made any significant audible improvement in bias-controlled listening tests.
Could that be the cause of the "cold" sound I hear believers referring to so much? :confused:
 
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NorthSky

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Did any measurements exist between two exact same cables; one treated (cyro) and the other untreated?
...Double blind folded tests? ...Just using ears of expert audio listeners? ...No human emotional force introduced, just mathematics/robotic set of ears.
The human brain; which brain? ...On the left or on the right side? ♦ http://braintest.sommer-sommer.com/en/
 

Sal1950

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Did any measurements exist between two exact same cables; one treated (cyro) and the other untreated?
...Double blind folded tests? ...Just using ears of expert audio listeners? ...No human emotional force introduced, just mathematics/robotic set of ears.
The human brain; which brain? ...On the left or on the right side? ♦ http://braintest.sommer-sommer.com/en/
NO, none needed of course. Already said I got the magic dust, borrowed some from you and Frank when you weren't' lookin. ;)
 

cjfrbw

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I would rather be called a fool by objectivists telling me I don't hear something that I think I hear over being called a fool by pie in the sky audiophiles who peacock expensive audio jewelry telling me that I should be hearing something that I don't hear.
 
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Wombat

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My philosophy

1. Enjoy the music.
2. Use accurate/transparent signal processing electronics.
3. Select transducer items that complement 2., above.
4. There are always going to be compromises determined by budget and other constraints.
5. Enjoy the music more.
6. There are other things in life. Keep it in perspective.

:)
 
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restorer-john

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In reproduction, it’s always been about the gear and the music. One has no reason to exist without the other.

Without music, all we have is test tones and, useful as they are, they are no fun to listen to.

I am not swayed by pretty boxes, esoteric price tags or what anyone else thinks of something. I respect other people’s opinions if they are rooted in facts and test results.

My test gear doesn’t lie, or have ulterior motives, but it doesn’t tell me how something will make me ‘feel’ when I listen to it. I test first, listen second. Gear must pass basic high fidelity criteria for me before I listen.

Synergy does exist within a system but it is not guaranteed, regardless of how well individual pieces test.

The addition of wine can make any system sound better. Wine, HiFi and music work well together as long as you don't have too much of each.
 

watchnerd

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1. Digital: accuracy to the current best version/mix of the recording as much as possible as heard by the mixing and mastering engineer

2. Vinyl: a creative reimagining of what the at-home listening experience was circa 1951-1979
 

Wombat

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1. Digital: accuracy to the current best version/mix of the recording as much as possible as heard by the mixing and mastering engineer

2. Vinyl: a creative reimagining of what the at-home listening experience was circa 1951-1979

So, pre-'79 gear for the vinyl system?o_O
 

Blumlein 88

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Come on Wombat, he said creative reimagining. Like this maybe.

51l%2Bf-MWacL._SL500_AC_SS350_.jpg


Or maybe he really means this>
016b6f675c2a26f15cbebec2367f4857--glow-i-had.jpg


:D
 

Wombat

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I got tired of replacing pre-'79 electrolytic capacitors and went with new SS amps. ;)
 

watchnerd

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So, pre-'79 gear for the vinyl system?o_O

It's getting there.

My turntable is a restored / upgraded 1982 vintage Michell Gyro. Moving towards an Ortofon SPU (in production since 1958 in various flavors) cartridge and an SME M2-9R, which is a re-imagining / updating of the 3009 (which was in production from 1959 - 2003).
 
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