Why is EVERY amp on this polish website at low signal output 20 dB worse than @amirm´s measurements

[Sokel]

Exact same (bad,switching PSU) device,exact same measuring rig,exact same session,different grounding scheme (unabalanced to balanced)



Does it look familiar with the above (I pushed it a little to the extremes to show the effect)?
See the rise at low's noise floor?
(the exact same way someone can mess up its home rig )

 

[bracko]

To summarize this thread:
A measurement tells you as much about the measuring instrument as about the object being measured.

 

[totti1965]

To summarize this thread:
A measurement tells you as much about the measuring instrument as about the object being measured.

Maybe a better summarize:
A measurement tells you as much about the measuring method as about the object being measured.

But Erin from Erin´s audiocorner has also something -in my opinion- very intelligent to say about this video in the youtube comment:

@ErinsAudioCorner​

I'm on board with the intent of this video. In any engineering test you document the procedures and the findings. That way someone who wants to repeat the test can do so and they should then arrive at the same result. Where there are differences are almost always attributed to the test procedure itself and not product variation. This is standard stuff in every field. Not just audio components. Anyone who takes issue with your encouragement for that are simply doing so out of spite and letting their emotions override logic. So, yes, document the procedures and publish the results. Simple. I also agree that often too much importance is placed on a single value metric (such as SINAD) and the other parts of the whole are tossed by the wayside. However, you lost me at 27:30 with the statement that "two devices with the same SINAD levels can sound very different". While I agree this is certainly possible, you provided a generic statement with no footing. You spent the better part of 25 minutes making many valid points with examples. And then you dropped that statement as if it were an afterthought. I wish you had taken steps to provide an example of when you have seen this and then provide reasons why that was the cause (i.e., frequency response, different voltage levels needed to reach this SINAD match, etc). This, to me, is much more helpful in providing rationale for a) why measurements can be misleading and also b) how proper measurements can help us learn why Product A sounds different than Product B. In my opinion, that should be the goal of a reviewer using data to help supplement their review. I don't believe it serves much purpose to say "here is data, and by the way, this is what I heard" without at least attempting to reconcile those two things. At any rate, I hope you understand where I'm coming from and don't take this personally. Overall, I'm in complete agreement. I just think this video would have benefited the community if you had taken the extra step to explain your ending statement (or you had simply left that out). Maybe that's a topic for a later video...Take care,
Erin

 

[bracko]

Maybe a better summarize:
A measurement tells you as much about the measuring method as about the object being measured.

Yes, that too — but even an instrument can drastically influence the measurement results, as we saw in the AudioPL case.

Off topic:

In this context, however, I believe the most important thing is the music itself. Unfortunately, both measurement-oriented audiophiles and those who trust only their ears often concentrate on details that, in many ways, are disconnected from the essence of music. Maybe both kinds of audiophilia is a compensation for the lack of understanding of music? I know many professional musicians and I have listened to music with them quite many times. I have never heard them discuss soundstage, neutrality, etching treble, equalizing of sound etc. What they focus on is the performance, the expression the performer tries to conceive, how the performer interprets the score (in classical) etc. The music is really in focus with them.

 

[jjk1]

I’ve been looking at a review of an amp at audio Poland not reviewed here.
Say you have an amp that is not measured here but is measured at this polish site, and it measures better on this polish site than several similar amps that are measured at both sites, and that these amps that you are comparing are well reviewed and approved here at asr.

Would you assume that the amplifier not measured here would also be well reviewed here ? From a SNR perspective at least?

 

[DVDdoug]

Say you have an amp that is not measured here but is measured at this polish site, and it measures better on this polish site than several similar amps that are measured at both sites, and that these amps that you are comparing are well reviewed and approved here at asr.

I'd say, probably yes. Comparable measurement are usually comparable.

Whether there is an audible difference and/or how the measurements relate to the sound is a different matter. Most amps don't have audible noise or distortion anyway unless you overdrive it into distortion. (The audibility of noise depends on many factors including how close you are to the speakers, the sensitivity of your speakers, other ambient noise, etc.)