[FM Acoustics]

I just read the technology article on Lavardin website about memory distortion and I would be curious to know what James and the technicians at Bryston think about it. Are their claims correct?

Here is the article:
http://www.lavardin.com/lavardin-techE.html

[John Casler]

Might call for some Gingko Biloba

[Levi]

Too bad Lavardin is selling amplifiers.  It is possible that this could be advertising tactics.

[Tyrro]

I don't know about advertising tactics, but it sounds AMAZING (I've heard Lavardin IS Reference, and IT is supposed to be even better).

[brucek]

I don't know about advertising tactics, but it sounds AMAZING

Yeah, I suspect this is quite true. Their listed specifications are very respectable. Looks like some nice stuff.

I just never understand why companies have to resort to such mumbo-jumbo nonsense to sell their product. Amplifier design is fairly well understood. A company can try and entice a few extra customers with some myth that they perpetuate - that's fine, anyone in the know understands. Memory distortion - yeah, Ok, good.....

brucek

[FM Acoustics]

Maybe they talk about the hysteresis phenomena...

Check:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysteresis

From http://www.eio.com/repairfaq/REPAIR/whole/F_appfaq.html#APPFAQ_047 :

An intuitive explanation of hysteresis is that it is a property of a
system where the system wants to remain in the state that it is in -
it has memory.

Examples of systems with hysteresis:

* Thermostats - without hysteresis your heater would be constantly
  switching on and off as the temperature changed.  A working thermostat
  has a few degrees of hysteresis.  As the temperature gradually increases,
  at some point the thermostat switches off.  However, the temperature then
  needs to drop a few degrees for it to switch on again.

* Toggle switches - the click of a toggle switch provides hysteresis to
  assure that small vibrations, for example, will not accidentally flip
  the switch.

Examples of systems which ideally have little or no hysteresis:

* Audio amplifiers - input vs. output.

* Pendulums on frictionless bearings - force vs. position.