[Plink]

Example:

Frequency Response: 15 Hz - 40 kHz, -1dB

I don't see this anywhere on the website.  Thanks!

[Vinnie R.]

Example:

Frequency Response: 15 Hz - 40 kHz, -1dB

I don't see this anywhere on the website.  Thanks!

Hi Plink,

The frequency response is pretty flat in the range of human hearing and where all the music is... sub-sonics and ultra-sonics get attenuated. 

Distortion is very low, musical enjoyment is very high! 

Best regards,

Vinnie

[Plink]

You know...I wonder how many audiophiles get their hearing tested...I'm only concerned about 16K to 17K.  That's as far as I can hear.  That's far under most specs I see.  I do know one person who claims he can hear 20K+...which is amazing even for someone in their 20s!

[rajacat]

Perhaps people that claim that a certain amp or speakers aren't putting out at high freq. should have their hearing tested. Maybe it's their hearing that is attenuating the highs. I have an audiophile friend that knows that his high freq hearing is impaired so he assembles his whole system to accentuate highs but it makes it a somewhat harsh experience for me. He also listens at really high volumes.

--Roy

[JDK1]

As Rolls-Royce used to indicate: "The horsepower is sufficient"  - and, as Vinnie said (and as an Sig 30.2 owner, I can testify to same): the frequency response is fine...
- jdk

[Vinnie R.]

Yes, and while I admit to testing my designs on the bench (measurements give some guidelines that I find useful), they never tell me enough about how something will sound when playing real music instead of sine waves and other various test signals.

Real music is so much more complex... it is a superposition of many, many tones and harmonics.  You really need to listen to the piece in order to find out how it communicates to you. 

An amp can measure close to perfection, yet sound uninvolving and lifeless.  You must use your ears and find out if you are really getting connected to the music on an emotional level.  When this starts happening, I know I am heading in the
right direction and I keep on going! aa

-Vinnie

[Alwayswantmore]

Yes, and while I admit to testing my designs on the bench (measurements give some guidelines that I find useful), they never tell me enough about how something will sound when playing real music instead of sine waves and other various test signals.

Real music is so much more complex... it is a superposition of many, many tones and harmonics.  You really need to listen to the piece in order to find out how it communicates to you. 

An amp can measure close to perfection, yet sound uninvolving and lifeless.  You must use your ears and find out if you are really getting connected to the music on an emotional level.  When this starts happening, I know I am heading in the
right direction and I keep on going! aa

-Vinnie

Amen.

[marklivia]

And with Vinnie's methodology he's created the best sounding amplifier I've EVER heard (mine or anyone else's I've had the opportunity to hear) in the 35 years I've been involved in this crazy "hobby" (obsession?). I'll post my impressions another time, suffice it to say, Mr. 6 Moons review of the 30.2 was extremely accurate as to this amps capabilities.
You went waaaay beyond hitting a home run Vin. Congrats and you deserve it!
Mark

[Alwayswantmore]

When I graduated from High School in '74 I got a job selling audio equipment for one of the 2 regional consumer-audio chains in Minneapolis (this was before the day of big-box retailers like BB and CC).

Being both a lover of music and very analytical, I was ALL OVER the spec sheets: Wow and flutter, signal to noise ratio, THD, frequency response, etc. I continued to sell audio to help fund my college years. A year or so into the game I got an offer to work at one of the few high-end audio stores in Minneapolis. That's when I got exposure to Audio Research tube gear, Lynn Sondek LP-12 turntables, moving coil cartridges, Magnapan / Magnaplaner speakers, etc.

With ARC D76-As and SP-3A-1s sporting THDs in the neighborhood of 1% (magnitudes above Pioneer, Marantz, Kenwood, Technics and other popular receivers of the day); and LP-12 specs (SN ratio, wow-and-flutter, etc.) not coming close to mass-market direct drive turntables, I soon came to realize that specifications have at best a modest correlation to how things sound in the real world. Since then I've given specs little more than a passing glance 

Reviews from people I trust (like Srajan), or credible feedback from other users on forms like AudioCircle -- PRICELESS 

Edit: Corrected to state 'moving coil cartridges'.

[ZLS]

There are several points that I can make; as a member of the Chicago Audio Society whenever a dealer or manufacturer demos some equipment the members don't all stand around an oscilloscope oohing and ahhing.  We actually listen to the equipment playing music-go figure!
    The are lies, damn lies, and measurements. 
    I, however, have always thought that the answer was very simple; if the measurements do not correlate with what you are hearing than you are measuring the wrong thing!

[Plink]

That's an excellent point and I think Von Recklinghausen said that in some form or another.  I guess most anyone interested enough to post in the Red Wine forum would also be open to new kinds of circuit design as well as keeping an open mind about older designs.  No feedback seems to be all the rage even with mid power amps but I'm not quite so sure about the idea of taking that as gospel.  From what I have heard of the newer and older amps, it looks like to me the success of a circuit depends on the skill of the designer, not some adherence to the conventional wisdom of the day.  And thus the continued interest for me in Vinnie's amps.  Someday I will hear them. 

[kyrill]

- - -if the measurements do not correlate with what you are hearing than you are measuring the wrong thing!

Nice and so true