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Well it anecdotal and not double blind, but....A number of years ago a co-worker was "discussing" (okay, arguing) with me that cables didn't make a difference. I made up a set of Kimber 8TCs and asked him to try them. A couple of days later he came to me and basically said "Holy Shit!" Apparently there was enough of a difference for him to make that proclamation, so he paid me for the wires (I think I sold them to him at cost) and walked away convinced.
HelloIts because in the recording studio, its the instruments that manufacture the sound, everythingelse captures it.
I think Jim's point is that if you don't capture the instrument in a realistic way, all the fancy source equipment in the world isn't going to fix it. And if its good enough for that task, its good enough for playback.If the recording studio stuff "stinks" what good does it do to have an expensive uber quality source?
I know and it will sound lousy through those great pair of speakers....
If the recording stinks the quality source will reveal all the flaws. Likewise if it's a great recording you will reveal the stellar performace, engineering, etc. and pass that information to your speakers. Assuming poor amplification doesn't fail to pass it through unfettered.
It looks like we have regressed back to the days of Stereo Review and Julian Hersch where conventional wisdom suggested that speakers should be at least 50% of one's total stereo budget, all amplifiers sound the same, turntables and tonearms have no affect on sound. Seems clear there is an agenda going on here...just an observation.
Isn't this fun!- Jim
floresjc,Why do you use fancy BJC for your speaker cable when ordinary lamp cord is just as good for less money? Also why buy AVA amps when you could get a high powered cheap mass market receiver that would do the job? BTW don't most modern receivers have very good specs? -Roy
That doesn't make any sense.But you still haven't answered the question. If the studios haven't bought into much of the audiophile marketing industry hype, then what purpose does it serve having a super high end source, or more relevantly, replacing the source first in a system upgrade? Or more concisely, what practical purpose does it serve to have a playback source thats some multiplier better than the recording system? Whether you have a bad recording or a good recording, its going to sound about as good as its going to get on some good speakers. The only thing a souped up source gives you is more shillness on a bad recording, and the extra resolution on a good recording won't matter because your speakers won't resolve it. Hence the balance.
In terms of accurate, I mean the ability of the source to read the source material.An analog turntable is a nifty machine and is capable of making some good sounding music. But its crude and less accurate than a CD. If I wanted you to map the terrain outside your house, say your walk or street, what do you think would be the better method? Taking a 2x4 and pushing it around like a mower and recording all the terrain data or flying a laser over the area and doing a scan? This is essentially the difference between a tonearm reading grooves and a CD laser reading a disc. Its like shooting fish in a barrel. There's a whole other argument about whether digital sampling is between the live event and the source material is a big factor, but thats outside the realm of this thread. Although you'd certainly have to question whether you take the most marvelous recording in the world and read it inaccurately enough, does it matter? I have never said analog sounds bad, it does not. But a turntable is not a very accurate device compared to any modern digital system. There's more data lost in the best tonearm or moderately dusty vinyl than there is on a CD system.
Strangely enough, after all this talk, I still think cacophony777 nailed it in the very first post as to percentages, if you allow the slight change of 3% for the CD transport/player/DAC instead of 0% for the transport.CD player (0%)DAC (3%)Pre-amp (5%)Amp (10%)Interconnects (1%)Speaker wire (1%)Speakers (80%)And what is "Shillness", by the way?
I see what you are saying here, but I think you are comparing apples to oranges. An LP and a CD are two different things, so using the analogy of a 2x4 versus a laser to map out the same terrain does not apply. If what you are trying to say is that analog is more prone to performance issues related to external factors such as isolation, dust, static, etc, etc, etc; then I will agree with you there. That makes modern digital equipment more efficient in design, not more accurate in its ability to reproduce music.I guess at this point I am arguing rhetoric, but describing something as accurate in stereo terms means to me that it accurately portrays the music that is being played through it. Its like looking at two different speakers. One speaker could present a horrible load on any amplifier its attached to and be 84 DBs efficient. It might require significant amplification research and selection in order to get it to work its best. The other speaker could be a 16 OHM benign load and be 103 DB efficient that could run on any amp in the world. You wouldn't call the former speaker less accurate because it requires special consideration and effort; you would just call the later speaker more efficient.
This really isn't rocket science (I know, my degree is in Rocket science). Look at any source component or amp you want. You are going to get number like .00003% THD or +-0.1dB or some really small error source from an input signal 10Hz - 20KHz. Your speakers are a wall compared to that. First off, I don't think there is a speaker out there that is +-3 db, let alone 1db to 10Hz. Most subs can't do that. So even before you get down to it, the electronics are putting out more than your speakers can readily replicate. Two, when you look at the "standard region" of 20Hz to 20KHz, speakers being +- 3dB is *much* bigger error than a piece of electrical gear running less than a dB margin of error. The error between two electronic components is virtually negligible compared to this 2dB chasm that exists betwee your woofer and the electronic signal.
