Example of a SET with a poor measurements (caused by poor OPT choice?)

[morricab]

https://www.stereophile.com/content/cary-audio-cad-805rs-monoblock-power-amplifier-measurements

Sadly, I think this amp gives SET a bad name in some ways. It has a rather pronounced bass hump with 211s (+3db) and somewhat less with 845s (+1db). It starts rolling off before 20khz and has rather larger ultrasonic ringing (not sure what audible consequences this has but I would not be surprised if it had some). The worst part, However, is the bass distortion. Even at 1 watt there is a huge increase in distortion...up to at least 10%! This has, IMO, serious audible consequences and if you read the review from Art it is clear he found the bass to be problematic. No surprise looking at this plot. Clearly Cary is using an inadequately sized OPT and saturation is ensuing even at the 1 watt level. There could be other problems as well I suppose that lead to this distortion plot but I think the OPT is the obvious culprit. For a $16K worth of amp this is sad to see. The review states that Cary has been using this transformer maker for 25 years...time to reconsider...

 

[spiritofmusic]

Re the review, "there's no such thing as bad publicity"?

 

[morricab]

Re the review, "there's no such thing as bad publicity"?

Perhaps...Then it behooves companies to get reviews in the remaining "big magazines".

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well Brad, didn't Wavac measure badly? I'm not sure any well heeled Asian audiophiles as the typical target market collectively walked away.

More recently the Aqua Formula XHD dac had so-so measurements on the back of a generally favourable review. I've heard it a few times now in a well sorted system, and it doesn't strike me as deficient in any way.

 

[morricab]

Well Brad, didn't Wavac measure badly? I'm not sure any well heeled Asian audiophiles as the typical target market collectively walked away.

More recently the Aqua Formula XHD dac had so-so measurements on the back of a generally favourable review. I've heard it a few times now in a well sorted system, and it doesn't strike me as deficient in any way.

Yes, and it was notably audible by MF...doesn't mean that it is unpleasant to listen to but it will provide a kind of color to the sound that is more or less audible always.