But he only has "the" Carver (among current tube amps) to compare to? Which Carver? Not very convincing, to say the least, even if his underlying premise turns out to be true...
He had the smallest, cheapest Carver amp.
But he only has "the" Carver (among current tube amps) to compare to? Which Carver? Not very convincing, to say the least, even if his underlying premise turns out to be true...
Yes, I think we all know about the physical measurements. The problem is we don't know much about how our ears translate sound into a signal that travels on nerves, and we know almost nothing about how the brain processes music.
But it clearly does. We do know that limbic system processes music initially. However if the limbic system runs into problems (IOW finds that something about the sound is unexpected such as a violation of rules that it uses) the processing transfers to the cerebral cortex. There is a tipping point for that, but its not known how that works. But this does seem to have something to do with why some equipment has an 'emotionally involving' aspect whereas other equipment does not.
So it would appear that understanding human perceptual rules and designing equipment to honor those rules will result in playback that will sound better. That is the greater context of that short statement.
Thanks, Myles, for posting those texts from Millennia Music & Media. Very interesting and appropriate to the discussion!
MRI doesn't tell us much about neural processing. PET scans and its variants might.
PS: If, on a sunny spring day with the windows rolled down, driving down the road, a cheap car radio playing great music is not emotionally involving, you need to work on your emotions, not your system.
MRI doesn't tell us much about neural processing. PET scans and its variants might.
PS: If, on a sunny spring day with the windows rolled down, driving down the road, a cheap car radio playing great music is not emotionally involving, you need to work on your emotions, not your system.
(...)
PS: If, on a sunny spring day with the windows rolled down, driving down the road, a cheap car radio playing great music is not emotionally involving, you need to work on your emotions, not your system.
We can think so, but perhaps if was a not a so cheap and nasty sounding radio it would be emotionally involving?
Not all reproduced sound is very refined, and it is clear that much of the time we are willing to suspend criticism of the sound itself to just enjoy the music, movie, or whatever program instigated the sound. All of us at one time or another have felt that chill running down our spine—that tingling sensation that tells us we are experiencing something special and emotionally moving. Was it “real”? Was it “reproduction”? Good sound or bad? Does it matter? The fact that these feelings happen confirms that the system works. But - and this is the motivation for this book—if any sound is rewarding, better and more spatially complex sound may be more pleasurable. This is part of the ever-evolving entertainment industry. With the application of science and good engineering, it is reasonable to assume that we can enjoy better reproduced sound more often in more places. F. Toole, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms.
While transformers offer better circuit protection and isolation than transformerless designs, they nevertheless present one additional layer of sonic personality. The best transformers are quite subtle at low to medium levels. Yet there is no transformer we've used which can rival the transparency of well-designed transformerless inputs & especially under higher dynamic range.
You might want to try a new transformer technology from Japan called Finemet.
Steve N.
You might want to try a new transformer technology from Japan called Finemet. This is unlike any other transformer I have tried. Does not saturate and extends to very high frequencies. Very dynamic. I use it in my Final Drive product. I compared it to my all-silver Music First passive line-stage and the same in copper.
Here is one offered on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teramoto-FI...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item2eb727fc06
I recommend and use transformers for 2 reasons:
1) isolation of ground between DAC and preamp or amp - breaks the ground-loop
2) provides a true-balanced signal - as Ralph Karsten will likely tell you: it is impossible to get a truly balanced signal output without using a transformer
This is the case for several reasons, but primarily because SS balanced output signals can NEVER have exactly the same amplitude or amplitude WRT ground.
Steve N.
'
Tim deParavicini has said he can get identical sound from tubes or SS. When asked why he used tubes he said that is where the market is. People will pay more for and pay more attention to tubes than an identical sounding SS unit. I suspect Bob Carver has found the same. The visual impression that you have something special in his Super Silver Seven is beyond that of a solid state unit. The heft, weight, all the glowing tubes is not something that seems as substantial in transistor form.
BTW, Mr. Carver worked with Mr. deParavicini on his current design. Mr. deParavicini desinged the input and driver stages, they collaborated on how do to the feedback while Mr. Carver handled the output stage and power supply.
Yep. The Musical Fidelity A1, designed by Tim de Paravicini. My friend with the "golden ears" paid a lot of money to have his revised.Here's a question for the SS cognoscenti here: Can someone please name some classic SS amps that are highly sought after and rarely if ever come up for sale?
+1MRI doesn't tell us much about neural processing. PET scans and its variants might.
Just so you know it's possible, REW runs on my Windows 7 64-bit computer with no problem. Do you have the current 5.0 version?
--Ethan
Functional MRI is still a bit controversial, in the sense that there isn't a good consensus on interpreting the images or what they mean after interpretation.