4th May 2019, 4:34 pm | #841 | |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever.. |
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4th May 2019, 5:18 pm | #842 | |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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[The Motown 'wall of sound' being a brilliant example of audio-engineering/production designed to sound great on a cheap overdriven battery-powered-radio-or-phonograph-with-the-battery-running-down. You don't hear crossover-distortion when the average modulation-depth never dips below 70%] |
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4th May 2019, 9:43 pm | #843 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
There is an element of truth in what Paul Messenger says. Much of the RIAA curve is caused by the velocity response of a magnetic cartridge. If a displacement cartridge was used (e.g. an ideal ceramic cartridge) then instead of the 20dB boost in bass and similar cut in treble all we would need is a 12dB shelf between around 500Hz and 2kHz. However, he could have explained it better - assuming he understands it himself and believes that his readers might understand it too.
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4th May 2019, 10:57 pm | #844 | |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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5th May 2019, 8:14 am | #845 | ||
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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5th May 2019, 10:14 am | #846 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
I agree about the small speaker however that idea has gradually drifted towards a mobile phone ringer speaker more recently.
Modern pop music has now begun to sound the same on everything else too as a result. |
5th May 2019, 7:00 pm | #847 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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5th May 2019, 7:36 pm | #848 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
Nice thought. I suspect that the costs involved in sourcing good readable technical articles are not deemed to be justifiable in terms of increasing the circulation (hits if on-line).
Alan |
5th May 2019, 9:56 pm | #849 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
There seem to be trends towards both 'dumbing down' and towards instant gratification.
The other day I wanted to find the multiplex frequencies and aerial groups for the Selkirk transmitter, so I went onto the usual websites and found them now talking about signals being on different airwaves. Airwaves? A muggle-friendly synonym for frequency it seems to be. Oh boy! Depressing... distressing. David
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5th May 2019, 10:16 pm | #850 | |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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I thought that was chewing gum https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1RRDJXr-pL.jpg
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5th May 2019, 10:39 pm | #851 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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6th May 2019, 12:46 am | #852 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
They're talking about Yamaha NS10's which started off as hifi speakers which found their way into studios (in much the same way as AR18's did in earlier years). Yamaha then produced a studio oriented version.
You need to understand them to use them effectively - they're good for adjusting vocal balances but bass light. If you want to check bass levels on them then at least the white cone makes it easy to see how much they're moving. In our studio they were replaced with LS3/5a's which are more accurate and easier to use although they still retain most of the good qualities of the Yamahas. |
6th May 2019, 9:37 am | #853 | |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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If hi-fi electronics were to become a commodity like that then the industry would be facing a very tough future. Peter Walker (I think) had suggested that customers should focus on other issues - build quality, reliability, aesthetics, supporting your local businesses (!) - but others might have felt that wouldn't sustain an industry or keep people buying the mags ... so the technical stuff was gradually sidelined in favour of 'listening'. Cheers, GJ
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6th May 2019, 11:51 am | #854 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
And in a world awash with commodity items whose performance is fully satisfactory, the only thing left to sell things on is 'lifestyle'
How many years ago did laundry detergents become essentially indistinguishable? And we have the bizarre situation of two huge corporations each operating numerous brands competing against themselves. It's coming up to 40 years since I put my own hifi stuff together and decided that even if I did something a bit better, I would not be likely to notice. So it's sat in the lounge and just worked. In that time, I've listened to an awful lot of music and had an awful lot of pleasure. The modern hifi reviews, websites, advertisements though have created a group of people who can never feel happy with whatever they have and are condemned, like the flying Dutchman to be forever in pursuit of something unattainable propelled by perpetual dissatisfaction. They know temporary joy with each new item, but it soon fades as the eternal pursuit re-establishes itself. In a way, I'm saddened that these people seem to be missing out on lasting happiness and are burning up wealth that could have done great things for them otherwise. David
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6th May 2019, 1:11 pm | #855 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
I can see that things like amplifiers have long since reached the point where technical analysis does not add much to the equation for the average consumer. However, Mr Messenger was referring to cartridges which certainly vary greatly in a listening sense according to their design and specification. The same is true of speakers for those not interested in vinyl reproduction. So, in theory at least, technical analysis very much adds to the overall picture. However, it seems to me that there is little demand from the vast majority of consumers for a high level of technical information and so the mainstream press don't bother. The relatively few people who are interested in, or want to learn about, the technicalities join forums like this one.
Alan |
6th May 2019, 1:24 pm | #856 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
It is why most manufacturers of even eye-poppingly expensive amplifiers publish only very outline specifications. In all likelihood they know what the very detailed performance is, but as you say the vast majority of purchers (a) don't need to know this as part of their buying experience and (b) would not know how to interpret detailed specifications anyway and (c) test specifications do not have a standard format so comparing specs from Co.A and Co.B is impossible.
Craig |
6th May 2019, 1:39 pm | #857 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
In the case of some really expensive amplifiers any published specs would be significantly inferior (in engineering terms) to much cheaper equipment. Best at this point in the market to avoid numbers and just tell stories.
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6th May 2019, 2:48 pm | #858 |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
Well, of course they would! After all, hearing is subjective so who needs numbers?
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6th May 2019, 4:20 pm | #859 | |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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6th May 2019, 4:43 pm | #860 | |
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Re: The Audiophoolery Thread.
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