Did Amir Change Your Mind About Anything?

By the way, Amir owns a Mark Levinson No 532 power amplifier that costs $20,000. I find it strange that Amir couldn’t find a much cheaper well designed amp. 

Why would he, when he gets dealer pricing and MLs spank any AB type amps he's "listened" to? https://www.madronadigital.com/mark-levinson-53

But How Does it Sound
OK, lots of technical talk but does any of this impact the sound? You may know that there are two schools of thought here. One that says all amplifiers more or less sound the same. The other says the exact opposite with each sounding different like the smell of two different flowers. I won’t take a position in that food fight :). But instead, speak of a much less controversial issue of pure power delivery.

As I noted earlier, with the trend of less of efficient speakers and somewhat limited power available from our wall sockets, the amplifier can run out of steam before your desire for dynamics does. This usually translates into the amplifier sound becoming leaner at higher volumes, together with increased high frequency distortion, and less than impactful bass.

In comparison testing I have done, switching amplifiers using the classic class D configuration always sport incredible low frequency control and power. They beat out linear class AB amplifiers almost regardless of price. What they give up though is high frequency fidelity which I find somewhat harsh. The distortion is highly non-linear and challenging to spot but it is there. The Mark Levinson No 53 is the first switching amplifier I have heard which does not have this compromise. Its bass is amazingly authoritative: tight and powerful. Yet the rest of the response is absolutely neutral and pleasant.

If you have not heard these unique amplifiers, I highly encourage you to come into our showroom for a listen. 

I think you guys are being too hard on Amir, he's a lot more like you than you think.

The reformed new Amir does do some nice measurements occasionally though.

@tjag said

Do you people ever do listening comparisons?

First of all, how dare you classify me as "you people"? You know nothing about me, you merely make yourself look small and mean.

Secondly - I do listening comparisons. I've also worked on thousands of different bits of audio kit using measuring tools - because it was my job! You cannot return a bit of repaired audio kit without first proving you've eliminated the reported problem and ears+brain are insufficient for that task, you have to use signal generators, meters and audio analysis kit. I also used to play some music to check all was OK.

I've encountered a great deal of genuinely faulty kit which still sounds OK-ish, ears+brain are a very low grade mechanism for checking things are not broken...

@maxwellseq ​​​​​​

First of all, how dare you classify me as "you people"? 

????

Never mind. 

You cannot return a bit of repaired audio kit without first proving you've eliminated the reported problem and ears+brain are insufficient

It's not about repearing faulty components and listening to them afterwards. That mean's nothing here. 

1- Have you compared quality components and speaker/interconnect/power cables from known brandd in AB tests and what were your findings? 

2- What if a product promoted by Amir or by you doesn’t sound good, should I base my desicision on my ears or your measurements?

3- Do you believe that components/cables with identical measurements sound the same? 

 

maxwellseq

25 posts

05-21-2022 at 04:25am 

1. SPDIF must use a coaxial cable.
2. SPDIF characteristic impedance of the cable must be 75 Ohm
3. SPDIF cables are often orange
4. It's a digital signal and as long as the cable is well made, there should be no difference in errors and so no difference in sound

I personally like #3 😉

maxwellseq

25 posts

05-21-2022 at 04:25am 

1. SPDIF must use a coaxial cable.
2. SPDIF characteristic impedance of the cable must be 75 Ohm
3. SPDIF cables are often orange
4. It's a digital signal and as long as the cable is well made, there should be no difference in errors and so no difference in sound

I personally like #3 😉

As long as 1 and 2 are observed the colour is irrelevant, of course, But some manufacturers seem to colour code them so people don't accidentally plug them in the wrong hole. It's not the case for all kit I've seen, but I've bought three digital products which were shipped with an orange cable for S/PDIF in the box. Perhaps it's an EU thing?

It's a real pity S/PDIF uses Cinch/RCA, since BNC would have been better and less prone to mistakes.