Distortion


Since the late 70`s I`ve always wondered why class (A) enthusiast and professional audiophiles look for an buy high end gear with the lowest possible harmonic distortion ratings; pay off the chain cash for gear like the Mctone,xx-7700,D'agostine, Merrill audio, Pure Audio, Vitus Audio, Pass Labs, Audio Research, Carry, M.Levinson, Conrad Johnson, Krell etc. Get it perfectly set up to listen to distorted music. Now I`m not knocking  know one`s taste in music its there money there preference of what they like to hear it just don`t make since to me.  Perhaps its one of the things we do in this bizarre beautiful hobby.  Would anyone care to comment.
sheridanmartinj

Showing 1 response by pauly

There is virtually no correlation between % THD and what passes for "good sound". Simple listening tests show this very clearly.

Some folks have a real hard time with this and will do their level headed best to convince themselves, and everybody else, that the lower the THD the better the sound. Most audiophiles do know better; these folks are actually a small minority.

Over the years I have noticed a strong correlation between folks who believe low THD means good sound, and those who cannot hear the differences in cables, component isolation, power filtering etc. The logical conclusion is that they have hearing deficiencies and have no option but to rely on measurements when choosing components.