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Loudness - Why has the industry stopped producing amplifiers with this feature any longer?

I listen to music at all times of the day and night (solid sleep eludes me the older I get).  My favorite times are when the family is gone and I can select the listening level, mostly moderate to higher volumes.  But the simply fact is I find myself listen at lower levels much more often then my preferred listening mode.

Piggybacking on a discussion regarding low level listening here on Audiogon, I'm posing the question:  Why has the majority of industry stopped producing amplifiers with this feature any longer?

I look forward to your input
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Showing 2 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,936 posts
 
However, in the digital world having such things as room control, bass management, dynamic loudness correction and the ability to juggle your system’s frequency response all by computer (no mechanical switches) are real eye openers.

I kind of agree with this, it’s the interface I have more of a problem with. Honestly, I prefer knobs. As someone who uses Roon, along with paremetrics and shelving EQ, I would really like a bass / treble knob sometimes. So, I’d like two features really:

  1. A physical knob, perhaps assignable.
  2. Gapless playback when EQ is changed.

Without this, I end up leaving Roon alone, and resort to the integrated. No complaints, but in a future all-digital world, I want knobs, not a slick touch screen. :)
erik_squires
15,936 posts
 
@atmasphere : Yamaha and Denon have both implemented variable loudness controls. (Not sure if Denon does anymore).

While I applaud your neurotic insistence on exact settings, the toggle switch Loudness button on my Luxman's sounds really great.
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