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Negative feedback Amp=more faithful reproduction?

Negative feedback (NFB) vs zero negative feedback (ZNFB). There seems to be unsubstantiated contention that ZNFB amps sound more realistic. I know this is an age old debate favoring the ZNFB design, but I think most audiophiles have never bothered to look into this matter and believe the advertisements and proponents of zero NFB design. I have been in that camp until recently. My own experience and research into articles on this matter leads to me believe NFB is needed for faithful reproduction of music. I'm not saying NFB design is more "musical", which is a highly subjective term and usually means more euphonic or colored. I've posted a similar question awhile back, but I was hoping we can have a more evidence based discussion on this matter. Perhaps, we need clarification of descriptive terms we use to describe sound. My contention is, in general, NFB designs produces a more accurate or faithful reproduction of music than ZNFB designs. Here is a very good article on feedback and distortion:

http://sound.westhost.com/articles/distortion+fb.htm
dracule1

Showing 1 response by roscoeiii

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roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
I am by no means a technical expert and have enjoyed both NFB amps and ZNFB designs, but I did want to note the perhaps it is a good idea to bring the human brain into this conversation (I am a neuroscientist, so I can't resist). Namely, it is fine that we are able to measure amps on the bench, but we also need to acknowledge that our ultimate enjoyment of an amp-speaker combo is based on how our brains process the signals that reach our ears. Psychoacoustics plays a major role that can't be overlooked, such as determining what frequencies we can hear most acutely and which order of distortion is more noticeable.

Also lurking in each individual brain are personal preferences. Nelson Pass' First Watt line of amps is a great example of a wide variety of design choices that are intended to both give a good match with certain types of speakers and to provide different flavors to account for different listener preferences.
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