Ultra high resolution

Dazzdax, as things stand today I seriously doubt that even one manufacturer is making a truly 'ultra high resolution' amplifier.

I don't expect anybody here to agree with me but believe it or not at the extreme or ultra high resolution levels you may be thinking of, I speculate that the innards though important should become somewhat less important at the extreme performance levels and areas that we greatly underestimate or completely overlook today must start to take precedence or it simply ain't happening.

Those areas I'm thinking of include but are not limited to extreme line conditioning, extreme vibration management, and extreme chassis construction (both internal and external).

Again I speculate the day will come when at least some of the internals will matter less and certain associated externals will matter far more. Obviously the industry is not there today but I anticipate this may soon change.

I think the important point here is no component (nor collection of components) is an island. For example, no 'ultra high resolution amp' would be very tolerable if it is not connected to a superior line conditioner (and every other component must be connected to a superior line conditioner as well because the AC grunge from the other components get amplified too) to cleanse the dirty AC coming from the street because of ensuing ear fatigue and even ear bleed.

On second thought I'll clarify my initial statement. There may well be several ultra high resolution amps already on the market but because of the external shortcomings mentioned above I'll bet dollars to doughnuts neither the mfg'er, nor their customers, nor their reviewers are aware.

-IMO

Dazzdax, under the right conditions the Nuforce Ref 9 SE V2 amps should easily fit into this ultra high resolution category.

Mrtennis, for a lover of music there is nothing so therapeutic as a playback system that comes infinitely closer to the live event. Anything less brings frustration and anxiety which is counter to being therapeutic.

If one had such a system and they wanted to relax, they would simply listen to the appropriate music that suited their mood. Rather than swap out (downgrade) cables or components to strip away resolution, dynamics, intensities, etc..

-IMO (I am a Nuforce dealer)

Actually, Mrtennis, if the recording hall and playback system are up to snuff then wouldn't you expect the opera singer to fill the entire soundstage whether live or during reproduction with minimal localization?

As for hearing an entertainer breath, that is almost entirely up to the artist(s) and sound engineer (and quality of the playback system's ability to accurately reproduce).

You seem to be well aware some music is not intended to be closely miked. But you also must know some music is intended for intimate settings.

There's certainly nothing wrong with preferring rear hall seating or not wanting to hear an artist breath, etc. but if these are indeed some of your preferences then it seems illogical to blame a potentially highly resolving playback system by stripping away what little hope of magic it may provide when in fact the system is nothing more than a reproducer (good or bad) of the recording microphones' perspectives (good or bad) of the live performance.

Isn't that kinda' like blaming your ice-maker for poor tasting ice when your water supply is coming from a sewage treatment plant 2 miles down the road?

-IMO

Actually, Atmasphere, it is resolution and in certain cases some might even consider it ultra high resolution. It just may not be refined or beautiful sounding resolution.

But when you mentioned detail with added brightness, you neglected to include negative sibilance, harshness, glare, hash, grain and perhaps a few other negatives. All of which is also revealed and all of which can be either absolutely minimized or possibly eliminated altogether while maintaining the highest resolution imaginable.

As you probably know a truly resolving playback system should reproduce everything with tremendous accuracy.

Whether it be beautiful music, AC grunge coming from the wall, digital noise coming from the CDP/DAC, time-smearing ics, or a combination of a small host of other shortcomings (pick your poison) a truly revealing system is going to reveal every last shortcoming along with the music.

That is resolution. Albeit, unrefined.
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Hi, Mrtennis. I've enjoyed your posts so please don't take this the wrong way. I couldn't disagree more with your strategy because based on your logic in your posting above and the direction you're heading, you're likely to end up with an expensive transistor radio.

In a similar thread about a month ago I responded with the following comment:

"So if some potential detail rears its ugly head out of sequence or too prematurely in the evolutionary process, then the first thing we want to do is call it evil and squash it rather than nurture it."

I couldn't have said it better myself. :)

-IMO

Mrtennis, to the contrary there is actually little dichotomy between accuracy of a recording and the live event.

That lowest of low level detail, the ambient or reverberant information of the recording hall itself where the magic of a live performance really lives and breaths life into the music is already embedded in even some of what we might consider our most inferior recordings. And if this is true then you might imagine what other magic is also embedded in the recordings.

I'm not saying there aren't inferior recordings. There are. But what I am saying is that there are far fewer 'inferior' recordings than what many of us currently believe.

And rather than look to the quality of the recording (yes it does matter) as the culprit one should look to the quality of the playback system itself asking why it is unable to retrieve and reproduce that lowest of low level information along with many other magical little nuances.

Even though this may seem preposterous to most any enthusiast who's been in this hobby for 10, 20, or 40 years the existence of this lowest of low level information can easily be demonstrated with most any Redbook CD.

In nearly every case our frustration must lie with the system. No matter how well-thought-out, how much was spent, how sota we think it is, nor how knowledgeable someone may seem the problems we experience are because of the shortcomings in our systems that were never properly addressed.

On the other hand, as somebody already pointed out you do have a dichotomy because you seem quite fond of last row seating. I've never heard of a company or engineer that places the recording mics that far back. So in your case, you probably could never get the 'live' perspective of last row listening from a playback system simply because such a recording mic perspective may not exist.

-IMO