"not about the $, its about what does it take to engineer a machine that becomes invisible

I completely understand why many listeners prefer and seek out the rich harmonic distortion of tube amps and similar gear that doesn’t perform so well on a test bench.

The problem here is that most solid state amps make harmonic distortion too- but being higher orders, is interpreted by the ear as brightness and harshness.


This is why tubes are still around. But the real problem isn't transistors so much as its a  lack of enough feedback. Feedback is on a sort of bell curve- with 17.5dB of feedback being right in the middle of where you don't want to be! You need about 35dB of feedback to really get rid of not only the innate distortion of the circuit but also to knock down the distortion caused by the application of feedback itself. The semiconductors needed to do that really didn't exist in the 1970s and 1980s. Also the **will** to design such an amp has been a bit lacking as well.


You know you have a problem if the distortion measured at 100Hz isn't the same at 1KHz and 10KHz. Often it isn't because the amplifier under test lacks the Gain Bandwidth Product to stay linear- so the distortion increases with frequency as a result. Essentially the feedback is decreasing with frequency. This is why the industry usually only does its harmonic distortion measurement at 100Hz...


The other part of the distortion signature that might be more important is that there be enough of the 2nd and 3rd harmonic (both treated by the ear the same way, which is to say that the ear is insensitive to them) to mask the presence of the higher orders. This might actually be more important than how much distortion is present overall, although its best to keep it low as it can mask detail. If the higher orders are masked the amp will sound smooth (which is why tube amps often sound smooth despite having higher distortion than solid state amps).

The OP quote is a lot larger question than people are taking it as. What we really are after is something that moves us. The closest tangible example is Aladdin’s Magic Carpet. Comes out of nowhere, takes you wherever your heart desires. Get the right one, it even can be pretty darn entertaining too.

Closest thing to that in the real world is a 911. Drive one and after a while don’t be surprised to find the car following your thoughts sometimes seemingly without needing to do anything. Yeah I know how that sounds but drive one and see.

We want our systems to disappear too, preferably taking the room along for the ride. Either way, car or system, whatever it is takes a whole lot of technology to make it happen.

The trick is to make the technology seamless, ephemeral. We’re getting there. We are a lot closer than most seem to think. At the same time we have a very long way to go. We’ll get there when we get there. Enjoy the ride. I do.

However IMHE when confronted with a system that has relatively few compromises and particularly images well and is devoid of sibilance, everyone will drop their jaws and universally agree it is one of the best systems they have ever heard if not the very best.

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I think for many, there may need to be a deprogramming stage before they fully appreciate it, but once they do, they will have a hard time going back.


That video was mentally painful. Bud who has no clue talks to other bud who has no clue. What was the point?  The room often gets in the way. The other thing that can get in the way is distortion at volume, something more expensive systems can excel at (by not having it), or at least having a consistent distortion profile. Those "great" demos are never played quietly.