From: Dave Dal Farra <gpz750@bnr.ca>
Subject: Re: Preamp and Amp
X-Xxdate: Thu, 21 Jan 93 16:55:08 GMT
Organization: BNR Ltd.
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d9
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 16:45:50 GMT

In article <185059@pyramid.pyramid.com> Lon Stowell, lstowell@pyrnova.
mis.pyramid.com writes:
>   You might wish to try reading some of the Bell Labs papers on 
>   perception and distortion the next time you are sitting on the
>   throne cleaning out your mind.
>
>   It's pretty obvious you haven't a clue and the gold in your ears
>   is pyrite.
>
>   I'm not arguing with your preference, but your reasoning is
>   really quite amusing.  

OK, all the fun and nasties aside....

I've read the Bell papers, and the Floyde E. Toole papers
and books on Sound and Perception.   My career is inaudio
and acoustics and I've also been designing speakers
for about 10 years now.   I understand all the arguments 
I've heard so far.

It comes down to this....

We seem to be fragmented into two groups: Those who beleive Golden-ears
exist and those who don't.  I do, others don't. Fine.
   
Additionally, there are two other groups:

a.  Those who believe CD's sound superior on the basis of lower noise,
    better seperation, etc.  i.e.  Lon.
    
b.  Those who can live with the vinyl noise only because they think 
    LP sounds closer to the real thing.  i.e. me.
    
At this point, I don't care who is right or wrong.   It's not worth 
arguing this point.  Cal was the only one right here:  Enjoy the 
tunes at all costs!!

The purpose of my replies was to clear up misconceptions I felt were worth
discussing:

a.  A/B testing problems (long term exposure is not factored in).

b.  LP being inferior to CD based on measured results.  I drew a comparison
    where the argument was made that transistors were better than tubes in 
    the 50's, based predominantly on measured results.  Unfortunately,
    they didn't even measure intermod back then.   Is there some
    important aspect of CD reproduction we are not measuring yet
    because we don't even know what to look for?  Those who tend to
    prefer LP would like to think "Yes".  No one can say if they are
    right or wrong.  (Personally, I'm very interested in dither).
    
c.  The concept that Golden-Ears are self professed ego-maniacs and that
    their skills are hype.    This is like saying it is impossible to run
    the 100m dash in under 10 seconds because "I can't do it and neither can
    any-one I know."   TV shows us people performing such feats, so we
    beleive it.   No one in their right mind would televise Harry Pearson
    grading to a stereo system (thank God).   But people do train their hearing
    acuity.   The fact that the "Golden-eared" critics from different magazines
    generally agree on the sound of any particular gear (i.e the Wadia), lends
    validity to their abilities.  Any mention of a conspiracy theory is nothing
    more than a display of paranoia.
    
    The Bell lab papers were taken without using Golden Ears.  In my opininion,
    thats like measuring sound pressure level in 10 dB steps.
    
I am happy everyone likes their gear and knows what they like.  It only leads
to a better appreciation of music, which is what this is all about. Right?

Listening to the Pink Fairies doin' "Uncle Hairy's Last Freakout" last night
was enough to set my mind straight: Enough bullshit and back-stabbing (myself 
included).   Enjoy the tunes, even if its on a Radio Shack linear tracker,
Dad's system, or if you have "lizard breath" (actually, it usually smells like
Guinness (sp?)).

No hard feelings,

Dave
BNR Ottawa
Audio and Acoustics Group