Thread: Do we have any audiophiles in the house?

2 Klipsch Cornwall III FL+FR
3 Klipsch Heresy III C+RL+RR
2 Velodyne DD-18
NAD T785

5 x Klipsch Jubilee / TAD 4002 landing to replace the Klipsch Heritage setup.

This in a Audio Forum is like us talking about Hones lol. My answer is yes but it depends. The big if is your weak link. If you do not have quality speakers and they are the weak link no you probably can not. If you have speakers that can handle and produce the nuisances of the gear then yes. You could attach two Solid State amps with the same specs and do a blind test and hear differences. Then another if is your ears. Are they trained to listen for the differences. One of the top Audio publications did an article years ago and said one of the best and most critical upgrades you can make to your system is to have your ears cleaned. I had a good laugh when I read it but it made sense.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Looking at the frequency response diagrams of tube vs solid state amps, can you really discern which is which when listening to music in a double blind test (assuming both are high quality devices connected to the same speaker setup)?

What I would find interesting is a test with a couple of high end solid states, a couple of tube amps, a good set of speakers, and then a blind test in which the listeners have to guess whether the amp is solid or tube. And for laughs, I'd hook up each one 2 or 3 times (spread over the entire test) to see if they make the same call consistently.

I have the impression that it is a bit like hones, like you say. People fawn over a 700$ escher, but when it comes down to it, I doubt anyone would really be able to tell the difference between an edge coming from an escher or a good coticule.

The difference between tube and solid state is remarkable. The tubes have that mid freq sound you can't approach but with really expensive solid state gear. My CD player has both a solid state and tubed output and you can switch between the two on the remote and the difference is huge. The player came originally with Sovtec tubes and it sounded like garbage. I replaced them with some french audio tunes (vintage) and the difference was huge.

Most of your common RCA and similar tubes available are not audio grade tubes. You want good Mullard or other classic brand tubes you won't get them for a few bucks. I paid fifty bucks a piece for two essentially pre amp tubes.

Silly question perhaps, but couldn't you make up for the difference with a good equalizer?
As long as the frequency response would be the same, it should sound the same, no?

Maybe from an engineering standpoint it may seem so but it's more than just that. It's like when CDs first came out and on an analyzer they beat the stuffing out of analogue but in listening there was a difference you could sense beyond the increase in dynamics with the CD and only after they built different test equipment did they discover issues in the digital stream that degraded the sound.

With tubes you have an almost liquid sound to the midrange and no frequency fiddling will get that for you. It something innate to the tubes. No one has ever been able to duplicate it. They have tried and some really good solid state gear comes close but there is still a gap.

Well said there is just a warmth to the music especially in the mids that you just have to hear to appreciate.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Maybe from an engineering standpoint it may seem so but it's more than just that. It's like when CDs first came out and on an analyzer they beat the stuffing out of analogue but in listening there was a difference you could sense beyond the increase in dynamics with the CD and only after they built different test equipment did they discover issues in the digital stream that degraded the sound.

With tubes you have an almost liquid sound to the midrange and no frequency fiddling will get that for you. It something innate to the tubes. No one has ever been able to duplicate it. They have tried and some really good solid state gear comes close but there is still a gap.

The other day I went to an open house at a near by high end stereo house. Were I got a chance to here Wilson Audio's Alexandria X2 loadspeakers. They were driven by 2 monoblocked Dan D Agostino Amps at 600 watts total
It was probably one of the most amazing sounding loadspeakers I've ever heard.
List price $168K. They are taller then I am and I'm 5'10" and they weight 700 lbs each. They look like a Cylon robot. In other words "UGLY" but my god the sound.



A very great night out!

Several years ago I was at an audition at a now defunct local high end audio joint and the were premiering Wilson Watt puppies. Probably 12 years ago maybe more and they cost 80K but the sound was the most amazing thing I ever heard. Then I had to go home and listen to my "crappy" Vandersteen 3s. Har har.

Well,

I used to run McIntosh with B&W and Klipsch. Back up was Onyko amps. Also ran Luxman. That was college days. Now I am just iPod, Bose, and Sure 535 Bronze headphones (Triple Drivers in ear). Mostly listen to Classical/Opera. Love the good stuff but space is a premium. Listen mostly in bed, car, work. Car has subwoofer.

First Amp had a FM Multiplex unit, I better be careful as that was just when stereo came in. Makes me old.