valve amp?

[Peter Korsten]

Op 20-10-2011 10:15, Martin Naef schreef:

> Sounds like an electrostatic speaker. Some people love them, but they
> wouldn't work for me unless coupled with a subwoofer.

That's the thing. Mind, this guy had graduated from the Eindhoven 
University of Technology, but he was clearly into the 'I get these 
special cables' territory.

> The search for perfection is what drives progress, so I'm willing to
> give credit to the audiophiles even if it often gets ridiculous or
> outright esoteric (ultra-expensive cables for digital signals over short
> distances???). It's not like us electronic musicians would be any
> better, really. (Hands up who's ever been drooling over analogue filters).

I know of someone who put little discs on top of CDs when playing them, 
because according to him, it improved the sound. Mind, this was someone 
who worked at the Eindhoven University of Technology.

I'm starting to sense a pattern...

But that university more likely than not provided the engineers to 
Philips, who invented the CD. It's all a little bit ironic.

> Obviously, with so many years of research and engineering that went into
> audio playback technology, we've clearly reached a point where the law
> of diminishing returns hits very hard. I certainly wouldn't spend any
> huge sums on valve amplifiers or any other electronic device in that
> domain. Speakers, yes - but that's where basic physics define the shape.

And then you still require a bit of peace and quiet to be able to listen 
to music. One of the reasons why I stick with headphones.

- Peter