Ask Your Hifi Audio Questions - Open Floor

[@michaelhughes1504]

I'd mentioned this to you a while back, but will post a reminder here -- Class AB versus class D amplification: your experiences, thoughts on benefits and drawbacks of each, current state of class D development, etc.

[@zizendorf]

@@michaelhughes1504 What might that mean for a hybrid Class D, like Rogue Audio’s version?

[@zizendorf]

Lou, my request would be for an in-depth examination, explanation regarding "dual binding posts", why they're there? Are they "eye-candy" as expressed by an executive at Polk Audio when asked about their legitimate relevance. Are they there for a good reason? For example, I can't find any legitimate info confirming that "bi-wiring" makes an audible difference. Thanks for all you do!

[@audibleeleganceinc]

OK, that will be added to the list. Expect a lot of comments on it as I have touched areas around it and stirred up a hornet's nest.

[@zizendorf]

@@audibleeleganceinc Thanks Lou! Yes, I’m aware of that hornets nest. Seems to me because there’s little clarity about the factual/actual truth. Myth-busting can be difficult.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

@@zizendorf It is not so much myth busting as it is the enormous variations in actual executions which leads to confusing results and strong opinions.

[@zizendorf]

@@audibleeleganceinc Well, I am excluding bi-amping from my confusion. That’s different. I am talking about two sets of speaker cables to dual binding posts.

[@audibleeleganceinc]

@@zizendorf again, that goes all over the place depending upon the speaker.

[@DrNoahBoddy004]

I’m very seriously considering what I sincerely hope is an audible performance improvement in my system in roughly the next 18 to 28 months. This change involves a theory I’ve observed in bi-amplification. I would like to use Conrad-Johnson’s ART 108-A valve amplifier to drive Midrange, and High frequencies, and my larger Crown amp for bass frequencies. This idea was observed listening to this C-J amp driving a rather fetching pair of Reference 3a Dulcet II Be units. That effortless delivery in strings, and vocals was both alluring, and intoxicating! (Your thoughts?)🌹✨

[@audibleeleganceinc]

OK, this is something that I use to run into in the 80s and 90s and it was not out of the ordinary. Personally, I am not a fan of such approaches but let me give you some tips. My preference is to use identical amplifiers. As I said, many have tried to use vacuum tube amplifiers for their tonal qualities in the midrange and upper frequency while using a solid state amplifier for the bass because of its damping factor and thus control. So, here we go: One, you need to make sure that the input sensitivity of each amplifier used is identical. If not, one will put out more power to the speakers disrupting the balanced designed for the speaker performance. Two, you need a preamp with twin outputs. If you don't have that, you do not use Y adapters at the preamp. Instead, you run one set of cables to one amplifier an at it's input, have a metal Y adapter and the cable to the second amplifier comes from the first amplifier. This is much better for the performance of the preamp. The real bugger here, if your preamp does not have two outputs is that it is not unusual for one type of cable to work best with one amplifier while another cable is preferable for the other amplifier. With a Y cable, that really doesn't work. In any event, it is going to take a lot of experimentation and patience to get the system musically right. Otherwise, all sorts of, well, interesting effects, are to be expected.

[@DrNoahBoddy004]

Acknowledged… I have an Electronic Crossover with Balanced Ins, and Outs that I plan to set, using frequency spectrum analysis, an audio measurement setting on a rental digital oscilloscope. I, at this point wouldn’t expect miracles, but if get either 4, or 3 Hz at the closest to that prime point, it should still sound fairly excellent, as I’m certain it’s not really an exact process. As long as I can retain that overall smoothness I’ve always liked, I’ll be happy as a clam!🌹✨

[@audibleeleganceinc]

@@DrNoahBoddy004 Then your approach is far more complete than what I see typically done by many. That's why, by the way, that Thiel Audio stopped making their speakers with two sets of binding posts as they got tired of all the problems, the questions, and dreadful sounds they heard from their speakers at various homes.

[@DrNoahBoddy004]

@@audibleeleganceinc that smoothness directs all my attention. Most everything else is fatiguing as I don’t normally go past 93 dB when I’m in deep listening mode.

[@baronofgreymatter14]

How can you tell if your components are operating in harmony and you are achieving the best out of them?

[@audibleeleganceinc]

I am not sure I understand your question. There are so many elements to consider that such a broad question is not definable in a single answer. Could you make your question more specific?

[@baronofgreymatter14]

@@audibleeleganceinc audiophiles speak about synergy of components and removing possible conflictions between pieces. How as a newer audiophile who can't afford multiple pieces of gear to swap out know just by listening if I've chosen components that are playing nicely together

[@audibleeleganceinc]

@@baronofgreymatter14 OK, I kinda see where you are coming from. I am not a believer in "Mystical Magical Combinations" leading you to the promised lands. My approach involves the integrity of the signal which can never be improved, only made worse. Think of it as a message being passed around though people in the game of telephone. It is amusing to hear the message at the end which had nothing to do with the original message. So it is with audio and video. The key is to make sure the signal is faithfully passed from one piece the next. So, if the first piece in the chain buggers the music, well, the best the next piece can do is faithfully reproduce a buggered sound. This is why so many people fault their speakers for what they hear when the error likely occurred well before them. Note this in the number of brands of speakers available but far less in electronics and even fewer for source components. You can also think of it as a photograph because once the lens is out of focus, nothing in the chain will fix that and the bigger the print (more accurate the speaker) the more dreadful it appears. I certainly do not encourage the constant rotation of equipment to find nirvana as nobody makes money selling their stuff as used. Many reviewers can talk about such mysticism but they don't pay for their equipment at all. Many are with Wizard behind the curtain in Oz and tantalizing tales keep you on the edge of your seat for the next installment that you will also need to buy. All I can suggest at the moment is to look at my other videos, particularly the one about is your system rhythmically right. Otherwise, you are spending good money to put a wedding reception band in your home. Let me know where you are located and perhaps I can send you to a good person if they are close enough to you. In any event, you are certainly entitled to be a bit confused and befuddled with the way some audiophiles talk about systems. Frankly, some of them I do not understand at all.