Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Amplifier - General Information Request

hehehehee...I replied via PM to avoid this inevitable mess.

When I sit on my couch, fireplace directly in front of me, speakers about 12' apart flanking the fireplace, and I hear Astrid Giberto's voice come from directly in front of me, the piano off to my left, and all the instruments placed in space, all this from 2 speakers 12' apart, I have no idea as to how this happens. Do you think there's an instrument which can measure this auditory experience? Do you think it's a result of the placebo effect? or made-up? Or do you trust your ears?

If an electronic piece of equipment can generate a sound, then that sound can certainly be measured electronically.

I know that the human brain is exceptionally good at processing sound information. It was evolutionarily advantageous for our antecedents to be able to pinpoint locations of sound sources in all three directional axes.

But the measurements you speak of have to do with sound. It's more efficient to measure a receiver by cutting the speaker out of the picture altogether and simply measuring the electrical signal that's coming from the terminals. It is my belief that equipment currently available to us can more accurately measure the intricacies of that electrical signal than our ears can measure pressure waves.

Yes, but what are you measuring?

In reply to:

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There's no way that an amp can affect the soundstage during the amplification process.

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John, to be fair, shouldn't you have said "There's no way that a properly designed amp can positively affect the soundstage..."?

After all, an amp is only supposed to take the input signal, make it louder, and nothing more. If it's badly designed, couldn't it alter the original soundwave in ways other than amplitude?

2x6,

The re-assembly of two distinct sound sources (stereo) into a coherent canvas of sound occurs in the brain. The effects of this imaging on an individual person cannot be measured. However, the sounds CAN be measured accurately. How do you think a recording studio works? That same acoustic energy that you're hearing -- as interpreted by your speakers -- once emanated from an instrument and passed into a microphone before it was digitally written to the CD in your Ah! Njoe Tjoeb player.

Exactly, pmb! A recording studio does not use dials, analyzers, meters and whatever to monitor the recording and mastering process - ultimately, they use speakers with some guy/gal listening, tweaking, listening, tweaking.

On the contrary. Have you actually seen a recording studio? There are dials, sliders, meters, monitors, and analyzers all over the place.

Right, but ultimately, they kick back, roll a doobie, and listen to the music - the ear/brain thing - the ultimate music analyzer.

ok. I'm bowing out before this tangent spills over onto the third page...