Meeting a High Priest of the world of hi-fi BS.

[Chromatic]

I think there are 2 categories of hi fi geeks: those that believe the laws of physics and those who don't

There are two categories of both the above - those that listen to music and those that listen to hi fi

Alan Parsons reputedly said:
Audiophiles don't use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.

 

[Sterlo]

I must admit, I've fallen for some of these in the past (on a much smaller scale), silver cable and connectors, upgraded interconnects, etc. The best "high end" I bought was a pair of Grado SR80 headphones, cost me about £85 several years back and the sound is superb, even if they do look a bit WW2 radio operator. Must try a pair of those ear shaped thingies out of a cut up cornflake packet.

 

[accountantpete]

Apparently we are not hearing the music correctly in the first place because high and low frequencies can be misplaced - hence the Francinstein Warp

http://www.phaedrus-audio.com/brideoffrancinstien.htm

 

[Profpointy]

Apparently we are not hearing the music correctly in the first place because high and low frequencies can be misplaced - hence the Francinstein Warp

http://www.phaedrus-audio.com/brideoffrancinstien.htm

I'm not sure if the article is a spoof or not

 

[mistyoptic]

I'm not sure if the article is a spoof or not

I wondered the same. There are no prices, which could be a case of “if you need to ask, you can’t afford it” or, as you say, a spoof

 

[raleighnut]

Apparently we are not hearing the music correctly in the first place because high and low frequencies can be misplaced - hence the Francinstein Warp

http://www.phaedrus-audio.com/brideoffrancinstien.htm

I do know that human hearing maximises the midrange if music is played too quietly, amplifier manufacturers tried to get around this by using a 'loudness' button which increases bass and treble to try and compensate for this phenomena but it doesn't really work. i prefer Peter Walker's approach which is that the volume of a recording is set by the recording/mastering engineer and a gain potentiometer is used to match the signal from the source equipment to the required input of the power amplifier to achieve that volume with the loudspeaker in your room. This also explains why sometimes music can sound too loud on a poor 'mass market' system and also with a high quality system increasing the volume makes the sound 'expand' until this point is reached (then of course if played louder it will still sound too loud)

this is my excuse anyway for turning the amp up way louder than Maz would like.

 

[Salad Dodger]

It's when he started playing the banjo music from Deliverance that you needed to start worrying......

 

[Badger_Boom]

I must admit, I've fallen for some of these in the past (on a much smaller scale), silver cable and connectors, upgraded interconnects, etc. The best "high end" I bought was a pair of Grado SR80 headphones, cost me about £85 several years back and the sound is superb, even if they do look a bit WW2 radio operator. Must try a pair of those ear shaped thingies out of a cut up cornflake packet.

I have a pair of the same Grados and they’re fabulous. They seem to be one of those rare products that are as good as the reviews say they are, and relatively cheap too.

 

[randynewmanscat]

Even someone with duff hearing should be able to hear the difference between a crap system and decent HiFi it's all subjective, the object of a decent system is to recreate the sound as accurately as possible so that it sounds realistic. My own system is not that expensive in Hifi terms but would cost the average 'joe' far more than they were willing to pay but the real advantage with high end audio components is they are repairable not 'throwaway' when they malfunction so they end up costing less in the long run plus they hold their value better if you decide to sell them for example my QUAD 303 power amps cost me £120 for one 30+yrs ago and £150 for the other about 15yrs back but they're now fetching £250-300 on the bay of evil.

You replaced the electrolytic caps on the power supply and boards Raleigh?

 

[randynewmanscat]

I recall one successful band who said they always wanted to hear their latest recording through a basic ghetto blaster rather than the studio's monitor system.

The idea was to hear the record the same way as the fans would hear it on the radio.

There is a studio in northern England with a BMW 3 series in the loading bay, IIRC it had JBL stuff fitted and they used it to audition mixes.

 

[bagpuss]

I came to the conclusion many years ago ,the only animal who could hear the stated range on my speakers was our dog 🐶.
Especially the top end🎼

 

[swee'pea99]

Fed up with 'cloth ears' enhance your hifi with these,

https://pulsar.ebay.com/plsr/clk/0/SADS/9?pld={"mecs":"124310788223fd3ed5e109eb41febdaf9e32b9f06793","ampid":"PL_CLK","enc":"AQAFAAADwMwcl7uD4ARgdobL7I6Hc+0QbflDLn2bJshmZYkeUKRfOZhLjszGK4VE3MhXM/4phJNJZXIOVvs+vUX60a0LLhjcuyfGhrl/W/TQYpZeGazlxPKq3/MmjpSreGkLtBAC8nGPYTCYp9ywTJlsF7plwfUw6zwdOgC0y1qanFVauxbvuFMi74A9SPC8nbdaO2BUhW9J4r6o1yKOwLHMVEyDoSVHYyXjumR+ZfU9NnOg2Y2hedafKDuashggWbTwZetE5zBljdSJxIJylkCkDTAMoIEh3L51qnLSuRkYjZB397oBRhOMsHuep/INW2u4P/XkLRYCg4G7dAghtQq/L8TGuo+buaf2ifimoN7bygxui5lKBMAhSqbVEu+4Nvkhep8lEuLDHhDCFkTsYHHNXchvK2WFZmQWQJsUpsEZoscF6nvmMRCteq0CVxe7ev4rTbQqL1lbwpLra8CtcMV6SwnkvZf68IZ8128ornxPAQSp8mu9MCPtlh6UQAhMDo7Uq6aBR74KhkkkPOV7raGk64ImE2V8CxNU4CLts5DgCTVW+0MZyS4fQ9fNfY7TIKZYQTQPHxLN4tMgOg5gHWCjGFNinJfxZVibz3BzcIwfCKBfHhkoBQly1ROoITGK5h72J59kh0n4elZJGJVcFeag1p83fnrKVTy25Weyu0/DCkGgSGjvbnDiTkThiFQm8WyK/8k6zs8UfhFo+r59JBaSTButlhnKHKQYHJuzad0K2NgK5SoqzbWj2GsfrL2H72AzksPXpCVisrvnA5+FQfONR+Hs2CwwvTcmNmuq6h2Sem8Vhr2gFGA5UDWf5AIa9SsWmblSYNaPLCCPNb4wEvYyRgShulD7a8jQCpzp/BDjAy4gRY8TSH1nfQP9vDn/YWdiBg+OXjiN+aLCUnew91iehnVHW/OgO7OzzSW9GyY48AsfV10EXcTflwK9U5i0uZKKZPrjt1g23QIauycO26L42otIbW+gKi2XziKVdS3JzXk2Pzm9sLe0jk/ac5YPmqh1sHp/B7gRMSOEEM9Gwq01EON3gV0BD+EPFHZo2DhYOncszO36muvBmifD4JcItLzfx3YZl7qJIBG30mhBwkeU1r8DgizmqIQMYAWVc3bDgG0Idp3APUV6Lyp+3rYIb0ZcE3lfv6ZqlgcMTGxzptO8kVqkWTwZsbvckjl44t4ie9YMdKbQj0Vp2XktamRfZFI1BWQkH6YeRH5X5cQrepdgAKHQ0DJtfFPfUrTTD5wxk1lbeD4AH/idm27GGHnrtezz1SIAoA=="}

I'll match your leather ear things and raise you an alien rock:

But how does it work? How is it used?

You put it on your amp. Oh-kay...

 

[Beebo]

This thread has taken a new twist in the light of Globaltis recent concerns in other threads.
I can’t imagine going to the weird mans house to waste thousands on a stereo system.

 

[raleighnut]

You replaced the electrolytic caps on the power supply and boards Raleigh?

Yep I or rather QUAD did, they offer full service and rebuilds at very attractive rates. My old one was fully rebuilt about 15yrs ago and the newer (to us) was rebuilt a couple of years back, that one had to have one complete board replaced as one of the Capacitors had leaked onto it but it has now been modded by them so that they sit the other way up to prevent this happening again. I also keep the amps permanantly powered up so that they don't cycle from cold to operating temperature which helps prolong the life and has the added bonus of not having to wait 20-25 minutes for them to sound 'sweet' and also using a pair run with a 'mono' signal* to each means they run considerably cooler as the load is shared between the 2 channels.

* I've got the input 'commoned' to left and right channels with one powering the tweeter and the other the woofer on each Amp with 4 wires to each speaker with the 'shorting' bars removed between the 4 speaker terminals. (google 'vertical' vs 'horizontal' bi-amping)

 

[randynewmanscat]

Yep I or rather QUAD did, they offer full service and rebuilds at very attractive rates. My old one was fully rebuilt about 15yrs ago and the newer (to us) was rebuilt a couple of years back, that one had to have one complete board replaced as one of the Capacitors had leaked onto it but it has now been modded by them so that they sit the other way up to prevent this happening again. I also keep the amps permanantly powered up so that they don't cycle from cold to operating temperature which helps prolong the life and has the added bonus of not having to wait 20-25 minutes for them to sound 'sweet' and also using a pair run with a 'mono' signal* to each means they run considerably cooler as the load is shared between the 2 channels.

* I've got the input 'commoned' to left and right channels with one powering the tweeter and the other the woofer on each Amp with 4 wires to each speaker with the 'shorting' bars removed between the 4 speaker terminals. (google 'vertical' vs 'horizontal' bi-amping)

The one you had done 15 years ago will soon require new caps for the power supply and the output coupling, the small ones on the amp boards can wait a little longer.
The 4 big caps on the 15 year refurb, are they blue in colour? They live between the transformer and the rear panel. Its been 20 years since I worked on a 303 but IIRC the 4 original smoothing caps on the power rails are 2,200uF each. Many people fit 4,700uF/100V when the time comes, the extra capacity does help with transients, yer 1812 overture cannons, large dynamic range music.
If you or a friend can solder those caps are an easy replacement, its solder tag connections, contemporary caps in large values are physically smaller even than 15 years ago and may need packing pieces in the clamps. Short lengths of split poly plumbing tube work well.
303 is still a sweet amplifier, Dada electronics in Belgium manufacture modded boards for them and for the 405/405-2, vintage Quad is very popular in Holland and Belgium for why I do not know.