[nebulax]

On Nov 3, 10:38 am, Ivan Katz wrote:
On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:02:22 -0400, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Okay, this would be a Magnavox player with the original first generation
chip set. Because Philips couldn't make a real 16-bit ladder converter,
they used a 14-bit ladder and a digital filter with 4x oversampling to
get 16-bit resolution.

The end result was a converter with better linearity and lower group
delay than the competition... and better linearity and lower group delay
than the second generation chipset tht Philips replaced it with.

I believe that is correct.
My mind is a bit fuzzy but I do remember something about the 14 bit and
4x oversampling.
Anyhow, the unit was a real sleeper, for the time.

I am surprised. I am surprised that the Philips didn't blow the doors
off the Sony. What kind of speaker system was being used?

I believe they were using KEF, maybe 105's or B&W 80x at the time.
I do not remember which one. If it was the B&W, it was the models prior
to the ones with the 'eyeball' on top.

I bet it sounded clearer... and that clarity was artificial too, I bet.
I'm not surprised that the difference was first noticed on a fairly
uncompressed recording with a lot of transients like Tubular Bells. I'm
surprised, though, that it wasn't even more obvious on orchestral
percussion.

Yea I was as well.
And yes, it did sound clearer or if you look at it the other way, the
Magnavox sounded fuzzy with less 'ring' to the bell.
Best I can describe it is like a pure sine wave vs a sine wave on the
verge of clipping.

Whenever anything sounds brighter and clearer, I am immediately
suspicious that something bad is going on. This may be due to some sort
of innate skepticism or maybe too many bad A/B tests in my youth...
--scott

I don't have as much experience as you do Scott, but when I hear MAJOR
differences in what is perceived to be high end equipment, I am
suspicious.
The BOSE dog and pony show was one such experience.
They ran a Tascam/TEAC 3440 15ips tape of Manhattan Transfer live through
901's and of course it sounded great. When I started poking around the
desk at the rear of the room they chased me away. The tape was obviously
"juiced" somehow because I had that same album (a cutout BTW) and I never
heard it sound like that, nor had I ever heard Bose anything sound like
that. At the time I was running a Mcintosh amp through some Allison One
speakers.


Bose 901's use an external EQ box to help achieve whatever sound
'quality' they get, so if one were really wanting to go all out by
using a parametric EQ or something, the results be different, at
least.