It just isn't so


I have built solid state and tube amplifiers as well as having worked
on, listened to, and sold both kinds for both professional and home
use. I think I know a little about amplifiers. Slone does too, but not
as much as he thinks.

This book is just one disgruntled technofundamentalist's cranky
ranting. He presents his projects after his ranting against other
approaches as though they were the inerrant gift from the
amplifier-deity, without any good walkthrough as to the whys and
wherefores.

Unfortunately for him, some of us question all things. We question why
professional mastering and mixdown engineers as well as serious
listeners don't believe all amplifiers sound the same, good-measuring
or otherwise. We question why THD and bandpass measurements are even
considered relevant anymore when there is no correlation between them
and perceived sound. And we especially call into question why his
designs have not swept the DIY community and ben brought into
commercial manufacture "through the back door", if they're so great,
as happened with the seminal articles, first Russ Hamm's JAES paper
and then Alan Douglas' article "Tubes in Japan", which was the first
inkling that Japanese audiophiles and some sneaky snake audio dealers
had nearly eviscerated America of the classic Western Electric theatre
gear and horn speakers. Within a year Joe Roberts had introduced
"Sound Practices" magazine, DIYers were cloning WE 91's, and
mainstream High End makers were selling single ended amplifiers. If
Slone's amp were anything but mediocre, it would have happened again.
It is, it hasn't, and it won't. Phooey on you, Slone!

"Paul" wrote in message
om


Unfortunately for him, some of us question all things.

Informed skepticism can be a good thing. But the beauty of skepticism is in
the answers, not the questions.

We question why
professional mastering and mixdown engineers as well as serious
listeners don't believe all amplifiers sound the same, good-measuring
or otherwise.

Sinple - they don't do proper listening tests.

We question why THD and bandpass measurements are even
considered relevant anymore when there is no correlation between them
and perceived sound.

Except there is. Get THD really low, and music sounds more like the
origiional. Get THD really high, and music sounds like trash.

And we especially call into question why his
designs have not swept the DIY community and ben brought into
commercial manufacture "through the back door", if they're so great,
as happened with the seminal articles, first Russ Hamm's JAES paper

Hamm's JAES paper is an intellectual travesty. It is easy to deconstruct,
and this has been done many times.

and then Alan Douglas' article "Tubes in Japan", which was the first
inkling that Japanese audiophiles and some sneaky snake audio dealers
had nearly eviscerated America of the classic Western Electric theatre
gear and horn speakers.

Japanese audiophiles of this ilk are well-known for their religious, not
intellectual approach to audio.

Within a year Joe Roberts had introduced
"Sound Practices" magazine, DIYers were cloning WE 91's, and
mainstream High End makers were selling single ended amplifiers.

The High End of Audio is a marketing concept, not a quest for higher
fidelity.