Sep 24th, 2015
Q) First: I like your web site and I like that it is important to you that you express yourself. When running my own video production biz, once upon a time, I had many of the same feelings about quality and customer relations, etc.. I wish I was the guy who could work with you. I recently puchased a used Odyssey Khatago ampifier. Got a very nice deal. This replaced an Adcom 535. My current Speakers are old (re-edged) Boston Acoustics A-100 series II, and my preamp is a Carver c-1. I am a vinyl fan. With the new amp I hear a wonderful new clarity and presence in my CDs, but I do not consistently hear quite the improvement from the records. So I am questioning the Carver's phono stage. Could the C-1 be the issue? Can it be upgraded (by You)? Or, alternatively, what do you recommend for good pre-amps or phono stages? I am aware of your APT Holman upgrades but do not know if They are the answer here.
Thanks for your thoughts.
A) Much of what I would tell you is in a couple of the web page articles. I'll apologize up front for what I might say to offend any audiophile but the simple truth is that most speakers just plain stink and to make judgment calls about any decently designed electronics is suspect at best. Speakers mostly are paper, plastic, wire and glue. There is no way for such a speaker of these designs to create with absolute realism a full spectrum recording. However it is possible that if the program material is not too complex, and the recording is done well that an excellent and very satisfying spatial imaging can be created with dynamic driver systems. That's where good audio engineering comes in. Some engineers know how to get the recording to sound likeable. But ultimately the only way to get towards true audio fidelity is to use cutting edge speaker technology. So many changes have occurred in designing magnet structures and diaphragm materials to act as transducers that certainly remarkable speakers have been built. The simple truth is it could be better. This area is where the action is.
All this excessive and compulsive concern about wire and special amps doesn't really go far enough (it goes some) to fix the real problems. Trust me, once you’ve heard a set of phase corrected controlled dispersion monitor speakers you will be enlightened. Then the realization will be to get some processor device which can enhance or correct the flaws in the recording. Truth is real engineers over the last 50 years concern themselves with this matter but marketing gives us special wire, special DAC's, or whatever to keep the audiophile digging into his wallet. Unfortunately, by some peoples opinions, (like crazed audiophile dealers) it has become undignified to own a spatial enhancement device or even an equalizer. Come on, all of this stuff was already used to create the music we spin. Records are notoriously bad and they require the best (but not expensive) cartridges to retrieve the signal. This is another electrical acoustic device again like speakers made of wire and magnets and glue which has to reproduce incredibly delicate signals. Well designed preamps can certainly help. Many people do not realize that phono preamps require some clever and basic design tricks to recover vinyl audio transmitted down a diamond mounted on a tiny lever wiggling a little magnet or coil to create sound. No doubt class A FET input preamp design is best conventional and reasonable way to amplify miniscule signal levels. Such designs are used in microphones and their preamps too (believe it or not there is a lot of similarity in the electronic design).
What Apt did was make all the preamping circuits optimal for their purpose, such as a class A FET phono preamp as well as correct use of op amps for impedance matching stages and equalization. Yes there are some modern preamps which might be better, but not by much I can tell you that. All things being equal and units put side by side and people blindfolded, seldom can anyone tell. However, some manufacturers like Carver just do the basic design and mostly their products are sold on image and style not to pick on them in particular, so many other companies do it too. (Carver company products were built for them by Sanyo, Pioneer, and others). They are OK, but you buy them for looks and some special function. By and large they are only somewhat responsible for the final quality of sound (Unless they are outright stupid designs or failed circuit parts). A quick example might be the Carver uses 4136 type op amp which is notoriously poor on distortion and noise floor, but some people like a veiled and slightly fuzzy sound. They also think this is High Fidelity!! The frequency response for input to output of a preamp can vary slightly even between channels. As well with most preamp proximity of circuit foils and circuit parts can allow crosstalk, ie signal leakage to the other channel. These design problems can create sonic effects. Believe me, I've seen fancy equipment that fails miserably to avoid these problems, but people have their opinions. I'm just the messenger. It's a lot of spin in selling the fancy stuff you know.
Adcom, APT, and many others truly tried to create a more exacting product. The trouble is better may not translate to the audiophile because his room or speakers or phono cartridge has some non linear idiosyncrasy which creates a certain sound effect which the listener becomes acclimated to. So sometimes using an inferior device might offset some problem elsewhere. Me, I try to get it right all through the entire audio chain and I'm always using an equalizer carefully to fix the program material. Refer to the website about my comment of how thousands of different people who play, who make, and who distribute the music really control what you hear. Truly you are at their mercy. Get better speakers, learn how to use an equalizer or similar and you will be set free.