Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[sq225917]

jerry try a Levinson ;-)

[Marco]

Although what 'Laboratory Series' is meant to convey escapes me.

Didn't you know? Ashley fancied (still fancies) himself as a scientist, and so got a hard-on from slipping his white lab coat on (with matching knickers) and calling it the 'Laboratory Series'!

I believe there's even a (now deleted) video of him, which accompanied the instruction manuals, sporting said attire and a cheeky wee grin, whilst stroking some inverted test tubes, with a rather worrying fondness...

Also, he thought that the name 'Laboratory Series' would evoke how the equipment had been designed with the emphasis on measurements, and thus this would give it kudos in the eyes of the impressionable (some would say, easily impressed) objectivist fraternity.

Rather laughable, huh?

Marco.

[Reid Malenfant]

Also, he thought that the name 'Laboratory Series' would evoke how the equipment had been designed with the emphasis on measurements, and thus this would give it kudos in the eyes of the impressionable (some would say, easily impressed) objectivist fraternity.

I think that's wrong Marco To me it sounded sterile, it had no life like decent kit does which makes the music sing. We all know laboratories are kept sterile now don't we

I bought the Classe DR5 simply because it gave the music far more life & believability than old sterile here (& others). The Classe didn't even get adequate time to get to temperature either & it still wiped the floor with it

[jandl100]

It surprises my that the AVI has better control in the bass than the Krell

The AVi is astonishingly good in the bass, Mark.
I mean awesome control and slam.
It would have to be to beat the Krell, which is damn good in its own right.

"Sterile" .... mmmm, in the wrong system, maybe. It is a bit forward in my system, but very transparent and detailed (partly because of the slight treble emphasis, I am sure).

[Reid Malenfant]

I was getting bugged by that Jerry, but having thought of what I just mentioned in my last post I reckon I have a good idea why that is & why the thing sounded a bit bland to my ears.


Loadsa feedback

[jandl100]

Feedback loosening up the AVi pre's bass you mean, Mark? You used LPs exclusively in your pre-amp comparisons?

(I've slightly updated my last post, btw!)

[Marco]

I think that's wrong Marco. To me it sounded sterile, it had no life like decent kit does which makes the music sing. We all know laboratories are kept sterile now don't we...

Ha - and that's also what happens when you trust the readouts on oscilloscopes and spectrum analysers more than you do your own ears!

I bought the Classe DR5 simply because it gave the music far more life & believability than old sterile here (& others). The Classe didn't even get adequate time to get to temperature either & it still wiped the floor with it

Join the club! Sterility appears to be synonymous with the AVI brand. I believe that Jerry also once 'enjoyed' ADM9s, finding them rather uninspiring and anodyne sounding.

Marco.

[Reid Malenfant]

Not really no. The Krell being what it is will be a discrete circuit in full class A from input to output & run at high current so it could drive just about any power amplifier over long distance cables. If I remember right the output impedance is almost low enough for it to drive an 8 ohm speaker to a Watt or so Along with this the circuit uses low amounts of feedback, it doesn't need great gobs of it to lower the distortion as it's inherantly low anyway due to the very heavy class A operation.

The AVI on the other hand sounds like it's using a great deal more feedback, this would explain it's possibly greater bass control (system depedant of course) & it's kind of bland presentation that I heard back in the day.

The thing with feedback is it increases (up to a certain point) the lower frequency it is producing, so it could well have loads of control at the bass end because it has a shed load of feedback, but at the middle & upper frequencies all this feedback isn't the best way of getting a musical presentation IMHO.


If it was we'd all be listening to Technics amplifiers


E2A:- It was exclusively CD listening on speakers & power amps I was very accustomed to.

[Marco]

I was getting bugged by that Jerry, but having thought of what I just mentioned in my last post I reckon I have a good idea why that is & why the thing sounded a bit bland to my ears.


Loadsa feedback

Indeed. Excessive feedback is the spawn of the devil. That is the primary reason why so much solid-state kit gets a bad rep. I should point out the best stuff isn't designed that way.

The problem is that the pseudo-scientist brigade amongst audio designers, in the quest for 'perfect' measurements and the tightest bass, surround their kit in so much feedback, that it strangles the life out of it, and thus prevent it from allowing music to 'breathe' naturally.

I always find it rather educational when experimenting with reducing and increasing the feedback on my copper amp, by applying the use of various resistors, and the subsequent effect it has on how convincingly it reproduces recorded music!

Marco.

[Reid Malenfant]

Originally Posted by Reid Malenfant
I was getting bugged by that Jerry, but having thought of what I just mentioned in my last post I reckon I have a good idea why that is & why the thing sounded a bit bland to my ears.


Loadsa feedback

Indeed. Excessive feedback is the spawn of the devil. That is the primary reason why so much solid-state kit gets a bad rep. I should point out the best stuff isn't designed that way.

The problem is that the pseudo-scientist brigade amongst audio designers, in the quest for 'perfect' measurements and the tightest bass, surround their kit in so much feedback, that it strangles the life out of it, and thus prevent it from allowing music to 'breathe' naturally.

Marco.

Now you know that & I know that & as I'm all to aware at least one engineer on here knows it to

But hardly anyone else does even if they find a more musical pre or power amp, they don't know what kills the music with bland kit.


Nice to know we agree on at least three things now