I think it depends on the type of equipment. IMO there is no excuse for sources or amps to be anything other than accurate. To deviate from accuracy is to reduce the application of that source or amp to systems which complement that deviation. I don't understand why any designer would do that. Actually I do - couple a real difference from the crowd (although inaccurate) with subconscious bias or expectation and you can convince enough people your source or amp "blows away" the competitors. In fact, any source or amp (amp operating within designed load constraints) worth its salt won't sound all that different from others worth their salt. This is because sources and amps carry just electrical signals - "straight wire with gain" is the very valid target. I think we've seen the convergence in SQ of decent digital sources in recent years - more and more people struggle to tell between them.
When it comes to speakers that's another matter. Each speaker and each room interacts differently. The game is much more complex than just an electrical signal, so there is no perfect loudspeaker and no universal definition of accuracy. Some aspects of accuracy remain (distortion, frequency extension etc) but everything else depends so much on the room. And taste. Also design compromises are necessary between performance characteristics using current techniques e.g. bass extension vs speed. Taste again. Darren -- darrenyeats SB3 / Inguz -> Krell KAV-300i (pre bypass) -> PMC AB-1 Dell laptop -> JVC UX-C30 mini system ------------------------------------------------------------------------ darrenyeats's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10799 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=49757 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
