And there are those who spend hundreds of dollars on a-c power cords for their audio systems that have been cryogenically treated to "align the copper crystals to avoid turbulence in the a-c power flowing through the cord from the wall outlet".
The problem is that human perception determines satisfaction, and perception is not always based on objective data. 73, Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Doug Person Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 2:25 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Audio circuit distortion I once wired a guy's $20K audio system with RG8. He claimed it made all the difference. He also claimed that vinyl was vastly superior to CD's. I told him he had a wonderful imagination. The very best and cleanest vinyl with a radial tracking arm turntable and a top of the line cartridge could just barely make a 40db s/n. Digital audio can do 100db anytime. Many years of selling audio gear taught me about the psychology of hearing. It takes an experienced ear to appreciate a truly flat response. Most people prefer a very unbalanced equalization. I got lots of chuckles switching between a $300 system and a $3000 system and having most people prefer the cheap setup. Having designed loud speakers professionally (of which 1,000s were sold), I am equipped with very refined and experienced hearing. Unless you were listening to FM broadcast, how could you possibly appreciate a .3% THD? I always assumed anything less than 1% was more than adequate for our kind of communications. If we get down to this level of performance, we'll need to work on the 50% or so of stations that only concern themselves with output power - not audio quality. There is a lot of dreadfully distorted signals on 20 meter SSB. Nothing beats working a station that is s9+20 and barely understandable because he has compression and mic gain pushed up so he sees 1500 watts on his output meter all the time. So, IMHO, the K3 has absolutely splendid audio when I have a chance to work another station whose audio is actually adjusted correctly. It amazes me that most rigs today have a monitor function. Must be the most unused feature of all time. 73, Doug -- K0DXV ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html