Hard to imagine

PS Audio

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<p>How the sound of <a title="Round of applause" href="http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/round-of-applause/12873/">clapping</a> can be so hard for an amplifier to properly reproduce when music should be ultimate challenge. *And equally hard to imagine how the noise between FM radio stations can help us design better amplifiers and cables; yet I am reminded it can.</p>
<p>This whole notion of designer’s improving musical performance in equipment by listening to something other than music is intriguing and has sparked much debate. *Although I am new to the idea it’s apparently been part of the designer’s toolkit for some time now. *Thanks to all of you helping send me articles and thoughts about the subject.</p>
<p>The whole thing kind of reminds me of television engineers working at the single pixel level to get a perfect tiny dot. *Their ultimate goal is a perfect picture made of thousands of such dots, but by focusing on only one tiny dot, great progress can be made at the microscopic pixel level.</p>
<p>And pulling back to an extraordinarily wide macro view helps as well. *Sometimes the best listeners make the most accurate observations by simply walking into a room with the stereo playing, being off axis and noting something an involved and immersed listener totally missed.</p>
<p>Perhaps part of the art of observation has to do with letting go of one’s laser focus and preconceptions. *Wipe the slate clean and see what you get.</p>

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[Source: http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/hard-to-imagine/12878/]
 
Paul,

Years ago, a friend of mine asked me how I could review a $200 receiver one month, and then write up a review on a $10,000 amp the following month. To be honest, I never even considered this juxtaposition. Not until he mentioned it. After all, my process was and has always been incredibly straight forward. Ya bring in a product, ya determine what it was engineered to accomplish, then ya evaluate the product based on those (and a few other) merits. Once the job is done, you wipe the slate clean and repeat the process all over again.

As an aside: It's funny you should mention the value of listening to a system at the macro level. I noticed that my favorite systems tend to be the ones that sound great even when you're situated outside of the actual listening room.
 
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