LB: Audiophiles often spend considerable amount of money of special cables, anti-resonance devices, and a variety of other “tweaks, ” yet such things are rarely used in the “pro-audio” world (including recording studios). What do you think explains this disparity?
MK: As you know, I spent 20 years in recording studios as a musician, composer and engineer, but did not get heavily into hi-end audio until after my pro career. Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s there was a guy named Richard Rose who used to travel from studio to studio hawking Perreau amps, Tannoy speakers, Kimber cable and a few other there-to-fore unheard of products as recording studio improvements. Richard’s contention was that you needed to hear exactly what you had recorded in order to know that you had made a good recording. He was a studio sound playback tweaker and probably ahead of his time. He now has his own design amps and speakers under the name of Hot House. http://hothousepro.com/
Back then, most recording facilities did use equipment that was far better than most home stereos and did a great job of making recordings; still do today as a rule. But home playback equipment design has taken substantial leaps in quality in the last two decades in both hi-end and off the shelf appliance chain models. It’s not that recordings have become better; it’s the playback of the recordings that is better, in general. There is also a broader spectrum of (good?) designs in both electronics and speakers. This might explain why some recordings (especially older ones) sound different from system to system, whether hi-end or stereo in a box.
So, to finally answer your question and get into some trouble, I think that there are many reasons why audiophiles have tweaks like “Dots” and “Points” and “Gold fuses” and “…” and recording engineers do not, but the one that most explains it is “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Basically no one wants to admit that they don’t hear a difference. It’s like mini-mass hysteria; similar to the kind that spreads alien abduction stories. Many times when I’m at an audiophile cable swapping session, I think to myself how can I design audio gear that others like when I can’t hear the difference between power cords, fuses, cables, etc. All I can say is that my ears must suck! Another reason tweaks are successful, is money. After spending a lot of cash on a tweak (that the manufacturers, reviewers and audiophiles of the mini-mass hysteria said “Worked great” Note: they really said about 200 words, many of which I cannot pronounce or spell, to describe the product as “Worked Great”), it simply has to be better. Recently an audiophile said to me, “I don’t care if what I hear is a placebo effect. If it sounds better to me, then it was worth the money spent.” Good grief, Charlie Brown. I think that’s enough on this. For a fascinating insight into why tweaks cables etc., are mostly voodoo, please visit the website of Rod Elliott:
http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm. This site is chock full of all kinds of valuable audio info compiled and written by Rod, who is an excellent designer of pro and consumer audio products, and should be mandatory reading for all audiophiles.
LB: Along the same lines, certain parts manufacturers have become buzzwords in high-end audio. What are your thoughts on this topic, and how do you select the parts you use in your preamplifiers and speakers?
MK: This is a very delicate, controversial and misunderstood topic, so I’ll give you some facts first, and later add some possible explanations for areas where facts can’t necessarily explain everything.
Fact: Resistors have inherent noise. We can’t hear this noise, but we can measure it. Higher values equal greater noise. Different compositions also have different noise levels. Carbon composition resistors are by far the noisiest. The leads on resistors also contribute parasitic inductances and capacitances. Therefore leadless or SMD (surface mounted devices) are less noisy and generate less parasitics and should sound better. And there lies the problem! What is better?
Is less noise better? Is less harmonic distortion better? Don’t ask a tube lover. Apparently they love distortion. They call it euphonic, but it’s distortion, period. And many tube designs still include carbon comp resistors, so they must love noise too. So rather than “better,” I would like to start using the term “different.”
It is very possible that these parasitics and noise, combined with the composition are what makes the same design sound different with different components even though when we measure only the audible spectrum they look (when graphed) and measure the same.
We manufacture an XR series in both the Divinitive and Phonatic; the main design difference (there are slight power supply mods) from our non-XRs is that all tanfilm SMD resistors are replaced with Z-foil SMD resistors. I can tell the difference blindly, but it’s a subtle difference. It’s almost like my ears and brain can smell the difference rather than hear it. It’s similar to what you feel upon hearing the voice of someone you love over just anyone else’s voice. But that’s the changing of dozens of components, almost five dozen in the PhonaticXR. And the composition and noise specs of the resistors are different, and they cost almost ten times more to manufacture. And I also have listened to each design for hundreds (possibly thousands) of hours and am very familiar with their sonic signatures. I could never do this with a simple A-B swap.
To say that one or two resistors of equal or very similar measurable parameters from different manufacturers can make a difference in the same circuit is probably nonsense when directly in the audio path and to say this when not in the audio path is utter nonsense and a waste of money.
In the aforementioned controlled passive attenuator tests, listening could not reveal any conclusive discernable difference between a 10-cent and a 10-dollar resistor in a ladder.
(Again refer to the articles of Rod Elliott for more info.)
I believe that for capacitors it’s a little different, but again only for those directly in the audio path. As bypass and supply decoupling devices it is more important to have the correct value and composition, than a particular manufacturer. If you need to remove ripple at 1MHz in a power supply, then you need a cap of the proper value and specs that will accomplish that task. As composition usually determines size and cost you need to select a size that fits in your case (or on your PC board) and a price that fits the budget. Once a manufacturer has done this correctly, you can swap all you want and it won’t make the sound any better (here better works) but you can make it different (worse.)
Directly in the audio path, I’m open to the possibility that capacitors of different compositions can make a difference in sound, especially in speaker crossovers and AC coupling circuits. But these will have different noise, ESR and other inaudible, yet measurable parameters.
But then I say that if we hear a difference we should be able to measure it in the audible spectrum. I’m still trying to figure out a way to prove this no matter how subtle the difference and I believe that soon we will have enough processing power to accomplish this and finally put to rest a controversy that over the years has wasted millions of audiophile quality dollars.
Unfortunately, there will be always a doubting Thomas out there who even though smacked in the face with conclusive evidence will continue to believe in speculation, innuendo, rumor and the ridiculous notion that he can simply swap out a component or two and make a better product than can many years of study, design and execution. Good luck with that!
LB: You currently sell direct to the consumer, an approach that has become increasingly popular the past few years, concomitant with the closure of many brick ‘n mortar audio salons. Do you think this bodes poorly for high-end audio?
MK: Let’s be real Larry. Stores of all types are closing all around the world every day due to on-line, drop-ship and direct sales. I believe that hi-end stores will be around for as long as hi-end is around. It simply depends on how you define hi-end. Twenty years ago, if a power amp sold for less than say $5000 in today’s money, it wasn’t hi-end. Today it can be considered hi-end. Today, it may also be sold on-line. I think that for certain products there will always be a need for stores, whether it be shipping costs, or size of the product, installation needs or simply an unwillingness by manufacturers to deal with the hassles of retail. But hi-end manufacturers need to define their sales strategy and stick to it so that it’s fair to whomever carries the product. Several years ago at CES, I heard a very well known hi-end dealer from lower Manhattan arguing with a very well known manufacturer of extremely expensive front-end projectors. Said the dealer, “You ask me to carry and demonstrate your projectors in the store, and then you sell for the same price to a dealer up the street who doesn’t have a demo room. So, he tells customers to see it at my place, then come back to him for a special discounted price.” Ends up that the exhibiting dealer wanted either a substantial discount, or to have the non-demo dealer pay a higher dealer cost. The manufacturer said no. Needless to say, that manufacturer is out of business.
As a manufacturer, I believe that it’s possible to do both direct and dealer sales. For electronics items that are easy to ship, I offer a prepaid 30-day home trial. The customer pays shipping both ways. If they keep the product, we refund all shipping charges. It’s a great deal because we can sell you product for much less than a dealer, and you get to try it in your system. For our larger heavier speakers that need installation on the wall, I prefer to sell through custom installers, and dealers, and will recommend them when applicable. If there aren’t any dealers near the customer’s location, I’ll try to get one so they can audition the product, or as a last resort, sell to them directly. If an installer’s customer wants a piece of our electronics, I will split the profit with the dealer; although the margins are less, we each end up with something in our pockets and a happy customer.
I’d love to sell through dealers but a big part of the “store problem” is the profit margins needed to pay for the store. Most hi-end dealers need to make a huge profit on a sale; at least 50%. But 50% of a preamp like the Divinitive is far less profit than on a preamp costing twice as much. If the dealer has both in the store, and the customer thinks that ours sounds as good as the one costing twice as much, then the dealer makes less money on the sale. He obviously has to make twice the sales and realistically, there aren’t that many customers willing to spend twice the price for the same quality (except those who want power cords, cables and other assorted tweaks) but I digress. And those can be purchased on-line anyway at even more profit for the manufacturers. Sorry for the sarcasm, but I can’t let go of the tweak peeve.
So, for the future I see an emphasis on big ticket and heavy items in the hi-end stores, with more and more less pricey hi-end items sold directly and through on-line retailers.
LB: Any last thoughts you’d like to share with us?
MK: I would like to say that I am pleased with the progress the hi-end community has made in the last decade. For example, they are more open to incorporating subs, and more accepting of solid state systems (including opamps) and digital downloads and servers. They have become open to new technologies like class D amps and digital crossovers, and surround sound. But the most important growth has come in their education. More and more are questioning the merits of certain products and not simply taking someone’s (manufacturers and reviewers) word for it. They are asking questions and expecting answers that are more than simply long-winded flowery passages containing a ton of metaphors and adjectives like silvery, silken and ballsy. They use science and logic coupled with heightened listening skills to make conclusions. This new contingent of hi-end is more accepting of double blind testing as an evaluation process and less accepting of reviews based solely on the reviewer’s opinion, or some publicity seeking fool’s blog claiming that he can hear the difference between 2% and 4% silver solder. I am proud to be associated with some of these people who will ultimately change the look and sound of hi-end audio for the better. We’ve come a great distance, but there’s still a long hard road ahead. (Damn, there’s one of those pesky metaphors.)
MK: Mark, on behalf of dagogo I’d like to thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Dagogo readers should stay tuned, as I’ll have more to say about your products in the near future.
MK: Thank you Larry, it was my pleasure to be here. I hope I don’t insult you or cause you to lose credibility with your peers when I say that you are one of those aforementioned persons who has an inquisitive and open mind with regard to hi-end audio, and who has helped change some of my mostly negative views of hi-end reviewers.
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After reading that you would think everybody needs to hear these speakers & amplifier.