Real World Audio

Comments From the Real World Audio You Tube channel

This page is a mix of different ideas, under serious (under)development.

This section will be more like a blog.... I'm copying substantial comments left by subscribers of the Real World Audio You Tube channel.

I found these comments of higher value than to be left unexplored as a footnote to an obscure video...

Skill progression for beginners on amplifier DIY:

Safety first (see my vid on that)
Built interconnects. Get you soldering skills developed, and get used to PTP connection before you tackle complexity and dangerous voltages.
Get a simple kit and put it together following the kit instructions. (Speakers crossover is the best for starters.)
Amp kit. (Stereo 35, stereo 70, spud amp, Bottlehead, Decware)
Learn to read schematics & be familiar with what parts a tube circuit has. My Darling amplifier build is a great starting point as it has all the parts a tube amp has, with the utmost simplicity.

Parts of tube amplifier schematics:

High voltage power supply section (provides energy to generate sound)
Low voltage power supply section (heats tubes)
Signal section (amplifies signal)

Signal section:

How it works: Input signal -> amplification (primarily voltage) -> U/I conversion by OPT -> output
Voltage amplification has to be more than a single tube can handle to have considerable output power.
The fewer steps in amplification, the more intact the micro detail level and harmonic content & texture remains, yet output power and bandwidth will be limited.
To increase bandW and Pout, additional stages are added which increase the errors/distotions/omissions generated. To fix these problems we need feedback, which in turn requires ADDITIONAL stages that inject ADDITIONAL error/omission/distortion. Result: high P & BW, yet loss of fine texture, mechanical sound. To keep sound non-mechanical, we need as FEW stages as possible from source to speakers. (Includes phono stage, preamp, amp).
To increase BW and quality of few stages, higher quality parts must be used. Shorter signal paths. PTP. Every single element counts and shows up in the sound. (When as little difference as a change in a single solder joint is audible, it also means that equally soft changes in the music are also audible!!!)
To increase SPL with few stages,increase speaker sensitivity! (86dB/Wm-> 96dB/Wm is equivalent to x10 less power required!) The golden rule of audiophiles is to get a speaker sensitivity x amplifier output power of: 102dB/m. And then you will get a system that can play LOUD with enough headroom for MOST people listening to loud music. So, if you have a 10W per channel (WPC) loudspeaker, you need a 92dB/Wm loudspeaker, and that combination will get you to 102dB/m. For example, my SET has 1.2W WPC, and my speakers are 102dB//Wm, and this combination gets 103dB/m, around the 102dB/m range. Of course, you can go for lower combinations - eg 92dB/Wm speakers with 3W amplifier for a 97dB/m peak SPL capacity. My 807 Darling / Voigt pipe with Cube Audio Fc8 combo is around that range, it fully energizes the room, bass down to 25Hz gets the floor shaking and the hair stand up on my back. It is live and vibrant and I never noticed I would need more "power".

Real Hi-Fi Help Larry Different topic: Maybe you can comment on the first video of the Magico factory tour with Jay from Jays audio lab, where the inventor says to Jay that the air/space we hear in recordings is actually noise. Does that then mean that we have to have noise for it to sound good, or that we get this noise free sound which is a vacuum that you talk about? And maybe you could also talk about the rubber seal on a driver that secures the speaker units to the cabinet on how it colors the sound, and how a cabinet made of wood colors the sound while a cabinet out of stone and metal makes it a lot colorless?

https://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/je-labs-linestage/

https://ultra-fi.blogspot.com/2010/01/sound-practices-reading-club-1.html

http://mmiworks.net/sprc/SP1-Roberts.pdf

http://jelabsarch.blogspot.com/2012/06/je-labs-se300b-classic-and-deluxe.html

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0801/fleshandblood.htm

http://www.tubebooks.org/

Tube operation Basics:

Cathode has to be heated. (By filament / heater supply) This will cause electrons to flow from cathode (negative charge) to anode (positive charge).
The electron flow, when uncontrolled is like an avalanche, the tube will overheat and self destruct.
The electron flow is regulated by the grid. We apply a voltage that is more negative than the cathode to restrict the flow. Lower the voltage (in Volts) , less electron flow (in milli Amperes).
The resting (steady) electron flow needs to be regulated. This is called biasing. Depending on the flow (biasing), the operation will be class A, B, C, etc. This can be done by self-bias (through cathode) or fixed bias (through external fixed voltage supply).
The audio signal reaches the tube through the grid. So, at any given time, the tube is controlled by applying both biasing and signal.

Double Blind testing - ideas to share

What do we want to achieve with the test? To show what MOST people can expect, OR to show what is the POTENTIAL of the gear? Most people will vouch for anything that has more bass, more top end, or more punch in an A/B comparison, and put little value to how well a violin is portrayed, and whether the singer sound like a real person or you are getting overblown details and hearing an overcontrasted speech rendering that gives you artificially highlighted details that are not perceived as such in a real event.
When our goal is to predict how well a product will be accepted in an average household, then AB test with random folks is a PERFECT predictor of "average perceived performance". However, when you are not going for the lowest common denominator to watch football games, or guesstimate your future sales, but you are a MUSIC LOVER or AUDIOPHILE: Then you have ASPIRATIONS to PROGRESS WITH YOUR SKILL LEVEL, instead of STAGNATION AND BALLING FOR LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR - then you must seek out reports that facilitate progression, and the expert opinion of a conductor / professional musician will be a shining beacon for you.
My channel is about SELF IMPROVEMENT, that's why I do NOT give advice that KEEPS YOU ROLLING COMFY IN THE BACK WATERS to boost sales of medicore gear.
These are my personal, subjective observations that I made after 20+ years of beeing a keen observer of sound, music and PEOPLE. If your perceptions are different, I respect them and my intention is not to hurt you. As I said above, every single person has a DIFFERENT perception of sound, hence you CANNOT put your trust BLINDLY to any BLIND test, especially while being BLIND to decisive study PARAMETERS and the GOAL of the blind test.

A/B testing results are ALWAYS SKEWED

The OBSERVER (subject, listener) is the key to each listening test.
The PRESSURE to PERFORM at an A/B test changes the STATE OF MIND of the observer.
Known scientific fact: when we are stressed and agitated, or pressure to perform then brain operates in BETA WAVES where we have faster response times that enable our fight or flight reflexes. This is also known as the "waking state" of mind. We are also in this state when we are at an audio get together and listening intently to the sound with our buddies. That's the reason why we have superficial experiences at audio get-togethers.
When you are relaxed, your brain waves slow (to alpha waves or longer), then your PERCEPTION OF SOUND AND MUSIC GREATLY CHANGES, your ability to distinguish small details drastically improves, especially the ability to hear very faint sounds. This is the state we do our listenings at home, late night.... BIG PART OF AUDIO LEARNING EXPERIENCE IS YOU LEARNING HOW TO ENTER THIS STATE, and listen from this state of mind. You will notice that certain gear types will HELP YOU reach this stat easily (tubes and analog), and others will KEEP YOU AWAY FROM IT (solid state and digital).
What you perceive is very different in the two states of mind.
Now, during testing you are in a very different state of mind compared to during an involved listening experience. Hence, how you perceive something fully awake does not describe what you will experience when in a semi-meditative state.

Not strictly audio... more of history & music history......

The Three Women Who Shaped Our World (1100-s, early 1200s)

Anna Komnene (Alexiad): 1083-1153 12th century, daughter of Byzantine emperor. FOUNDER OF MODERN HISTORY. (Objective historical accounts versus morality-based dramatization driven by religious rhetoric to strengthen rulers position.) Her book: Alexiad contains account of the first crusade, and is the most objective insight to the events of the 12th century.

"My material ... has been gathered from insignificant writings, absolutely devoid of literary pretensions, and from old soldiers who were serving in the army at the time that my father seized the Roman sceptre ... I based the truth of my history on them by examining their narratives and comparing them with what I had written, and what they told me with what I had often heard, from my father in particular and from my uncles … From all these materials the whole fabric of my history – my true history – has been woven".[47] Beyond just eyewitness accounts from veterans or her male family members, scholars have also noted that Anna used the imperial archives, which allowed her access to official documents. - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Komnene

Saint Hildegard Von Bingen: 1098-1179 12th century. Abbess, Mother superior. FOUNDER OF NATURAL SCIENCES AND PRIME SOURCE OF MEDIEVAL MUSIC. Wrote both her lyrics and score. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_Ignota

Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia / Hungary: 1207-1231 early 13th century, lived for mere 24 years. FOUNDER OF HOSPITALS. (Built first hospital in the modern Western world using her dowry.) Saint of the highest order (yup, Christian saints are ranked, they are not equal in stature. At the highest level are Mary, mother of Jesus AND Saint Elizabeth). She is Andrew IIs daughter, Attila's descendant.

Underestimated / unseen contribution of women, modern example: Watson & Crick: without Barbara McClintock they would not have made it. (Barbara was the genius, these were just lucky pranksters in comparison basing their fortune on Barbaras intellect).

Comment on the video:

https://youtu.be/-WYqFjpN0Mo

Hugo Bloemers @Real World Audio On one hand I can kind of understand it because brick and mortar shops are disappearing. On the other hand, I think the videos you made and the comments over time, kind of made it clear that la Grande and le Petit are not beginner loudspeakers. So if you are a long time audiophile and you want to take a different direction, you may have to bite the bullet. After all, building a set of le Petit speakers (which will give you a far better idea of what la Grande does than any sound file on what ever dead cabinet you may have) only cost as much as a cable you may be buying without blinking. But whilst the cable is merely a tweak, le Petit / la Grande is a new chapter in your Audio journey. After that experience you will know which direction to go, either back or forth. If you can not take that leap in a total new direction based on what people describe maybe you should just forget you ever heard of these kind of speakers. It is also good to know, we can not have all our life in bite size pieces. At some point you have to put in the work.

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