My opinion is that as long as a signal is digital or electrical a component doesn't have to "achieve" anything other than passing the signal along without distorting it.
Soundstage, microdynamics, detail, bass extension, danceability, chocolateyness etc are all human descriptions. If the component doesn't distort the signal then that component is not the problem (the original recording might be the problem, or the listener, or the mixing engineer). Microphones and loudspeakers have a much tougher job because that is the moving air / electrical interface. For example, loudspeaker designers have to make assumptions about the size and nature of the room, the positioning of the listeners etc. So there isn't a single "correct" design of loudspeaker not even in theory if zero distortion were possible from the drivers. However, there is a theoretically "correct" design of a source with zero distortion (because sources aren't affected by those additional things loudspeakers must take into account). The point being, that a lot of modern sources have very low distortion and that is all we need of them. That's why, for example, we don't expect a Transporter, a Linn DS or some future perfect source to provide previously unheard dynamic range in an Oasis recording: Oasis recordings are just compressed. What do expect a million dollar source to achieve? The point becomes more plain if we imagine a million dollar binding post on a speaker. What can that achieve? At best it can sound as if there were no binding post. If a reviewer said it cured his prominent mid-bass I would be suspicious. It isn't the job of binding posts to cure prominent mid-bass, that is the job of room treatments, or loudspeaker designers, or EQ correction. For me binding posts and sources are the same in that I expect them to have a minimal distorting effect on the signal (even when Dr. Hook is playing). Of course taste comes into home audio but tweaks should be at the speaker or room end (or with EQ facilities) not with sources or binding posts. 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=38815 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
