"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 15:16:22 -0000, "JustMe" wrote:

"Ian Molton" wrote in message
...
JustMe wrote:

Many of you chaps believe that the Peter Walker(?) "straight-wire"
ideal
is
that which any "hifi" designer should aspire to construct.

Do you think that this is attainable?

To all intents and purposes it has been attained in all good SS amps
(And a handful of exceptional valve amps)

Please can you suggest some examples? (Hopefully I will know at least
one!)

Audiolab 8000S, and the 8000P power amp. Common enough, and
essentually 'blameless', as Doug Self would say.

Well I know these amps very well and used to own an 8000S, so I'd find
that
to be a useful reference.

So, who's going to build me an Alchemist Kraken APD6aII filter for use
with
an 8000S then?

That depends what was wrong with the Kraken! If it's not a simple FR
difference, then a filter isn't going to do it. From your description,
it sounds more likely that it was a combination of weak bass and high
distortion, either crossover or HF IMD. You could likely synthesise
this with a good DSP unit (and a good programmer!), but wouldn't it be
simpler just to buy another amp?

There's nothing wrong with the Kraken - I love it, it sounds better than the
Audiolab (see thread "Amp swap disappointment" for more).
I don't want to buy another amp - I'm going to flog the Audiolab shortly and
continue to enjoy the pleasures of the Kraken.
If you were to apply any simple description to the sound, it wouldn't be
weak bass, in my opinion, but rounded-off HF.

I presume such a filter could be built to be inserted via the 8000S's
pre-power loop, enabling a very simple switch between "8000S
straight-line
integrated" and "8000S Pre/Power/Alchemist mode" )

I'm happy to provide the amp for measurement and, from what I've read,
Stewart will be glad to provide an environment for a double-blind test
;o)

Sure, although I'm not sure that fiddling with filters is going to
give you what you're looking for. If you really do want 'character' in
your amplifier, perhaps you should look at single-ended valve designs.

I don't have any experience with these.

BTW I'm not making any claims to right/wrong on any issue here, but I
find
this a very interesting concept and, to me at least, the results of such
a
test would have a profound impact on the way I would look at different
amps
and the choices made by those who design and build hifi products. It
would
also make an interesting article for a decent hifi mag and a good website
too.

Of course, some of you may think that this is nothing new and an
unrealistic
quest, but I'm not aware of a hifi product "simulator" and would be glad
to
buy one at a reasonable price, if it worked accurately.

For performance rather than reproduction, I believe that Marshall do a
range of amps which have 'valvesound' simulators built in. OTOH, I'm
informed that they don't really sound the same as a classic valved
Marshall (shrug).

So then, from what you and others would say, the "filters" or "DSPs" used
now, are NOT able to accurately emulate other amps with accuracy and the
technology to do so may be some way off and/or be too expensive?