In article ,
John Phillips wrote:
The only time I listened to a (4 W) SET amplifier it was driving a pair
of 'speakers which had a sensitivity of just 84 dB SPL at 1 m for 1 W.
To my ears the system was distorting badly and, as it happened, I was
able to verify that it was indeed clipping (albeit soft clipping).

But the owner would have none of this and described the sound as highly
lifelike. I backed off, of course. Although the system sounded bad to
me, if the owner was enjoying it then who was I to say what he should
or should not enjoy.

It seems to me that human sensitivity to distortion can be very variable.
I seem to be somewhat sensitive. Others are clearly not.

I think that sensitivity can be developed by training but I have come
to the conclsion that I would never take any such training. It could
only lead to less satisfaction with audio kit and never more.

We actually have a very easy way of checking for *gross* distortion - the
time pips on R4. Assuming you know what clean sine wave sounds like, that
is. Try playing those back from vinyl...

--
*I started out with nothing... and I still have most of it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.