Solid State vs. Tubes - What if Transistors came first?

Simply a supposition...no slander intended.

censium paulo asinum

I remember hearing and owning both an ARC VT200 amp and a Krell FPB600 amp. Preamps were ARC REF3 and Krell KCT.  Both combos were virtually identical...the Krell had more grunt but otherwise very tube like!

Perhaps there is some favoritism here afterall?

How technology is implemented is the key!  Lots of bad SS and Tube gear...not to mention Digital and Vinyl.

I’ve had inuendo removed...isn’t suck on the offensive list as well?

The names Glupson...Bad Glupson!  Get it right Jeffkate

Glupson, my daughter is a huge fan so me and the wife are taking her for her first big concert!  Got the tx as soon as they were released online...expensive!!

I am going to see BTS on September 29th!!

Cryptic unfinished sentences from hipster posters are cool...

Of course we have taken her to see the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra at the Kimmel Center!  

She enjoys blasting BTS in my new RAM 1500 Limited with Harmon Kardon 900 Watt 19 speaker surround sound system. The subwoofers rattle our bones...great fun!  No tubes involved

Whoso thou be that passeth by; 
Where these corps entombed lie: 
Understand what I shall say, 
As at this time speak I may. 
Such as thou art, sometime was I, 
Such as I am, such shalt thou be. 

-Maritime51 aka “The Black Prince”

geoffkait, stop hating and baiting...its unbecoming!

Taradiddle!!

Maritime51 it appears, has spent to much time alone...with his old English Literature books!  All hope is lost I’m afraid;(

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.
- Carl Sagan

The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself. Oscar Wilde


I actually went to the theatre to see Interstellar...what a freaking hot mess that was! Kippy was a consultant

Deforest must have been a joy to live with...like you Maritime51:). If only his 4 wives were around today.

How about a mole in the ground?  

inna skates by with a dick reference...I get shut down if I even infer something.

Ok Maritime51, I think you are a dick.  Let’s see how long this one stays up.

Intact but corrupted 🧟‍♂️

Is there a Erdheim-West Chester type?  I live in West Chester 👀

Glupson...E-C sounds awful:(). As with most disease, Immune system/inflammation seems to be involved.  Thanks for clueing me in 👍

Hi, M51 👋🏻  Just wondering, did you take a major in egotism or does it come natural to you?

Not AH!  That would imply that you have merit.

Guess that’s a big hell yeah 👨🏻‍🚀
Remember to check your oxygen levels up there 👆 

M51, ever figure out how you damaged your Kef 900’s?

Turbines explain the deafness but the dumb part seems to come natural ✈️👂

Live acoustic music is not tubelike or SS.  It is somewhere between the two in many ways.  It is not exceptionally rounded or flat, overly warm or cold or particularly rolled off nor piercing.  It is clear, undistorted, unconfined and full of dynamic shadings.  It is unique unto itself.  There is certainly no imaging per se either.  SS and tubes can convey certain aspects of a live performance but can not fully reproduce it.  Large events use SS amplification, but no matter what amplification would be used, the venue itself has a larger sonic imprint.  That’s why there are great sounding Symphony Halls and terrible sounding ones.  Seats within venues alter your perception of fidelity.  For home, many variables must be in harmony to achieve a reasonable level of fidelity to the source.  Far more than just Tubes or SS in the signal path.  Of course, you also need to be able to hear pitch and tone with reasonable acuity.

In addition, I have found that SS amplification requires more attention to power supply/AC quality.  Cable design is also more imperative toward maximizing sound quality with SS components.  Either technology can deliver pleasing results.  One thing that has always seemed to consistently sound better to my ears, was the use of Class A or high bias A/B high current designs.  Large power supplies also seem to offer better dynamics.

Country N/A?
May 12, 2018
That explains it!

Somehow M51 can post vulgarities, but others can not?  Mother jokes?  Wow

Yes, I think loudness is a reflection of wanting to hear the dynamics and inherent dynamic expression that exists in “live” events!  That is what tells our ear/brain that we are in the presence of a live event...walking past a bar with a live act, right?  You know when it’s live...the dynamic range gives it away.

Analog recordings are almost non existent nowadays.  I have heard great DDD recordings and analog...so much goes into the final mix.  Why argue anyway?  We have both available for our needs!  Enjoy what moves you.

One of the main reasons I have been a big proponent of MIT and Transparent cables is the fact that they both lower the noise floor dramatically and allow for far better dynamics and tonal color to come through.

Of course not Geoffkait, your missing the context and intent of my statement silly.  I was referencing the common reaction we all have to live music...it’s easily identifiable!  At home, I can understand how someone would try and get a bit of that same feeling at home by hitting the loudness button.

Glupson is definitely righteous!  

Is it possible M51 is institutionalized?  That would explain a lot.

True...sure glad we’re ok, right?  Right???

Except for a rare few vintage SS amps, most were poorly designed.  First tube gear wasn’t spectacular either.  Took awhile for digital to work things out as well.

Scientists wonder why we haven’t detected any other intelligent civilization in the universe...based on how we communicate on this site, perhaps all emerging intelligent beings wind up spiraling down and destroying themselves before they can make contact with another civilization.  Just seems to be a side effect of overly large brains 🧠. Except for a few that have undersized craniums, 🤡whom I won’t mention 🤡, that should do just fine!

Love you as well Maritime51 😍

I have enough scientific background and knowledge regarding most of what Geoffkait uses to base his theories on, and I can say most assuredly, that GK has either flipped his lid, or....he has gone full in on capitalizing off of the paranoia and OCD commonly found in many audiophiles!  WOW....just WOW 😮 

Rupert Sheldrake....YIKES!

GK is a fun bathroom read however...sci fi vibe is neato and apropos!

Anyone else see this?  Thought it was interesting and well written:

See randi.org/joom/content/view/121/#i7 to refresh your memory of a major silly scam being used to extract cash from na've audio fans. As I've told readers before, I often get involved in trying to establish a correspondence with the scammers, and that sometimes results in protracted exchanges. With that in mind, read the following emails between reader Matt Schaffner and Geoff Kait, the genius behind this whole Machina Dynamica farce. Matt wrote me:

I teach music technology at an accredited university in Louisville, Kentucky. When I read your blurb on the inventions at Machina Dynamica, I was stunned at their awesome claims. Knowing full well that they are a total fraud, I've been baiting the company's creator with emails. All of the classic signs of woo'woo are here: no reputable references, no outside testing, devices work by mysteriously harnessing the laws of quantum mechanics, etc. I thought you might be interested in our ongoing email exchange. This man is stealing people's money. Please let me know if I can donate to your cause by helping to expose this man.

The email exchange follows. First, Matt approached the Machina Dynamica CEO:

Geoff, I teach classes on music technology at an accredited university. I would like to test some of your products and publish materials on them. I am very excited about the possibility of seeing and hearing some of your devices. Is there any way we might discuss this further?

A prompt response followed from Geoff Kait:

Hello, Matt, thanks for your interest in Machina Dynamica. I respectfully decline to submit any of our products for testing.

Persisting, Matt wrote back:

Do you have any published materials on the testing and performance of your products?

Geoff countered with a desperate alibi:

Matt All testing information is proprietary. Performance data is also proprietary. All information that we deem relevant is published on Machina Dynamicas web site.

Translated: No. Matt, ever patient, asked:

Ok, I understand. I wanted to perform an in-class comparison of your goods with other well known audio products. Additionally, I was going to publish some materials concerning comparisons between highend sound technologies. How can I get information on your data? Have there been any reviews of your products in magazines or online?

In a somewhat ominous tone, Machina Dynamica answered:

I don't think you realize what you're getting yourself into. There is so much information available on-line you won't have enough time in a year or two to thoroughly examine it all, much less come to conclusions on the effectiveness of these products or how they compare to other products.

There was a review of Intelligent Chip by 2 PhDs at 6 Moons in Jan 07: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/photoncannons/photoncannons.html. There was a review of Clever Little Clock in Positive Feedback last year: positive feedback.com/Issue23/clock_nespa.htm. I have a white paper on Brilliant Pebbles at: machinadynamica.com/machina17.htm. I have a paper on Intelligent Chip at: machinadynamica.com/machina64.htm. Review of Intelligent Box by 2 PhDs at 6moons.com/audioreviews/machinadynamica2/ib.html.

Despite the mass of data contained in these references, our only interest at the JREF is: does the thing work? Similarly, Matt assured Geoff that he was undeterred:

I have students that can filter through much of this information. Also, reading things like this is what I do for a living. I have plenty of time to read, and if I only spend a single year doing research then I'm happy. Any additional material you have would be helpful. Do you have any other websites?

Geoff fired back:

Matt, my website has many pages; there is navigation at the top of the main page. www.machinadynamica.com

Ever gracious, Matt wrote:

Thanks, the pages on your site helped. None of the writing seems to describe the mechanisms of your inventions. Do you have the patent number for these devices so that I might see how exactly they work? I am very interested in the Intelligent Box and Card. I'm not seeing exactly what these do, and especially how they might work. I'm curious as to what exactly is changed on a CD to enhance its sound, as a CD contains data in the form of a dye. Do you change the dye somehow?

Thanks for all your help!

Then this salvo was fired off by Geoff:

Patents too expensive, furthermore I dont wish to reveal certain information so I don't go that route. Ironically, much safer not to have patent in these cases.

The Intelligent Box/Intelligent Card is the evolution of the Intelligent Chip, which does the same thing as the Box. The box replicates the CD player laser and gets the active material very close to the CD, one thing the Intelligent Chip did not do the Chip was placed on top of the player chassis while the CD played for 2 seconds. But the effects of the Chip and the Box are the same. The explanation of the Box is the same as for the Chip quantum mechanics photon interaction with the CD material. It's all explained in excruciating detail in my paper on the Intelligent Chip.

This is just blather, with no science factor at all, only buzz-words and fakery. And, obviously, a patent on such devices would not be too expensive, at all if they worked.. The USPTO [United States Patent and Trademark Office] tends to award patents to just about any devices mentioned to them, whether they actually exist or not, and whether they work at all. However, I find two things here with which I and Matt Schaffner can enthusiastically agree. First, I'm sure, as Geoff Kait wrote, that the effects of the Chip and the Box are the same. The Intelligent Chip does exactly the same thing that the Intelligent Box does exactly nothing. Second, yes, I'm sure that there is excruciating detail in that learned paper.

Ah, but as we go to press, Matt reports:

Here's the latest from Geoff Kait at Machina Dynamics. Apparently he has now created a CD cleaner using "fake" atoms name brand atoms are so expensive. This is his response to my email:

Begin response:
And 
The Box has a dedicated laser in it (so the box simulates the CD player "box" and laser). The advantage of the Intelligent Box is that the active material in the card is inserted into the interior of the Box so the active ingredient is very close to the laser and the CD, which is placed on top of the Intelligent Box when treating it. The top of the Box is clear so the CD is exposed to the photons of the laser and the photons emitted by the card when the laser strikes it. The active ingredient is contained in a thin layer spread out in the card's interior, like a sandwich. The simultaneous interaction of the laser photons and the Card photons with the polycarbonate layer of the CD improves the transparency of the layer so that when the CD is played the CD player laser "reads" the embedded data more accurately.

Comments Matt:

The active ingredient in the Card as for the Chip is actually artificial atoms! Pretty innovative for an audio product, wouldn't you say?

Oh, very

Paul
Bozeman, Montana
U.S.A.

I’m gonna leave the huxter and the psychopath to the rest of you guys...happy listening!

M51....poster boy for Terrets Posting Disorder (TPD)!