[Nick Dangerous]

(continued from a previous thread)

Yo Tomcat... I KNOW what you're about to say: Everything is subjective. A FAQ would be redundant, possibly counterproductive. This is why we have discussion forums, right?

Perhaps FAQ isn't the most accurate term. I meant something like a reference table of amps:

AMP X
(picture)
(approx. retail cost)

and *possibly* include comments - NOT absolute truths - only the most general of comments based upon the popular consensus of the Head-Fi membership. For example, I think we've beaten the X-Cans debate TO DEATH, yet everytime a new thread starts up we repeat everything all over again. The same results tend to surface again and again.

I'd like to think that the heavy amounts of comparison research we collectively do can be shared with others. Aren't you sick of "Which is better, Creek or X-Cans?". Frankly I see three tiers of amplifiers based upon *price*:

$50-$200-ish: Budget tier

Creek
TA
Porta Corda
Cmoy
X-Cans
Headroom Little

$300-500: Midrange tier

MG Head OTL
Corda HA-1
Wheatfield....

...blah blah you get the point. As a newbie it took me months to make sense of what was available, what those amps cost, where to buy them, and what others thought of them. The frustration that Perfectionist felt might be attributable to the lack of a "big board" that lists the available amps.

A master table of amps would not infringe upon the magic that makes the forums tick. Having a central repository to refer to is better than "look in the archives somewhere for something you might have heard of".

Besides, Jude could sell (or give away?) dealer space on the board... similar to how price shopping engines have a "buy it here" link.

Just a thought.

 

[taoster]

the problem with a list compared to a discussion is that there is no correction or clarification. It would be almost like oh, B sounds better than A and that's that. I dont think its so simple, amps like its partner the headphone each has its own distinctive taste and character.

and frankly it annoys the hell out of me to see that everything i could afford, be sub-par and ****ty!

 

[Tomcat]

Quote:

only the most general of comments based upon the popular consensus of the Head-Fi membership

Nick,
A table of facts, prices, specs, maybe. But how can we add any comments about sound or quality? Okay, how could Jude do it (he is the club's host after all)? This would defeat the purpose of the forums. There is as much an exchange of opinion going on here as of information. And, frankly, would you trust "popular consensus", would you trust the majority? IF a majority opinion existed? Who would put it into words? Covering which areas of sonic performance?

Sorry, I don't think this is feasible at all. Isn't this the beauty of Head-Fi: you can read all kinds of discussions and opinions, and if you are lucky, you might find some that seem to agree with your point of view, that seem to deal with performance criteria that are important to you. And we might even learn the most from those members who hold views diametrically opposed to ours. In any case: the only clear-cut thing about audio, music, and the pleasure we derive from it is, that there is nothing clear-cut about it.

IMHO, of course.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

How about doing objective measurements, like frequency response when playing into x, y, and z ohms at W watts? Or measures of intermodulation distortion and such.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Good point, Tomcat. I agree that personal comments should be kept away from the reference table... only hard facts and measurable data should be kept there.

It would be very useful to have one. A simple HTML page with a few graphics would do.

 

[Tomcat]

Exactly, Joe. I'd be especially interested in the "and such" part. Like listening to music and such.

There, you see what you have done, Nick: Team EQ is out in full force. What chance of survival would your own idiosyncratic valve-lover's perspective have if we started to objectify the experience in order to distill a FAQ from it?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

ROTFLMAO

I thought intermodulation distortion measurements would be in favour of tubes though?

 

[aeberbach]

Why not make a simple average of ratings given by head-fi members for each unit, with the number of ratings received also available? I know this doesn't work on sites like audioreview.com, because occasionally some idiot can't use a product and gives it the lowest rating when everyone else loves it, but would that happen here?

 

[Braver]

why not just make that list, based on price, mention where they can be bought, basic info like if you need an amp with the can or not, and put a few links to reviews and discussions from the database? yeah a bit more work, but there's plenty memeber here , I bet some of em wouldn't mind piecing together something like that.

absolutely NOT include measurements and graphs and stuff. you don't want to give newbies the idea they can learn anything about the sound of a piece of equipment by looking at stats.

ratings don't work either, audio is subjective, lets keep it like that.

 

[Braver]

....

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Uhm, hey, you *can* learn *something* about the sound of *some* pieces of equipment by looking at *some* stats if they are the right stats and you look hard enough

 

[Braver]

Quote:

Originally posted by Joe Bloggs Uhm, hey, you *can* learn *something* about the sound of *some* pieces of equipment by looking at *some* stats if they are the right stats and you look hard enough

what stats tell you if you like a sound or not? and how's a newbie gonna tell if he likes a sound or not from looking at a graph?

and do you look at music or do you listen?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Well, some people see things when they listen to music and others want to be able to see music very much

 

[morphsci]

The problem with popular concensus is that it changes over time. Especially after "the new toy on the block" comments begin to wera away. I still think a reference table of both headphones and amps would be valuable reference. It should include both current production as well as available but no longer produced headphones and amps. IMO.

 

[chadbang]

When that Taoster said he was getting confused with recommendations about the X-Can, I starting thinking about doing something very simple: simply run a poll.

"Do you recommend the X-Can V2"

YES
NO

To help persons considering a purchase and for accuracy's sake, please only vote if your are an X-Can V2 owner or former owner. Thanks for your vote.


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Wouldn't that be simple and quick? And it could be re-run occasionally as new people try out the amp.