> Years ago I worked at Sherwood Labs in Chicago.  A very 
> interesting place I must say but that's material for a different
> reflector.  We were working on our first solid state amplifier, the
> S-9000.  Measured performance on the prototype was superior in every
> way to the tube amps we were producing at the time as well as our
> MacIntosh "lab standard" amp.  Yet.......in A/B listening tests, the
> '9000 just did not sound as good as the tube amps on certain musical
> passages. 
Perhaps the 9000 amplifier needed some distortion. Many people 
actually like a little distortion in certain music passages.
Liking a certain "sound", however, is nothing like comparing dynamic 
range, signal-to-noise ratios, or selectivity in a communications 
system.73, Tom W8JI
W8JI@contesting.com 
 
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