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Gram Amp 2se / Reflex M
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Fatmangolf View Drop Down
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Points: 9695 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Dec 2011 at 5:10pm
Well put both of you! The Reflex M is wonderful and I found Graham's comparison of the musical characteristics of negative feedback and ultralinear very insightful.
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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suede View Drop Down
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Points: 1202 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote suede Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan 2012 at 5:10pm
I just got the Reflex M the other day and I must say I was mighty impressed with it straight out of the box! I played a few records and they all sounded really great although the performance varied a bit with the natural burn-in process. I can't wait for it to finish burning in!
I then hooked it up with a reversed RIAA stage I got from member Suggs to play digital music through it but with an inverted RIAA curve to match the phono stage's and a 40 db drop in volume. Doing this to burn it in quicker and not having to turn discs every 20 minutes. The strange thing is that those loud and slightly compressed CD's suddenly sounded a lot better being run through the Reflex. It did away with some of the usual treble harshness and made standard redbook 16 bit 44.1 khz material sound more wholesome and nice with a wide and pleasant soundstage. Almost like it were a HDCD or SACD of 24 bit 96 khz resolution instead. Now since the signal makes quite a detour it naturally takes away some of the sparkle too, I don't know how hifi the reverse RIAA stage is but still. I do prefer this setup with a lot of CD's.
I don't know if it is the lowering of the volume and then letting a quality "amp" like the Reflex build it up again or if scrambling the frequency curve and letting it fix that too has something to do with it as well but it's a fun thing I noticed.
Maybe Graham could make a CD enhancing contraption in the future Wink
To help the poor CD generation in their desperate situation, if this is not just a cheap EQ effect that is Ermm


Johan


Edited by suede - 26 Jan 2012 at 6:58pm
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Points: 16314 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Graham Slee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan 2012 at 7:25pm
Originally posted by suede suede wrote:


Maybe Graham could make a CD enhancing contraption in the future Wink
To help the poor CD generation in their desperate situation, if this is not just a cheap EQ effect that is Ermm


Johan


I have often thought about such a device. One in particular introduced a phase shift without introducing a level shift (its called an all pass filter in electronics circles) and IMO, corrected for phase displacement due to the sharp sampling frequency filters employed. I built one and felt I could just about hear a difference, but to me, it wasn't a day and night difference. I sent it to dvv (once a member here and ex-TNT reviewer) who reckoned it made some of his CDs sound better, and some no difference. After lots of research I discovered around 12 possible variations of phase shift which would require the user to "guess" which one was most appropriate. Yes, that's an effects unit in my book! Like tone controls but possibly much less obvious - a bit like selling rainbow foil to improve ones listening room I felt...

I then learned that the US patents office had granted a patent for an all pass filter (which seeing it already existed shouldn't have been granted with a patent...) which mixed the phase "adjusted" signal with the original signal, thus canceling certain frequencies, a bit like a "comb filter" (another item of prior knowledge), and concluded this was yet another elaborate musical effect. Thumbs Down

Because of slight differences in curve matching between the RIAA emphasis input filter and the Reflex RIAA de-emphasis filter the combination may be producing a similar effect. It would be much better if modern DACs allowed a current output (which sadly 99.9999% don't) and then I'd be at least able to get to the signal before it was totally corrupted - then I could do something about it.


Edited by Graham Slee - 26 Jan 2012 at 7:28pm
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suede View Drop Down
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Points: 1202 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote suede Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan 2012 at 8:26pm
The CD's I found to be improved was mainly those a bit on the loud side. Maybe lowering the volume and numbing them down a notch was the trick? But I can almost swear I heard some of the musicality from the Reflex mixing in too. Really nicely stroking guitars and a wide warm sound all in all.
Anyway I guess you can't polish a plain rock into a diamond, even though that would be nice.  It's just sad that they made the digital audio media standard so poor when they invented the CD. Unhappy
But I guess it was impressive still 30 years ago. Lasers and all!



Edited by suede - 26 Jan 2012 at 10:53pm
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Fatmangolf View Drop Down
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Points: 9695 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jan 2012 at 10:10pm
I think you are right that it makes a fault in the source recording less noticeable. Overcompressed and limited CD's often have a harsh quality as do enhanced/excited (high energy) mixes and it's not a nice combination with a steep filter in the CD player.
 
It's not just hi-fi that has these esoteric add-ons. There is a much discussed device that I won't name, which many Line 6 Pod owners swear by for its positive effect on the sound. It is passive (i.e. no gain stage and power supply needed), hand built with a big block of epoxy resin inside hiding the parts. Needless to say there was always a lot of speculation about the circuit... It was about $200 to buy last time I read about it. I haven't heard one so wouldn't criticise it.
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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