I just watched a review posted about 9 months ago by Steve Guttengerg. He was reviewing the NAD M23 which is a class d amp based on the Purifi Eigentakt module. It caught my attention because a year or two ago I built an amp from a kit that uses the Purifi Eigentakt evaluation modules. My experience with my kit, compared to the McIntosh amp it replaced was very similar to what Steve found in his review - that it is very transparent and just passes the source through without alteration (other than making it larger) and with negligible regard for the load (speakers) being driven. Based on my own experience and Steve’s comments, I’m at a loss for what more to ask of an amplifier- other than more power, whether I need it or not.
According to Steve, the amp being reviewed exceeded the others he compared it to in clarity, transparency, detail, speaker control and probably some other things. This got me to wondering - is this what everyone wants?
My goal has always been to have a system that will reproduce what the microphone heard or what the producer intended me to hear when a recording was made. With such a system, I can use dsp, tone controls or an equalizer to color the sound any way I want but I always want to start from the baseline of being able to hear what was recorded.
Listening to some of Steve’s comments in his review, I’m led to think that some people are seeking a system that colors the original in a particular way suited to their taste so I thought I’d ask you guys. What are you looking for in a system?
My goal as an audiophile personally is not to recreate the most accurate sound possible, as you’ll quicklt start to notice every mistake ever amd it will ruin every song in existence for you, my goal has always been to create a sound that is the most pleasing to my personal ears, some people call my system too round, some call it too full, i call it perfection, as to my ears, this is a system i can sit back with and enjoy my music with nomatter if it is dire straits, pink floyd, allan tayler or damn taylor swift (i dont listen to taylor swift but i’m just using it as an example) and it is a system that just makes me smile, relax and most of all it is a system that can disconnect me from all the other things around me going on in the world.
To me, an audiophile system isn’t necessarily the most accurate system out there, it is the system that pleases you personally the most and that can make you relax.