John R Leddy

Thank you Forrest,and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too. All the best, John.

What sort of sophistry is this? A complete stranger puts forward an alternative view and you introduce concepts of contempt and elitism. You may be right when you say the snobbery has not changed! One day the penny will drop and you will realise there is no such thing as neutral, and even if there was how on earth would it be presented through loudspeakers? I'm amused by your permission not to offer help. Now that is contemptuous.

Absolute rubbish! You needn't bother telling me what I am or am not interested in. It's probably jumping to such assumptions which causes your misunderstandings. Maybe you need to slow down and think more before responding to posts. I am not only asking the original poster to consider my approach, but everyone who reads this thread now and later. Is this what really bothers you? I am not telling anybody to do anything! I am however advising and expressing an opinion. If you don't like it fine. Just don't expect me to sit by passively while you distort the context of what I've said. It's as if you give posts a quick scan and immediately start bashing out your reply without thinking about what's been said. I'm not the first one to notice your replies sometimes lack sense. If you're able to accommodate a genuine concern for my understanding, you could always answer my previous questions. I see it as you who are dictating which way we must maximise system replay, not me; and by the way, claiming most others as numerically superior back-up is simply wasted on me. I seek a balanced, thought-through and open-minded approach, which you seem to be suppressing. Why? If your representation of the members of this forum is accurate in that maximising their system player and software may only be done your way, what's the problem? Why are you so worried about one guy expressing an alternative opinion? This aside, I really don't see it as being unreasonable to expect contextually accurate replies to my posts.

On which levels is my opinion good advice? On which levels is my opinion bad advice? What is it between mayadog's questions and my opinion which makes part of my post "a non starter?" What does this mean? Forrest, Your application of logic seems a little off to say the least. You seem to habitually misunderstand other people's posts. Are you rushing your replies just to increase your post-count? I appreciate this is an open forum, and be assured I really don't mind being shot down in flames if someone disagrees with my comments. However your misinterpretation of what I've said has happened before, so I'll ask you again, please desist from ragging my posts with your guff. John.

` Oscar, I appreciate you didn't make-up the term burn-in. Did the person you adopted this from state exactly what burn-in is, or did he avoid the issue and merely list descriptive effects after mentioning it? I may be wrong, but it sounds like the members at Head-Fi Forums are picking on you because they think you don't know what burn-in is. It is patently contradictory to believe in something if you know it exists as a fact. Are you believing in something because you've accepted the authoritative evidence of a third party, or do you know what burn-in actually is? I'm not asking if you are able to describe or list its noticeable effects, I'm asking what is actually taking place within the product itself, electronically. In the articles you've read where burn-in is mentioned, has anyone ever gone on to describe what they mean by burn-in, or are the readers simply expected to understand and accept the concept without being given a clear definition? I wouldn't have thought there was anything mystical about change taking place. If the sound changes for a fact, then it follows a condition within the product must have changed prior to the change in sound, as the sound can't change on its own accord. The change is only an effect, so the cause must exist as well. This is only logical and doesn't require any form of belief. So the question is simple and valid. What is the cause of the effect? If you don't know you just need to find out, and then I expect the guys at Head-Fi will leave you alone. All the best, John.

` Paul, It certainly would be helpful if the retail price reflected the potential sound quality of the component. However, it is more likely retail prices are hugely inflated to fit within a particular product range, while making reference to competitors' offerings. I'm suggesting a range of components from the same manufacturer might retail at say, £1,000.00, £2,000.00, and £4,000.00 per unit but wouldn't necessarily all cost the same quarter of the retail price to produce; one or two in the range may cost even less. I agree wholeheartedly with you there are products in the marketplace which are deliberately priced to destroy the competition. Catch is, a £1,000.00 DAC may well outperform another at £2,000.00 but the buyer may purchase the lesser DAC due to branding, without perceiving the manufacturer as over-pricing his goods to suit a particular market. Personally, I don't believe there are such things as neutral or uncoloured and wonder, even if there were, how would we go about hearing such things through loudspeakers anyway. I find it suspect a third party deciding what should sound neutral to me, as if that person has an authoritative standard of hearing by which we should all gauge ourselves. I'm of the opinion we need to encourage people to trust themselves more, ignore marque and price, and be assured they are not partially deaf, or deficient in some other way, if they find a cheaper component more enjoyable than another at twice the price. We should do this if only to counterbalance the current obsession of over-analysing the minutiae specification differences of audio components, which bear absolutely no differences whatsoever in sound reproduction. All the best, John.

In my opinion if you accept there is an absolute standard of hearing shared by all people you'll be open to manipulation by others. Hearing is no different to our other senses, and as such we are all different. If you accept some people are short-sighted and others long-sighted, with the best will in the world either of their spectacles won't necessarily suit you. This absolutist approach is a myth perpetuated by magazines in order to sell advertising space; you're not actually meant to believe in it. My sincere advice is not to adopt this approach, if only because it's simply not logical. There is no such thing as neutral hardware or software, and who's to decide anyway? You asked, "Is it accepted that these programs add color to playback?" If one person answered no and another yes, what would their answers really mean? Why would anybody assume neutral is a value to strive for? Somewhere along the line this description has been introduced into high fidelity vocabulary and adopted by others. For arguments sake let's assume we all share identical definitions of neutral and colour, and also understand each other perfectly. Who set the standard? When? What is the standard? Do I possess it? This mumbo jumbo only works if everybody accepts there is an absolute standard for quality and taste in sound reproduction. Fortunately there isn't. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for anyone to seek the reassurance of another they're buying the right thing as expected by their peers. This is marketing for dummies. You, your ears, and your taste in sound reproduction are what's really important; not someone else's. We're adults now. No more hand-holding when crossing the street. No more Mummy when buying a new pair of shoes. If a product sounds good to you in your system, then it is good. No more discussion. That's it. Really is as simple as that. In practice of course there are many people with the same popular DAC seeking reassurance they've bought the right thing. Essentially they are fitting in with the system, rather than the system fitting in with them. Adopt this practice at your peril. I am being sincere when I say you should avoid meditating on the minutiae of audio reproduction. While some may see this as being part of their enjoyment and a valid pastime, I would encourage you to avoid this scenario like the plague, as it has very little to do with enjoying music and can approach the ridiculous. Hardware and software are of mere secondary importance. You are the most important component within your system. No one can tell you whether you're hearing the right thing or not. Only pay for something you enjoy listening to, even if it isn't the latest popular component. Just my opinion of course. John.

Hi Bill, Emerson, Lake and Palmer was just a bridge too far for me. My friends really liked them at the time, and to be honest I was the odd one out. Never made my mind up about The Nice (Keith Emerson), a bit arty-farty I thought. King Crimson (Greg Lake) were the best thing since sliced bread. I have "In The Court Of The Crimson King" (1969). The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, and Atomic Rooster (Carl Palmer) were a couple of my favourite bands as well. I have "The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown" (1969), "Death Walks Behind You" (1970), and "In Hearing Of" (1971). There was no escaping progressive rock at the time, I just preferred music with a bit more rock in it that's all. My best friend has most of the prog rock groups from that era so I'm fortunate in that respect. Personally, I would struggle to describe music beyond its genre, but I'm glad you had a go because the result was I picked up some new music, which is always a good thing. I'm also completely hopeless when it comes to describing the sound of high fidelity components, which can be a bit embarrassing when I'm selling things, as I am unable to isolate a component within a system and allocate a sound to that particular item. I find myself having to work really hard at not appearing evasive or unhelpful towards potential buyers. Awkward, but so be it, we all have our problems I guess. Another consequence is when I read reviews I genuinely haven't got a clue what the person is going on about. I'm cursed by accepting everybody's hearing is similar to their other senses, and as such has no absolute standard shared by us all, thereby making all reviews null and void. Effectively, if something works for you in your system it's right, but I guess there's no media mileage or advertising revenue with that approach. You did better than I could. All the best, John.

Bill, Unfortunately I absolutely detested Emerson, Lake and Palmer thinking most progressive rock, and especially ELP, as being pretentious rubbish. Personally I wouldn't describe ELP as being psychedelic. I like psychedelic rock; Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, etc. No, I thought I'd give Tingvall Trio a listen because of all the awards you listed. I'm glad you did, as I really enjoy this type of music, so thank you for doing so. All the best, John.

Mentioned by bleedink in this thread. Locating this album within their music collection is likely to cause serious mental anguish for O-CD types who find themselves slavishly over-concerned with the absolute minutiae of audio replay. ∆ - 2012 - An Awesome Wave Website: ∆ (alt-J) Wikipedia: Alt-J - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Discography: Alt-J - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Videos: ∆ (alt-J) - YouTube

Aye, that would be more like it! John.

I think you split it wrongly... It's Universal as it plays DSD as well as FLAC, WAV, AIFF, etc. I guess it's a competitor to Linn and Naim and PS Audio (Bridge). Eloise Eloise, I'm not as green as I'm cabbage-looking. All the best, John.

Don't you be mincing your words Pete. Why don't you tell us what you really think! John.

` "The World's first Universal Audiophile Network Music Player!" I know what a Network Music Player is, but what's a Universal Audiophile?

Eloise, I share this sentiment as well; then I snap, crackle, and pop my way back to down Arda again. As far as Linn goes, I've adopted another's opinion, "Linn, some of the world's best sources, adequate loudspeakers, and can't build an amplifier for toffee!" I've never owned a Naim component. When I came to the conclusion I wasn't going to upgrade to Linn's Klimax range, I had a look at the Naim website but came across a Power-Line Mains Cable costing £450.00 and simply laughed my way out of there. All credibility disappeared in an instant, and I realised I'd been harbouring a misguided respect for that particular company. I've got a friend with an old olive system so I can appreciate the attraction of Naim, but they're not getting my money, that's for sure. All the best, John.