Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Critic's Corner ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

RE: Leaping to conclusions

Posted by Charles Hansen (M) on November 20, 2017 at 01:59:16

In Reply to: Leaping to conclusions posted by 13th Duke of Wymbourne on November 19, 2017 at 17:51:09:

I'd say we were both guilty of leaping to conclusions. Lots of "highly regarded" companies have gone out of business. My example of Halcro going out of business was not due to a lack of "business management", as Bruce Candy's main business (not audio-related) is still going strong.

IME one of the difficulties in trying to figure out the sonic effects of negative feedback is that it is so ubiquitous. If one inserts a single zero-feedback component into a chain of several other products that use negative feedback, it may be difficult to discern the improvement. And IME the converse is not true - putting a single high-feedback component into a system using all zero feedback components is easily noticeable.

However I have seen a slow shift in the direction of zero feedback among the true high-end analog components. Conrad-Johnson, Krell, and D'Agostino have all gone to zero feedback for their preamplifiers, and quite low levels in their power amplifiers. Aesthetix is zero feedback for all of their products, as was Vacuum State Electronics (although their founder and designer passed away earlier this decade).

In the low-end (and what used to be called "mid-fi"), feedback is booming and hard to escape - most likely due to it reducing manufacturing and design costs. Almost all of that category uses IC op-amps, switching power amps, or both. It used to be that if one was spending more than $1000 on a new component that it would at least be expected to have discrete circuits (where the levels of feedback are far lower than with op-amps and/or class D power amps). However we have seen these things become more and more common even at much higher price points.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---