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December 15, 2011 - 4:01pm
#1
anyone else use a sonic maximizer in their system?
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I tried this many years ago and found it made the sound bright and rather hard. That old BBE device was basically adding second harmonic distortion on a dynamic basis. A tone control rather than high fidelity, I decided at the time. Perhaps the latest version does something different? What kind of music are using with the BBE, hcsunshine?
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
I'm even thinking now of getting a passive preamplifier.
bbe says it's a fourth generation engine, i don't know what model you had. anyway, i was listening to cd's on it, but now i've switched to vinyl. music like arlo guthrie , the dead , jethro tull, led zeppelin, van morrison, ziggy marley. i have a rega rp1 with an nad pp2i. ( bbe says the 482i restores phase and amplitude integrity or cleans up "envelope distortion".
I listened to a Barcus Berry maximizer many yeas ago. I relegated it to the same place I put equalizers, range expanders, sonic holographs, subharmonic bass synthesizers and other "sound enhancement" devices . IMO all of them add artifacts to reproduced sound that not only doesn't belong there but detracts from the overall fidelity.
Many of the poster here (me included) don't even have tone controls. However, if you like the effect of the BBE device that's your choice.
i was just wondering what one would say about the higher frequencies being delayed after going through a loudspeaker and how else would you correct that?
Still can sound bright and rather hard if one insists on turning up the Process knob.. Because of assuming it needs to be turned up to work. To sound like real music turn the Process knob all the way down and slowly turn it up. Mine is set only around seven/eight o'clock. The high end is very balanced and makes things sound more real. The Lo contour I have only set to boost about 4-5db @ 50hz. I am using small speakers. My near field system is high end. Litz interconnects and cables. Also... The older early BBE units were not quite, nor that smooth. My small single ganged 282R now uses the same circuit as the bigger 482i. Also,I find that no subwoofer is needed in my near field system. The bass sounds balanced and *very* real on good recordings.. I am a musician.