Re: Stereo receievers: THD of .04 vs. .08

<david.dartley@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:5799bc63-8a23-4f63-a665-ac974cbbe917@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Thanks all for the advice on B Stock merchandise.
>
> Okay, I'm scared to mention non-high-end or non-scientific stuff here
> because of the flaming I once took from a forger, but here goes:
>
> I think I've decided on buying a pair of Infinity Beta 50 speakers.
>
> I'm among two receivers--a Yamaha 497 (75w per ch) and an Onkyo TX
> 8522 (100w per ch).
>
> One salient difference is that the Yamaha claims a 0.04 THD, and the
> Onkyo a 0.08.
> I THINK I have a pretty discerning ear.  Do you think that difference
> in THD would make much of a difference between those two receivers,
> using that one pair of speakers?

**Not per se. The bottom line is this:

Amplifiers (and speakers, for that matter) exhibit a large number of 
characteristics. THD (at one power level and frequency) is just one 
specification which may be meaningful for you and your speakers. Unless
you 
have a fair depth of technical knowledge, it is virtually impossible to 
predict which amp will perform better on a given speaker system (if at
all).

Think of it this way:

Which car accelerates and corners better: A 4.6 Litre V8 powered car, or a

1.8Litre 4 cyl one?

Answer: It depends on the cars. In the above test, I chose a Ford Mustang 
and a Lotus Elise. The Lotus easily outperforms the Mustang. In every
area. 
The Lotus handles better, will easily out accelerate a Mustang (or pretty 
much anything else on the road) and do it with far less power.

Same deal with amplifiers and speakers. Without examining several pages of

data (for both amps and speakers) it is virtually impossible to predict 
which will work best.

Listen to both amps, through your choice of speakers and choose either 
whichever sounds best, or, if there is not sound difference (highly
likely), 
choose whichever one you like the look of/better warranty/better 
features/etc.

Trevor Wilson