Peter Qvortrup interview

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IslandPink
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#1 Peter Qvortrup interview

Post by IslandPink »

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rowuk
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#2 Re: Peter Qvortrup interview

Post by rowuk »

I would certainly disagree with the notion that nothing has improved in the last 40 years. It does not matter if we take amplifiers, speakers, tone arms or phono cartridges. Modern manufacturing tolerances certainly has made many things more repeatable. Even at the very top, we have much better possibilities - unfortunately, the grade of customer has not improved and that limits the leading edge from really showing what is possible.

Perhaps a shortlist of things that in my view have in my view lead to dramatic improvements in sound quality:
Dynamic range
frequency response
headroom
noise floor
Thiele/Small
Linkwitz/Riley
Refinement of waveguides/horns
DSP
Quality of parts - caps, resistors, connectors
modern microphones
Spice
...

If I think back to my parents stereo system with a cheap record changer, the same level of modern system with a CD certainly has better sound quality. The choices of radio broadcast and quality of reception have gone up considerably and if we count digital streaming, we can almost pick our quality.

Still, Peter Qvortrup has his loyal following and they will blindly follow him. He takes full advantage of "modern" improvements and really does not need to make these "vintage" noises to stay successful.
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Nick
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#3 Re: Peter Qvortrup interview

Post by Nick »

Just to be pedantic..

Dynamic range, headroom, noise floor In effect one thing, seem to be ok in old recordings, but YMMV.

Quality of parts - caps, resistors, connectors, not sure what this means, are modern resistors better? In ways that matter?, same for caps or connectors

Modern microphones, yep but many people spend lots of money to rent and buy older ones.

Spice - Made design easier, but does not allow anything that would not be possible without it.

Thiele/Small - Again, made it easier, but not in itself enabled anything

Linkwitz/Riley - 44 years old

DSP - maybe, but mostly used to allow the use of cheaper parts

frequency response - Blue Note recordings from 70 years ago don't seem to be lacking in range.
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#4 Re: Peter Qvortrup interview

Post by IslandPink »

It's broadly what I'd have expected from Peter, and I agree with quite a lot of it.
Dynamics, with Nick here, don't believe any improvement in recent years, probably the most dynamic LP I have is a Flamenco record from 1959. Makes you think what stunning progress was made from 1945 to 1959.

Caps, I'd say the best of the film caps are better in recent years, but we have lost Black Gates.
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vinylnvalves
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#5 Re: Peter Qvortrup interview

Post by vinylnvalves »

Not sure I agree with him on CD’s and streamed music. I had an audio note CD2 when I got the SB Touch it wasn’t a downgrade, and my streaming solutions have improved since then. He seems to have backed field coils over magnets even in MC cartridges now. Went through the audio note phase, ended up wiser but poorer.
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rowuk
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#6 Re: Peter Qvortrup interview

Post by rowuk »

Just to be pedantic..

Dynamic range, headroom, noise floor In effect one thing, seem to be ok in old recordings, but YMMV. My mileage varies. exceptional before Dolby was 60 dB, LPs max 80dB and that led the sound engineers to gain ride. Much more natural presentation/perspective with the likes of uncompressed Reference Recordings>90dB

Quality of parts - caps, resistors, connectors, not sure what this means, are modern resistors better? In ways that matter?, same for caps or connectors. Actually better across the board - in ways that matter SQ, reliability: Electrolytic caps not drying out/losing spec. Stability of current film caps like Mundorf, Jensen. Connectors and switches that are more resistant to environmental factors.

Modern microphones, yep but many people spend lots of money to rent and buy older ones. Sure, but are they getting a better recording, or a special effect?

Spice - Made design easier, but does not allow anything that would not be possible without it. I see spice as a language that can be shared. Collaboration through sharing spice models certainly allowed more eyes and disciplines to get a more holistic view that was not possible before

Thiele/Small - Again, made it easier, but not in itself enabled anything - I am convinced that just by establishing the definition, the reputable loudspeaker manufacturers improved their quality control - ultimately improving SQ.

Linkwitz/Riley - 44 years old

DSP - maybe, but mostly used to allow the use of cheaper parts

frequency response - Blue Note recordings from 70 years ago don't seem to be lacking in range. Do we want to measure?

I do not see your comments as pedantic. I also do not see them as supporting Mr. Qvortrups "eccentricity".
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Nick
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#7 Re: Peter Qvortrup interview

Post by Nick »

I also do not see them as supporting Mr. Qvortrups "eccentricity".
That's good :-), as generally I don't support what to a large extent (IMHO) are some small truths with a boat load of marketing wrapped around it.

An evening talking over dinner with Audio Note Japan (Kondo) was far more informative.
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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