In yesterday's post we discussed the practice of bypassing capacitors for better sonic performance. Today, let's touch on the idea of parts quality.
When you invest in a piece of high-performance audio gear you expect to receive a product built upon quality parts. Right? A product whose internals were designed to offer you trouble free performance for many decades to come. And that is certainly something you should expect.
But parts quality has more than one criteria. Certainly longevity is high on the list, but you kind of expect that. Take that for granted, right?
What about performance?
I can assure you that in an audio circuit a carbon composition resistor sounds worse than its metal film cousin, yet both resistors should last a lifetime. A low ESR capacitor handily outperforms its ho hum run of the mill version used in 99% of all electronics, yet both have the same expected lifespans (and measure the same if we're only focused on energy storage).
You expect your high-end audio manufacturers to use long lasting, quality parts. It's perhaps a good idea to remember that, like food, there's more to taste and performance than just the shelf life and the matching of calories.
Quality, longevity, and performance are to be expected.
