Couple of comments:
1-You mention 100% inaudible many times any time any bench tests are brought up. With DACS and Amps,, what is your threshold of what is audible? And what is it based on?
2-Also in many of your comments you seem to paint with a very wide brush in regards to anyone that might consider bench tests an important part in selecting a piece of gear. I have seen you even go so far as referring to it as a “cult”. There may be people that simply look at the chart and buy the ones at the top without any regard to any other important factors, but I would think that would be the exception rather than the rule.
For me: Stability, Ease of use in day to day, Good EQ (in particular under 500hz), loudness compensation, reliability, etc actually are my first criteria... If a product does not meet these needs, they aren’t considered. Similarly, if a piece of gear measures horribly, it isn’t considered either..
Example 1 Emotiva measures well, but would not consider it due to stability.
Example 2 NAD T758 V3 measures poorly in both the DAC and amp. I had this unit and sent it in for testing. Why keep it when there are better performing units?
I have the X8500 which is at the top of the list, and I have had the NAD 758V3 which is at the bottom of the list. There is a difference, in particular at high volumes...So at some point, bench tests do matter in my opinion. Exactly what that point is, I don’t know. At least with bench tests, there will be some data out there. With that data, shoppers can use it how they see fit... if at all.
What's my threshold and what is it based on?
It is based on 2 things.
1. My personal experience comparing cheap $500 AVR (typical THD is 0.03%) to $7,500-$20,000 preamps that typically have THD much better than 0.003%.
I recall the worst THD I ever saw was about 0.08% from a $300 AVR. And it was inaudible.
2. Reading audio publications like The Audio Critic. Many people believe that you cannot hear THD less than 0.1% in real life.
Also, when people measure power outputs from amps, the numbers are from 0.1% THD and 1.0% THD. There is a good reason for that.
What do I mean by real life? Well, most speakers have THD greater than 0.1%. So if speakers have THD greater than 0.1%, why are people so hung up on having the absolute lowest THD of less than 0.001%?
Also, we have all kinds of NOISE in real life from not only Speakers, but from the ROOM.
What about fan noise that so many people put atop their AVR? Sure they are "inaudible" from 6FT to 10FT away. But they are more audible than any of these THD and SINAD specs.
And then you add all kinds of sounds from the music or movies at 75-90dB from 7-15 speakers.
Here's another example. I've seen many people complain that they can't even HEAR their Atmos speakers. The reason is because all the other speakers are blazing away and they can't actually hear their Atmos speakers. So how can they possibly hear even 1% THD with all their speakers blazing away?
Here is what I mean by "Cult". Back when we had many publications that measured Distortion and Noise, we talked about the specs, but never talked like these numbers were the most important thing to look at.
Remember a long time ago when SPEAKERS and room Acoustics were the most important things, not electronics specs?
Remember a long time ago when reliability, features, functionality, stability, ease of use were the most important things, not electronics specs?
Now it seems these distortion and noise specs are the ONLY things some people talk about.
Have we proven that THD of 0.0007% results in better reliability, stability, functionality, less heat production, etc.? Absolutely Not!
What has changed from 2018 to 2020?
Have we improved our listening threshold? Absolutely not!
No, the ONLY change that occurred from 2018 to 2020 is that all publications stopped measuring distortion and noise specs and now the only person doing this measurement is Amir.
You mentioned "terrible measurements". For years, when we saw THD of 0.03% from AVR, many of us never thought, "Wow, 0.03% THD is a just absolutely TERRIBLE measurement! I can hear THD of 0.03%!"
So is THD of 0.03% now absolutely terrible?
The next question is, why did all these many publications STOP doing these distortion and noise measurements? Could it be because they are INAUDIBLE? Or maybe there is a conspiracy.