On the audibility of distortion

Summary form only given, as follows. The distortion characteristics of microphones, recorders, amplifiers, and, loudspeakers will be cross-compared to arrive at a distortion budget. Better valve and, transistor anDlifiers make a negligible contribution to this budget. Loudspeakers can be (but usually are not) better than the tape recorder and this looks like the frontier for distortion reduction. Iethods for distortion measurement of each of the system two-ports will be d.iscussed. The characteristics and use of the human hearing system will be emphasized. A demonstration will be given to illustrate the ideas of this session.