Gauthier Casimiro (asker) Feb 6, 2015:

Thank you Tony. You may want to add your proposed answer below so that I can chose it as most helpful.

Tony M Feb 6, 2015:

@ Asker (bis) The only nuance of meaning that I can think of — and it would be a pretty tenuous one — is that the writer is seeking to emphasize the length of time for which the amplifier was used to drive this or that speaker; naturally, the more extended the testing, the more potentially meaningful the results might be. I can't see that there is actually anything inherently in the expression to convey this notion; but at the same time, I don't think one would tend to use this expression to describe something that was momentary or fleeting. So perhaps that idea was in the back of the writer's mind...

Tony M Feb 6, 2015:

@ Asker I don't think there is any nuance of meaning here; I would say it is totally neutral, and is merely a curious figure of speech.

It can perhaps be likened to the expressions 'to do time' and 'to serve time', both of which usually refer to time spent in prison: but of course, in the case of the expression 'saw time', there is no such connotation. There is of course also 'to serve time' meaning on military service (to serve time in the Army), and thence 'a time-server'; again, there is no connotation of that nature here.

As you say, it is not a particularly common expression; I see it as being not unlike the FR expression 'a connu' — certainly, I often translate that using 'saw', albeit rarely with 'time'. And just as the FR expression 'a connu' would be, I feel the EN expression is a little out of place here...

Gauthier Casimiro (asker) Feb 6, 2015:

@Tony : Ce n'est pas tant la forme qui me dérange que la nuance qui peut se cacher derrière.
Est-ce que ce "saw time" est plutôt à prendre comme quelque chose de positif ("il nous a impressionné quand on l'a testé avec..."), neutre ("on lui a fait subir une batterie de tests") ou négatif ("en a vu de toutes les couleurs quand on l'a couplé à ces enceintes").
Vu le contexte, la nuance négative me paraît improbable (le test est vraiment dithyrambique) mais ça reste flou.

J'ai longuement cherché sur Google et l'expression semble très rarement utilisée, à part un peu en sport où elle semble signifier qu'un joueur est (temporairement) sélectionné pour jouer. Il me semble l'avoir vu une fois sur un site qui traitait d'automobile (et ça avait l'air plutôt positif) mais je ne retrouve pas.

Tony M Feb 6, 2015:

@ Asker I agree with Sheri, this wording is pretty horrid even in EN
— this sort of expression is more usual when talking about something in an historical context, such as "the once-noble ship saw time as a coal hulk, before being towed back to the UK for restoration".

I think you need to get completely away from the EN structure and this curious use of the passive, and try and come up with something using an active verb; you may then be able to find something suitably colloquial in FR to fit the register. I would suggest something along the lines of « Nous avons testé le... avec les enceintes suivantes : ... » etc. etc.

Gauthier Casimiro (asker) Feb 6, 2015:

@Marion Si vous voulez mais je doute que ça vous aide beaucoup plus :

The Devialet 200/400 saw time driving the Magico Q7s, the tiny Raidho X-1 monitors, and the X-1s augmented with a pair of JL Audio e-112 subwoofers.

Sheri P Feb 6, 2015:

I'm not 100% sure, but I read this as a very slangy way of saying "the [device] was put to the test driving [a list of loudspeakers] over a period of time." The author seems to be using a highly colloquial phrase to strike a conversational tone with his/her fellow audiophiles.

Marion Feildel (X) Feb 6, 2015:

Phrase entière Si vous nous donniez la phrase ?