Do different amps sound different? (1 Viewer)

[elston]

To give you a quick answer, yes! Different amplifiers do sound different however, the differences may be subtle. Most solid state amps of decent design will sound very similar unless driven at a decent level. You may then notice that bass can become 'muddy' or treble frequencies can become shrill.

Well designed amps will sound more similar than not. If you play your system at more than just 'normal' listening levels then you may experience problems with the amplifiers power supply not being able to supply the output devices with enough current to control the speakers voice coils properly. This would be interpreted as a loss of definition of bass notes, or sloppy bass.

Amps that are driven too hard, beyond their power rating would clip the output signals therefore creating distortion. This would be heard as sharp or exaggerated high frequency. This can also burn out tweeters if left playing too long.

If you deal with a reputable dealer, ask for a loaner amp so you can perform some comparisons with your own gear. If you can't hear a difference, then don't worry about it. Just enjoy the sound.

 

[David Judah]

To quote from the article that Chu linked, Yogi:

DJ

 

[Philip Hamm]

How much load is taken off an amp when it only has to reproduce frequencies above 80Hz or 100Hz as with 99% of all our HT systems which are crossed over to a sub? Maybe part of the reason that my system still sounds fantastic even with a cheap old receiver is that the bass below 100Hz is handled by a massive mega-powerhouse amp (ca. 1973 Crown DC300A).

 

[Chu Gai]

I'd say that helps a lot Phil and filling out the bottom end with a competent sub can change one's entire view of one's speakers and for that matter many of the other electronics.

 

[Yogi]

Most of the speakers have impedance dips not only in the sub 80 HZ range but also in the 200-400hz range, so even though a sub xoverd @80hz helps it could still pose problems to most receivers running out of steam. BTW the demo example I gave in my earlier post was with a sub (REL Strata) xovered @ 80hz and the power requirements were still quite high. Also on a side note even though THX mandates 80 hz xover I have found that the sub is directional in the 80-100hz range. I have found a better xover point is 60 hz in terms of the sub blending in with the rest of the speakers. Plus the 80hz bass peak in most rooms is minimized with xover at 60hz. But that's a topic for another thread in another forum.

My point is not many people realize that they drive their receivers into clipping often and notice an improvement in sound with the addition of a competent separate amp as better definition, better bass, more impact etc etc.

So the answer to the orignal question is that most amps sound very close in their linear range with the difference being subtle at best and that being true people still notice huge improvements in sound with addition of better more powerful amps because of the very reasons Chu mentioned. So do amps sound different? Yes and no.

 

[Michael R Price]

Yogi, I like how you posted the output graphs for the Pass XA160... Apparently the pair of monoblocks they reviewed had both been set up incorrectly (the bias was way too low), but they still liked the sound so much it didn't matter.

My speakers and many other vented boxes have an impedance minimum at tuning, causing relatively large amounts of power draw when playing low bass. I blew the fuse on my old 100 watt amplifier during the bass solo in a "Bela Fleck" song. This is not to say that all speakers have their lowest impedances in the bass, though.

 

[Chu Gai]

Well it might be considered a narrow sense but it's an important one. If we have two amps, both of which behave differently when operating outside of their proper design parameters, and operate them outside of those parameters, what are we achieving or proving? Are we proving that one is brighter and the other is warmer? Or are we proving that we're clueless and have bought foolishly in both cases? What's the point of buying a speaker that's designed to operate a certain way and then mucking it all up because we can't figure out that all the speaker wants is enough clean power to do its thing without the amp deciding to impose its own quirks on top of that?

Whether you go class A, A/B, G, pick any letter of the alphabet, if they're all operating clean then it doesn't matter. Whatever subtle differences there may be, controlled testing hasn't born out the ability of people to discern one amp from another. This cuts to the heart of most advertising that masquerades as technical knowledge and innovation. They want people to focus on what is often the trivialist of minutae in order to base their purchasing decisions. Some of this foolishness, depending upon whose been recently hired to revamp a website, are things like enormously high slew rates, damping factors of 1000's, audiophile approved capacitors and resistors, this kind of feedback, that kind of feedback, equal length signal traces from the power supply, defining a new distortion that means nothing and then showing how they minimize it, toroid power supplies, linear power supplies, whatever. It stops us from asking the question, "can this amp supply adequate clean power to drive my speakers to volumes I prefer in a predictable manner?" That's a simple question. Yes or no? Me, I'm tired of hearing reviewers answer questions like politicians and I'm tired of manufacturers being reviewed by people cut from the Larry King softball school of journalism. Yes or no? I'm tired of reviewers championing components because they affect the sound instead of just passing it on. I'm tired of manufacturers designing poorly performing equipment and then justifying it with a commensurately high price and calling it high end. Hell someone told me about some new turntable manufacturer that says don't put an isolation type mat on their platter because it'll affect the sonic signature of the unit. Can someone spell a platter that rings and transmits microphics to the cartridge? For this I should pay? For this I should lust?

 

[Yogi]

It seems like you are a very tired man I think you should retire and take it easy and drink some beer Why to you worry so much about the world being the way it is? There are plenty of things in the world that need a champion like you and would do very well if they had someone with your level of energy and dedication. But keep up the good work, Chu.

 

[Chu Gai]

Beer sounds good. Let's drink a toast to those who have passed on and left their mark on the world.

 

[Jack Briggs]

It's Friday, so it must be Tecate Time for me.

 

[Mike SJ]

pau hana here, frozen margaritta's and pool.

 

[Claude M]

I didn't want to come out and say that because I was afraid that might hurt feelings. But that's what I had in mind.

 

[Yogi]

Yeah Chu, lets have a toast with some of this



Served by one of these lovely ladies

 

[Chu Gai]

OK if it's served by the Coors Lite twins?

 

[Jack Briggs]

But I'll drink one of my tallboys of Saporro before dipping into the Tecates. Variety is essential.

 

[Sami Kallio]

Sapporo and a few other Japanese beers are the ones I enjoy. Very similar to Finnish beer. The water stuff, Coors/Miller/etc, only when nothing better is available.

 

[RobWil]

THE END.

 

[Yogi]

CREDITS:

The good samaritan - Chu Gai
The Crook - Yogi
The lunatic - ....
The pimp - ....
.
.
.
.
So on and so forth