This is my first post (starting a new thread) so I hope I am putting this in the proper forum.
I have been reading with intense interest the forum on the "10 biggest lies in audio." After reading the article, I began to read more of The Audio Critic online. As a longtime Stereophile/Absolute Sound reader (not a fanatic, but liked to read about the exotic equipment), I wondered if it was true that amps more or less sound alike. And do "exotic" cables (speaker and interconnect)
really make an improvement worth the cost?
Just for background, I have what would be considered a good "upper middle end" system. I use a Yamaha HTR-6090 receiver, Rotel RCD-02 CD Player, a Sony DVP-N75H DVD Player, Pardigm Studio 60 v3 speakers (main), Infinity Primus 162 (2 wired in parallel for center) Infinity PS-8 subwoofer (I live in an apartment, so anything bigger would really be pushing my luck with my neighbors
) and a pair of Insignia speakers for my rear channels. I also have a Monster Power Powerbar 1100 surge protector/filter. Not Krell/Levinson level, but excellent sound without breaking the bank.
Before purchasing the Yamaha, I had used an Anthem PVA-2 power amplifier and Rotel RC-1070 preamplifier. I was very happy with them. I wanted to branch into home theater, so I bought the Yamaha. I'll be honest, I expected the Anthem/Rotel combo to mop the floor sonically with the "home theater quality sound" of the Yamaha. Much to my surprise, the Yamaha sounded just as good as the seperates. Quite an eye-opener. So, after reading TAC magazines online, I began to question whether I needed all of the expensive cables behind my rack.
I swapped out my Audioquest Bedrock speaker cable ($300 for an 8' pair), my Audioquest Coral interconnects ($150), Straightwire Encore ($100), you get the idea... with decent quality but generic interconnects that came with my equipment and 14 gauge stranded speaker cable from Home Depot. Again, much to my surprise, I noted no difference. My system sounded just as good as before. I think that my equipment is of high enough caliber that if there were a noticable difference, I would have heard it.
Anyway, my question is this... Have any of you tried this experiment and what were your results? I'm not trying to sway anyone for or against high end cables. I'm just curious what you might have found. I also tried running my Anthem amplifier out of thte Yamaha's front preamp outputs but found that it really offered no improvement. I will say though that this may have changed if I could really play my system LOUD. My room is only 16' by 12' by 9'. At low volumes, the amplifier (either the Yamaha or Anthem is probably only peaking out at 3-5 watts per channel tops) is probably not going to be a big factor in overall sound quality. Especially since both are very modern, high quality designs.
So again, what has been your experience with amps? I welcome any opinions on the matter.
Sorry about the long post. Thanks for sticking with it to the end.
Chris.
