Can you hear a difference in Sound between Audio Amplifiers?

[PerVirtuous]

If you know, who are they and why?

I would say they are the same people who have three homes and drive a Bentley. If it was easily within my budget, I would find some old McIntosh amps and a McIntosh Preamp, have them completely rebuilt, and then get some of those horn speaker systems they make in Brooklyn NY. I would build a theater room and have professional audio people soundproof the room and install the system. Then I would screw the nanny, lose the houses, the cars, and my system - and buy a Marantz and some Jamos and live with a waitress in a trailer.

 

[Chocolatey MidsFan]

I would say they are the same people who have three homes and drive a Bentley. If it was easily within my budget, I would find some old McIntosh amps and a McIntosh Preamp, have them completely rebuilt, and then get some of those horn speaker systems they make in Brooklyn NY. I would build a theater room and have professional audio people soundproof the room and install the system. Then I would screw the nanny, lose the houses, the cars, and my system - and buy a Marantz and some Jamos and live with a waitress in a trailer.

That's what I'm talking about.

 

[everettT]

Who would spend 5 to 6 figures on a pair speakers?

Well 5 isnt really that bad, especially when gain is to be had.

 

[trevanian]

When I went from my yamaha dspa1 to the outlaw mono amps, it was a huge difference and I honestly can't say why. the monos do have more power but I don't listen to music really loud so I'm not sure if that matters. It was a different preamp, so theres is that. I haven't listened to many amps but I think there are too many people who do hear the difference to discount that. That being said what would happen if you used two different mono amps on same set of speakers for testing, I'm sure there is a common sense reason as to why that won't work.

 

[Auditor55]

Well, we all know all amps sound differently. Duh! I can hear the night-and-day significant difference a mile away and blindfolded since I have golden ears. Don't be jealous and call me a liar if you're not blessed with golden ears.

I also have golden eyes so I can see a huge difference between 8K vs 1080p a mile away. Don't be jealous either. But that's another thread.

So the only real question is, how chocolaty, how minty, how sweet, and just exactly how airy do the different amps sound?

My Yamaha MX-A5000 11Ch amp sounds exactly 19.46% minty, 20.73% chocolaty, 19.86% airy, and 39.95% sweet.

You're a golden eared audiophile and an eagle-eyed videophile.

 

[Auditor55]

Well 5 isnt really that bad, especially when gain is to be had.

I thinking more like 40K-50K for a pair of speakers. In my opinion, it's foolish and wasteful to spend that much, our ears are very limited on what we can actually hear to justify spending that much.

 

[lovinthehd]

Was just thinking about this thread since I doubt most could actually tell a difference within reasonable parameters.

 

[Mikado463]

Well 5 isnt really that bad, especially when gain is to be had.

kinda funny that this is still being talked about for anybody that has not experienced speakers in the 10-15k range(properly set up) is missing(again) and IMO the sweet spot in audio. The fact that Auditor 55 even made that comment shows he has missed 'the boat' .........

 

[Mikado463]

I thinking more like 40K-50K for a pair of speakers. In my opinion, it's foolish and wasteful to spend that much, our ears are very limited on what we can actually hear to justify spending that much.

have you ever listened to speakers in that range ?

 

[lovinthehd]

Well I'd much rather test speakers in that range of 40k-50k rather than some silly amp priced that way.....

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

"have you ever listened to speakers in that range?"

A higher price tag makes them sound better.

 

[lovinthehd]

"have you ever listened to speakers in that range "

A higher price tag makes them sound better.

And often not even "prettier"

 

[Cos]

I can hear a difference between my ATI and Parasound, but that basically boils down to no transformer hum or tweeter buz on the ATI. At greater than 2 feet difference, I doubtt I would hear a difference, both met/exceeded my expecations

 

[Auditor55]

have you ever listened to speakers in that range ?

I don't know, I used to visit super high-end audio shops and they always had music playing, I don't know exactly how much the speakers that I heard cost. Anyway, my thinking is if I paid 20K for a pair of speakers, which is a lot of money to me, what should I expect to hear on pair of 50K speakers that I did not hear on my 20K speakers, where is the point of diminishing returns? I should be able to get audibly transparent, high fidelity speakers with 20K max, if not, someone is doing a bad job of constructing speakers.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

And....if I paid 5K for a pair of speakers, which is a lot of money to me, what should I expect to hear on a pair of 20K speakers that I did not hear on my 5K speakers, where is the point of diminishing returns?

 

[Auditor55]

kinda funny that this is still being talked about for anybody that has not experienced speakers in the 10-15k range(properly set up) is missing(again) and IMO the sweet spot in audio. The fact that Auditor 55 even made that comment shows he has missed 'the boat' .........

I used to see those types of speakers in some high-end shops and in some audio magazines. I always wondered why such things exist as 50K speakers. I know we have the super richest one percent that buys such things, but to me, that's quite gluttonous. Again, we are human beings and there's a limit to what we can hear.

 

[Auditor55]

And....if I paid 5K for a pair of speakers, which is a lot of money to me, what should I expect to hear on a pair of 20K speakers that I did not hear on my 5K speakers, where is the point of diminishing returns?

You make a good point. Often, if we spend 5K on a pair of speakers, they could be compromised in some areas.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

"Again, we are human beings and there's a limit to what we can hear."

Or what we think we hear. Especially if the listening evaluation is sighted.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was thinking of it because at ASR some guy said an Emotiva basx amp so offended him he threw it out when no one bit on his ad in a month. Just another audio asshole probably, but did make me think of the subject generally. I doubt he could tell a difference in a proper comparison to what he bought later (a much more expensive and powerful Parasound unit....maybe he thinks SQ is outside the power parameters)

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

"I was thinking of it because at ASR some guy said an Emotiva basx amp so offended him he threw it out when no one bit on his ad in a month."

I read that too.