SweetnLow91SC

Well....... Its sort of like a race car mechanic with the race car. As everyone is running almost the same equipment anyways (F-1, Kart,etc)...... The mechanic that knows all the latest tricks and have the best tweaking technique (engine, suspension,tires, etc) would have an advantage over other teams. As everyone is running their best equipment.. Its the right combination that is key.

But the equipment still matters..... bad equipment car no go..

[ December 04, 2005, 11:45 AM: Message edited by: SweetnLow91SC ]

pinhead

i was wondering who makes the best transistors
and why are they better than the other ones
in regards to sq

SweetnLow91SC

Sanken does! Its Ultra linear and very dynamic...

pinhead

is there anything wrong with a texas instruments transistor compared to a sanken

scarypotter

NO, actually, it does not. Sometimes, it's the other way around, real-world.

Sorry to drag this "dead" topic out of the muck again, ladies, but if you wish for a demonstration on the audible differences between amps (EVEN in cars) I will gladly schedule a time/place in the New York, Florida, or North Carolina areas to display several amps (NOTE: I don't sell amps, pitch amps, or suggest "expensive" amps to customers - I let them decide, and I just install their gear, as long as it is not junk.)

To hear some of you "experts" talk about how people are perpetuating "lies and BS" when they claim one amp sounds better is sickening. I have been in this industry over two decades, and I can tell you that a quality amp DOES sound better. So, who's perpetuating what, you stubborn geeks?

Believe it or not, however, many of the BEST-sounding amps (SE and pure class-a) have EXTREMELY POOR measurements on THD and things like SN-plus-noise.

The only way to end this squabble is to meet, and have a panel of ten naysaers and ten believers (and perhaps ten folks who are on the fence) spend about 8 hours listening to reference tracks on the same reference loudspeaker setup, each with different amps.

To claim they are "all the same until clipping" is a silly assumption that in the REAL WORLD, things "always perform as they do on PAPER." Any electronics tech worth his/her salt knows that there are variations in component quality, build quality, and performance that may differ from even the SAME BRAND part to another "identical" part.

An amp using a simple design and power supply almost ALWAYS sounds better than one chocked-up with bells and whistles.

Amps with high damping factors and high power into standard 4-ohm loads also sound better than "cheater" amps putting-out the same power at 2 or 1 ohm, but rated far lower at 4 ohms.

WHY? It's a simple case of Mister Ohm: Half your impedance and you theoretically "double" your wattage. In doing so, you also theoretically "half" your damping factor and a few other important "measurements."

Double your impedance, and you get lower power, but also more control over cone motion, and greater ability for the amp to withstand BACK EMF.

NOTICE that I say THORETICALLY, not ACTUALLY. If you graduated from "Fuse Blowing 101," you are aware that a 100W amp of average quality (before clipping) at 4-ohms will NOT put 200W out before clipping at 2-ohms, as there are other factors at play.

If you're going to tell me than an amplifier with a damping factor of greater than 600 won't KILL an amp with a damping factor of under 100, you have no place in audio, except selling iPod docks and MP3 ringtones to the rubes.

A blind test will certainly show how subtle some differences can be, but will also reveal some differences that will shut you "scientific types" the h-e-double-hockeystix up.

I have designed and built SET amps.

I build interconnect for clients with $75,000 home speakers and amps that are "worth" three-times my mortgage.

I've listened to live music, and demos of the same perfomance reproduced through studio gear. I've heard "the best there is," or very close to it.

Interestingly, the best home amps I've encountered (Monarchy SM-70 Pros used as balanced monoblocks) are less than $1k each, and many of my clients have sold-off their Krells, Pass Labs, etc., for a taste of the Monarchy sound at a FAR LOWER PRICE.

Again, I don't sell amps; I merely install them in homes and cars. I've done so for the last 20 years, and have built and designed gear for my own reference system for the last ten. People PAY ME to set their systems up for a reason.

Go throw an NAD integrated amp in the place where a Redgum or Cary Audio sits, and see how good Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the soles of her shoes" sounds.

It's like placing paper over the tweeters.

Better yet, bring a favorite CD to the local Best Buy, and audition six or seven receivers through the same speakers, with no preconception as to price/quality. Many of audiophilia's best products are startlingly CHEAP, such as the Cambridge Audio Azur series of integrated amps and CD players.

I tell almost every client to try Cambridge Audio gear first, and if they like it, to skip the megabuck systems. Some of the HT setups I've built with Cambridge will give you GOOSEBUMPS. Place a more expensive NAD, DENON, OR ONKYO in the same system, and hear it go to the crapper.


If you wish to place a wager, skip it. But I'd really like to take you up on the "you can't hear it" challenge!

I've spent 20 years doing this stuff because I DO hear it, and it's NOT A PLACEBO. Especially comparing SET, SE(ss), Push-pull, Digital, tripath, etc.

The CARY AUDIO digital home amps (ICE Power supply) now boast damping factors of over 4000! These same amps can play all day without becoming hot, unless you crank them. They also only draw .25 amps at idle, compared to 2 to 4 amps on larger, SS designs, and gosh knows how much current on tube designs (which I typically don't enjoy, unless they are "hybrids"). Unfortunately, as with lots of digital gear, they are SO good, recording has yet to "catch-up," and they reveal any isues with production instantly. Stick Bela Fleck's "Perpetual Motion" in the CD transport, however, and the $1900 you spent on your Cary CAI-1 integrated seems quite cheap. The closest amps I heard were $4k each, and required two for a stereo pair. Plus, they are power-hungry compared to "class D" designs.

I guess that's enough ranting to keep me from going postal today, and "capping" the first guy I see with Piezos on his rear deck, and unmounted 6x9s waiting to fly-forward the second he slams on his brakes...

...I've been at this over half my life, and your average layperson "can't hear" a difference between the BOSE wave radio and a pair of Reference 3a monitors, by the way. Most consumers buy complete junk, and think it's great. I wish I could do that! lol

- scary p

Dukk

Nice first post. So to sum it up, you're awesome? Noted.

JohnVroom

so do you have a retail facility in Liverpool perchance?