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All Amps Sound the Same....

A guy posted this on another forum:

"This is my other expensive hobby and while I agree with you about low end receivers, once you get to mid-priced (~$600-1000 street price) multichannel receivers you're into pretty good gear...Keep in mind that an amplifier sounds like an amplifier and changing brands should add or subtract nothing to/from the sound and that going up the food chain just adds power output or snob appeal to a separate amplifier...These days most audiophiles either use a good quality multichannel receiver alone or use a mid-priced multichannel receiver to drive their amps even for 2-channel."

Wow, where do they come up with this? Lack of experience?
128x128russ69

Showing 5 responses by russ69

russ69's avatar
russ69 OP
3,360 posts
 
Some of you guys guessed it right. Here's the latest quote:

"You've been sold a bill of goods my friend. There's a lot snake oil in "high-end" audio and anybody that tells you that a two channel amp sounds better than a multichannel amp or a receiver for that matter is pushing snake oil. Drop by Audioholics sometime my friend."

I wish someone had told me this a little earlier, I could have saved a ton of money, LOL.
russ69's avatar
russ69 OP
3,360 posts
 
If all amps sound the same, then we should recommend that everybody buy a 500 watt a channel job as their first and only amp they will ever need. How come the guys that think all amps sound the same never own/owned a big/expensive amp?
russ69's avatar
russ69 OP
3,360 posts
 
MrTennis, I've never read anything in a spec sheet that gave me the slightest clue on how an amp sounds. I'm not sure we are even measuring the right parameters.

No, Jedinite24, just can't understand why somebody would make that statement unless they have just started in HI-FI or never had the bucks for a good amp. Just a discussion, that's all.

russ69's avatar
russ69 OP
3,360 posts
 
"hi russ69: my point is that one should not trust the senses."

I use my ears, to listen to my HI-FI. I can listen to a pair of amps and tell you which one I like better. It may not be better by measured criteria but I can decide if it sounds better to me. If the two amps under test are very close in sound, then I will have to spend some time with each one. Sometimes a long time. After a while and some evaluation, I can pick the one I like.
I trust my senses, if I have the time to test things out. After all we are using one of our senses to enjoy HI-FI. Can I be misled? Sure, but not for a long period of time. I trust my ears. I surely can tell when something sounds like crap. I don't need any supporting documentation for that.
russ69's avatar
russ69 OP
3,360 posts
 
I understand fully what MrTennis is saying but in audio the only tool we have is our hearing. It's not a perfect situation and two people can disagree about what they are hearing. That's basically why long term evaluation is relevant to our hobby and DBTs are not.
No piece of equipment has been able to deceive my senses in the long term. Yes the senses are unreliable for recording instantaneous events, I'll agree with this but the ears are good instruments and in this case the only relevant instrument.
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