2. amps-preamps
  3. 1309024902

Amp more important than speakers?

The common wisdom seems to be the opposite (at least from speaker makers), but I have tried the many speakers that have come thru my house on lesser amps or my midfi A/V receiver and something was always very wrong, and things often sounded worse than cheap speakers.
On the other hand, I have tried many humble speakers on my my really good amps (& source) and heard really fine results.

Recently I tried my Harbeth SHL5s (& previously my Aerial 10Ts, Piega P10s, and others) on the receiver or even my Onkyo A9555 (which is nice with my 1985 Ohm Walsh 4s, which I consider mid-fi), and the 3 high end speakers sounded boomy, bland, opaque.

But when I tried even really cheap speakers on my main setup (Edge NL12.1 w/tube preamp) I got very nice results
(old Celestion SL6s, little Jensen midfi speakers).

So I don't think it's a waste of resources to get great amplification and sources even for more humble speakers.
My Harbeth SHL5s *really* benefit from amps & sources that are far more expensive than the Harbeths.

Once I had Aerial 10Ts that sounded like new speakers with vocals to die for when I drove them with a Pass X350 to replace an Aragon 8008.

Oh well, thanks for reading my rambling thoughts here...

So I think I would avoid pairing good speakers with lesser amps,
rgs92

Showing 5 responses by stickman451

stickman451
553 posts
 
Speakers first; more than any other single component they set the tone and define your system. For example, horn speakers are different animals than your typical panel speaker (ie Magnepans). Stand mounted monitors are different animals than traditional ported box speakers.

The speaker must 'fit' the room; it makes no sense to buy a big Magnepan panel and set it eight inches from the wall. A big horn speaker, say a Klipschorn must fit perfectly and directly into the rooms corners or you lose about 50% of its performance. You probably would not buy a small two-way stand mounted monitor for a room that was 20x36 either.

Analyze your room, your listening perferences, and then buy the very best speaker yoy can afford and stick with it! Start with the best amp(s) you can afford and work your way up from there. Speaker choice will drive your decision on tubes or solid state for amplfication (and always go with a very good tube preamp :) )
stickman451
553 posts
 
Another reason you should do speakers first is the fact that every speaker you purchase will be affected by the room you place them in; that's a fact! Most amps that I know of are not really impacted by the room dimensions or even the wall surfaces...

If your speaker does not integrate properly into the room, NO upstream electronics will correct the problems.

Listen to a wide variety of different types of speakers, horn loaded, panel, traditional box, sealed enclosure, ported enclosure, two-way monitors, ribbons, metal dome tweeter, silk domed, etc...find one that you enjoy and one that most meets the criteria that are important to you and buy it. Also confirm that it integrates appropriately with your room; if your room is 10 x 12 do not buy a set of KHorns, or a set of Wilson Alexandria 2's, or a set of Magnepan 20.1's....none of these speakers will work properly in a small room!

As time passes and you improve/upgrade your front-end electronics, your speakers will continually reward you with better sound and performance (assuming of course that you made an appropriate speaker choice!)
stickman451
553 posts
 
I agree, in the extreme amps are impacted by the size of the room and more obviously the speaker load/characteristics. You probably wouldn't go with a flea powered SET amp if your room was 25 x 35 for example, not unless of course your were using something like a KHorn which has a sensitivity of 104 db...even then, I would want more than a couple of watts...

My limited experience has been that very sensitive speakers seem to do best with lower or moderately powered amps, whether tube or SS. Tougher loads, like a Magnepan panel speaker are much happier with as much power as you can throw at them; think 500 watt SS or BIG tube amps..

I stand by my earlier points in this thread. To me it makes little sense to choose an amp first; ultimately the choice of speaker has the greatest impact on the overall tonality of the music, the type and condition of the sound stage, and the overall response you get in a particular room.

Find a speaker you like/love and then do some hunting until you can find the very best amp that matches well with the speaker (and its particular design characteristics) and one that is powerful enough to drive the speaker to acceptable sound pressure levels in your room.
stickman451
553 posts
 
My comments on going speakers first really have nothing to do with the relative cost of components; spend as much as you like and can afford!

Find a speaker that you really like and buy it. Then if you want to spend ten times as much (or more) on the front-end do that too. If you have made a good speaker choice then your efforts and $$$ on the front- end will reward you!
stickman451
553 posts
 
Interesting comments by the 'amp' first camp, but unfortunately they are completely mistaken. As was said earlier, the speaker and the manner in which in interacts or integrates into the acoustic space is first and foremost. If that interface is flawed, then there is NO AMP on the planet that will correct the situation...

Analyze your room, it's dimensions, it's construction, and review the surface types of the floors, walls, and ceiling. Then, try a variety of speaker types, keeping in mind that you will not fill a huge room with sound using a mini-monitor, nor can your ears handle a monster box speaker in a small acoustic space...get the right speaker for your room taking into account the 'sound' you like...then, and only then, you can find an amp that works well. The speaker choice will in fact drive or move you towards a certain type or category of amplifiers...you won't use 500 Pass Labs mono-blocks if your speaker has a sensitivity of 100db and you won't use a 300B stereo amp on a pair of Magnepan 3.7's
More to discover