My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
With a degree in music performance and playing live music for years in my teens, 20's and 30's I have played / heard a lot of loud music. I damaged my left ear around 20 years ago and now have to be carful of the volume I listen to now. I built a low distortion very detailed system that sounds great at low levels. I listen daily to levels in the 60's with peaks into the low 70's. I learned that the ear adjusts to the level listened to daily. So many musicians have acquired tinnitus, hyperacusis and have gone deaf from the constant exposure to high volume / levels of music.....Have fun and be safe. |
Ironically - the first time I invited my wife to my home, I got a request to help my neighbor "rescue" his son from a car accident and my wife (then new girlfriend) stayed in my home when I left. When I returned about 35 minutes later (his son was fine - minor fender bender), she was listening to my stereo (at that time, a Threshold FET 10E pre, Theta Data transport & Gen Va dac, Pass Aleph 0's amp, Aerial 10T speakers - all electronics having to be turned on manually). I asked if she turned on the music and she casually said yes . . . . I'm fortunate that my family grew up with and enjoys music, so when I decide to listen - music is played back at live levels. My family sometimes listens with me - spontaneously (though I'd like them to listen more on their own). So - playback volume isn't affected by who is home (I mostly listen at night). Since our room and speaker aren't grand, smaller well recorded acoustic venues are reproduced best. Our calibrated Quest Technologies digital sound level meter (we have a certified calibration tone generator) peeked at 104 db when I last checked my notes and while these peaks are loud (our room is acoustically treated pretty well) music typically ranges from 75 db to 95 db. Important to note, with a good system, nothing is fatiguing - otherwise it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience and it actually would be quickly annoying. I enjoy piano (very difficult to record and play back well but when captured naturally - is amazing / beautiful), contemporary jazz, natural vocals - almost anything well recorded. Even orchestra performances - they're just not as convincing. |
I don't know how to measure the loudness in db numbers, but my volume is dependant on numerous situations. If my wife goes out for walks and friends, then I have a free period to play music as I want it which could be described as loud. Also depends what music I am playing (I listen from Classical to Rock, all other types of music from around the world), if its emotional and I have had some alcoholic intake then the volume goes to high as 95 (My volume goes up to 100). If my wife is in the house then the volume usually cruises at 50 -60 but if its music she loves, she uses put the volume up to region of 75 - 85. |
Most of my listening is to classical music. Average levels tend to be in the mid-70s. Brief dynamic peaks on many orchestral recordings tend to be in the low to mid 90s. Brief dynamic peaks on a few recordings having exceptionally wide dynamic range (e.g., Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" on Telarc; Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" on Sheffield Lab) reach close to 105 db. Measured with a Radio Shack digital SPL meter set for C-weighting and fast response, at my 12 foot listening distance. Regards, -- Al |
Oh, forgot that one. Got a gold, silver and bronze ranking on your preferred SQ for those three (with caveats that you had them at different times with different equipment, but you are experienced and can probably extrapolate), and in particular which perhaps come closest to your preferred non-class-D amps? (if it’s not asking too much, some of us are class D fans and cool to see how you stack them up since many of us haven’t owned any of those three, let alone all three). I don't think this specific class D comparison question has ever been asked of you. Thanks! |
This is a side question, but which class D amps has WC reviewed over the course of this thread (outside of his initial, very first posting where he listed like 30 amps, some of which were class D, but I think most/all of which were surpassed in his opinion by the later stuff (ie, stuff since first post))? I remember Rowland 925's and Bel Canto Black, and he seemed to really like both at the time. But I'm struggling to remember any others. Anyone remember, or were those two the only class D? |
Which speaker is #1 and which is #2? Or is that intended to be part of the suspense? The Dynaudios were never shown, and DAWs remained in same spot for both clips, meaning dyns (assuming they were playing in one of two) had positioning very different than daws. Not saying that’s wrong just an observation. My tongue in cheek conspiracy theory is both were daw with different power conditioners (Denali and AQ). 😂 |
@whitecamaross I'm surprised you haven't tried Accuphase, from the love you been showing Luxman.A few threads a few years back had the two being compared & a lot of people seemed to prefer the Accuphase over the Luxman in direct comparisons. The Accuphase M-6200 or the P-7300 seem like they would be right up your alley. |
Schools are shut down in Illinois too. Happening across the country. I’m in need of an amp and it’s terrible timing. Nothing is open. Thanks Emotiva for a broken promise. Flagship XPR amp that you won’t fix.... you claim parts are no longer available but these come from China. They copy everything. You can find a replacement supplier if you try.... ........ |
