2. amps-preamps
  3. 1038620469

Riddle me this...

Why is it that you cannot seem to purchase a lower-powered solid state amp any more? None of the “names” in solid state amps seem to make any reasonably priced or powered products at all, and most haven’t since about the early 90s. (A few come to mind right off, Levinson no. 29, Rowland Model 1, Krell KSA-80, the family of Pass Alephs). These days, the most modest offering from any of these companies (not to mention everyone else) is many times more expensive, in no small part due to the fact that they are all many times more powerful.

Question is, why? Why should I need 250wpc+ to drive any reasonably designed speaker? What is it about the industry that seems to be in a conspiracy (or, at least, conscious parallelism, for you antitrust geeks) to foist more and more power on the consuming public while, at the same time, doubling or tripling prices for their most modest gear? Why is it that, if I want a really nice amp at less than 100wpc, I have to either go with tubes or with gear that was made at least a decade ago? Why is it that most speakers made these days are either “tube friendly” or “require” an amp with enough power to light a small village to actually go?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve got inefficient speakers and a 250wpc amp which I like the sound of just fine. It just strikes me as preposterous that I (and we, if I may speak for the market) seem to have been conditioned to believe that this is necessary. Why on Earth wouldn’t someone get a reasonably designed, efficient pair of speakers and, say, a Pass Aleph amp for a negligible fraction of ANYTHING built by Pass these days and never look back? I understand there are plenty of legit reasons why more power can be desirable (“never can have too much” yea, yea, I know), but am a bit miffed that, legit reasons or no, the market no longer seems to offer choices. We a bunch of suckers, or what? (Yea, a bit of a rant, but this has been bugging me -- am I the only one? Did I miss something? Can I get a witness?)
mezmo

Showing 3 responses by bigtee

bigtee
803 posts
 
I don't believe ARC is moving toward solid state sound, whatever that may be, but to implementing tubes in a more accurate fashion. The latest ARC tube amps sound awfully good. Wish I could afford a pair of the VT 100's. I don't believe tubes for the most part offer a accurate portrayal of the source. One term I really never hear with a tube product is accurate.
I use a Audible Illusions preamp which I feel adds romance to the sound of my Theta Dreadnaught. I like the combo. The Theta tests like a tube amp with its zero feedback and its tube like distortion products. It also has balanced circuitry which does not allow the use a common output ground.
We all have sound we like and if we didn't, we wouldn't need all the equipment on the market. I have always asked the question, "What is accurate?" I have never heard accurate to know! And if I had, I probably would have missed it.
There is a place for everything just like the many different car choices. Someone posed a question on this forum about what is the best sounding speaker and received about 40 different nominations. So, who made the right choice?
There are as many reasons to use a high powered amp as there are to use a low powered one. It a decision the individual must ultimately make and I guess manufactures will surely help you out(of the money in your pocket!)
bigtee
803 posts
 
I think it falls into the same category as buying a Lexus ES300 over a very similiar Toyota Camry V6. I have long thought a lot of people buy expensive stuff because they feel they have too to be legit in the Audiophile community and taken seriously. Then there is always the pride of ownership( my toy is more expensive than yours.) You always read on this forum where price dictates quality which is absolutely not true. It seems people apologize for having inexpensive equipment with statements like I'll make do until I can afford better or I know there is better, more expensive stuff out there. Some how, someway, we have created a monster. As one person stated, "You have to spend a lot of money to find out you didn't need to spend so much." Companies take advantage of this mentality because they know with proper marketing they can sell it.
There are some very, very good low priced products out there. They don't draw much press or interest because they are too "Cheap" to be taken seriously.
As for power, it takes ten times the power to double a given volume level. If you look at the specs in this light, there is not a lot of difference in volume between a 50w amp and a 200w amp. Not nearly what people would have you believe. I'm going to make a statement here and I don't care if people believe it or not but there are a lot more better sounding smaller amps out there than big amps. A lot of times, big amps because of multiple output devices, add more of their own sound. This is not to say they aren't any big amps that sound good but not that many when compared to lesser offering. The Pass Aleph 30 is a good example along with the 60. Pass labs new big amps don't sound as good in direct comparison.
One last little note, when comparing, the louder system will always sound better no matter what the quality. Give it a try.
bigtee
803 posts
 
Sean, I really have to agree with you on the need at times for a high powered amp. Although, this is completely system dependent, there are times when volume, efficiency or whatever will dictate this. Everything has its place.
If you really want to see what's going on in your system, hook your outputs to an "O-scope." You can use a SPL to measure your peaks and average levels. I was listening the other night at 80DB average level and saw peaks jump to around 95DB.
This is one of the reasons I use a 4-ch Theta Dreadnaught for my Vandersteen 3A Signatures in a biamp configeration. Even using the 2wq subs and high pass filters, the Vandersteen's with there 4 ohm or less impedence require some power to get going. The big Theta in this configuration delivers about 450 w/ch for the 4 channels. The Vandersteen's are rated for a minimum input of 100 watts/ch @ 8 ohms. You must have an amp stable down to about 3.2 ohms.
I consider the Theta right there with the best of the big amps. It is the best sounding big amp bar none that I have heard overall.
However, I had a smaller system using 90db efficiency speakers with a Creek 85 w/ch amp that sounded great. It did not clip at anything less than "LOUD!!!" levels. Depending on your situation, you can get by with smaller amps. I do still think there is a place for them and some of them sound remarkable.
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