What characteristics do you listen for when purchasing amps/preamps ?


Or any new addition to your rig. Hello all, and I wish everyone well. Many of you are aware of me through here, A’gon, and follow my posts....whether agreeing or disagreeing with what I speak about. As some time has passed since the loss of Jeff Beck ( RIP ), I have been listening to my cd collection by him, and other recordings he has appeared on, such as Roger Waters with his Amused To Death release. Also, scanning YT for anything he appears on. What a guitar player he was. And, his accompanying players as well. So, my question above is, what else ( other than the playing, and the musicianship ), is most important to you ?. How many of you listen as I do....to the musicianship ? I have been into this music listening thing for over 50 years ( professionally as well ), and have " consulted " for years. I have noticed, as time goes on, many folks placing sound staging ( width, depth, height, the placement of musicians on a stage or in a studio ), ambience retrieval, and the illusion of " being there ", or " they ( the musicians ) are here ", as the number one characteristic they long for. Of course, tone, coherence, dynamics, rhythm, having a dark, black background ( no noise ), flat frequency response ( speaker / room matching, or headphone listening ) ) and many other characteristics are appreciated, and sought after. Many of you know, where I stand on all of these, as my " most important to me " characteristics, and my stand, on the recordings themselves. I see so much buying, selling, buying selling, buying, selling, by so many, and I want to get a sense from others, " what are all of you searching for ? The truth of the matter is, what we are all searching for, imo, is a make believe simulation, and we use our memories, imaginations and experiences, to fill in the gaps, and to get us to that next level. I am not here to judge anyone. Emotionally, what gets you excited when listening to your rig ? Listening to Beck, and his playing cohorts, gets me excited........It is all about the music for me. BTW, I tried something new from my dispensary....and here I am...My best to all.....Always, MrD.

mrdecibel

Showing 1 response by whart

I don’t think you can speak of amplification without the speaker in mind.

Get some seat time with systems that are considered the "best" if you are in a place where you can do that. And then figure out what sound you like.

I have a particular bent. It is satisfied by a certain kind of SET amp that has enough juice to play a mid-sized horn system supplemented by additional woofers. If asked what kind of amp I liked, I’d have to address that in relation to the loudspeaker, since my preferred amp is only 18 watts. Per side.

Preamp- I’m not necessarily of the view that matching brands is that critical. I’ve gone through some good line stages and phono stages and none of it matches the amp brand now, though I've had same brand amp-preamp a few times. That’s what makes this so difficult. But, start with the speaker-amp nexus. That is critical. You can consider line stages, phono if relevant, after that. Budget is always a factor, even before current inflation.