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what's going on with specs?

I'm having a hard time buying a power amp. I'm in the 5-10k range and whae I'm finding are things like PS Audio BHK 250. Specs show 250@8ohms and 500@4ohms. Then the Parasound JC5 shows 400@8ohms and 600@4ohms. Looks like PS Audio doubles at 4 ohms which makes me think it's a stronger amp until I notice the PS Audio spec is at 1 kilohertz and the Parasound measures 20 to 20 kilohertz. That is very confusing and I don't understand why PS Audio doesn't give full power measurements. Anyone with knowledge of these two brands or others. I have the Elac Vela 409s to drive. 
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mrklas
441 posts
 
Specs are interesting.

I heard two stereo amps from different with different wattage ratings - one 450 watts  per channel and the other 250 watts per channel.

Conducting a listening test and using my iPhone to keep the volume at 80db there was two surprises
1. I expected the larger wattage am to have more dynamic impact - it didn't
2.  The volume number on the preamp was about 10 units higher on the 450 watt amp (in comparison to the 250 watt amp).

The good news is then the only thing that matters is how it sounds (and I guess the price might matter).
unsound
7,329 posts
 
^Don’t confuse gain with power.


The devil is in the details. It’s important to compare apples to apples. Specs are presented as an equation; change variable / change application. Specs can offer tremendous insight into correlations, and be invaluable towards eliminating the irrelevant. Specs quantify the specifics. Specs allow for pertinent short lists. Without specs we don’t have quality and/or consistency.

Specs don’t assess the gestalt.
nadroj29's avatar
nadroj29
2 posts
 
Go with a parasound halo. You wont be disappointed. And you can send me the difference of about 2000 from the minimum side of your budget. Lol very nice amps well designed and and well regarded by those in the audiophiliac circles. 
mrklas
441 posts
 
@unsound specs matter until they don't

Audio research has stereo watt amplifiers rated at 75-85 watts that can deliver sound quality, quality and dynamics comparable to may amplifiers rated much higher.    
unsound
7,329 posts
 
@mrklas, specs don’t matter until they do,

I confident that in some situations that vey same amp won’t perform as well as many amplifiers rated much higher.
And the specs sure come in handy for such considerations.
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