Cheap Amp or Cheap Speakers?

[JMac]

Which would you prefer to partner with what i.e a cheap amp with good speakers or an expensive amp with cheap speakers?

Just curious as to what peoples views are as I'm still impressed with my £80 Beringer A500 when paired with my Troels monitors.

 

[CnoEvil]

Cheap speakers (within reason).

 

[Vladimir]

For me.

 

[abacus]

There are less differences between entry level and High End amplifiers then between entry level and high end speakers.

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[Al ears]

It would all depend on whether you had a cheap source. If you have the question is irrelevant.

 

[iceman16]

There are less differences between entry level and High End amplifiers then between entry level and high end speakers.

Hope this helps

Bill

There you are again Bill..

I wasnt expecting you till the cable debate..sorry mate

 

[Frank Harvey]

There are less differences between entry level and High End amplifiers then between entry level and high end speakers.

Hope this helps

Bill

But that doesn't mean you can use a Pioneer A20 with a pair of SCM40s. It's a case of balance.

To answer the OP, I'd say it depends on the definition of 'cheap', and what sort of budgets we're talking about here. I'd rather have a £2k AV receiver with a set of £900 speakers than the other way round. A speaker does what it is told to do, so is limited by the amplifier. The amplifier is amplifying the signal it is receiving. The signal it receives depends on the quality of processing/digital conversion.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Both amp and speakers from same quality

But id rather have good amp with weaker speakers as in my case cheap speakers sing better with good amp.

All within reason, ysing a budget amp with high end speakers is mental.

But a semi decent amp and very good speakers i feel one could get away with but its all relative

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_664715932]

There are less differences between entry level and High End amplifiers then between entry level and high end speakers.

Hope this helps

Bill

But that doesn't mean you can use a Pioneer A20 with a pair of SCM40s. It's a case of balance.

To answer the OP, I'd say it depends on the definition of 'cheap', and what sort of budgets we're talking about here. I'd rather have a £2k AV receiver with a set of £900 speakers than the other way round. A speaker does what it is told to do, so is limited by the amplifier. The amplifier is amplifying the signal it is receiving. The signal it receives depends on the quality of processing/digital conversion.

hi David, my speakers cost almost twice as much as my amp.

would you call it a mismatch?

 

[matthewpiano]

It isn't all about price either. More expensive doesn't always equal 'better'.

 

[Frank Harvey]

hi David, my speakers cost almost twice as much as my amp.

would you call it a mismatch?

It depends more on how demanding the speakers are. Usually, more expensive speakers (usually better ones) tend to be more demanding of the amplification. There are some models or ranges that don't demand too much of the amplification (although they will still respond well to more watts/better quality of amplification).

In your case, they will cope well with an amplifier upgrade, should you choose to do so at any point.

 

[The Magus]

i would go for a analog single wire amp

all depends of your money room and music style

i would go for a analog amp, people that use to do amps with dac use to forget to ad some very good analog quality

so buy better a very good analog amp and conect to a cheaper speaker then buy a better speaker if you feel so

 

[The Magus]

after you had buy the cheaper speaker you have time even years to find a speaker that suits better to the amp *smile*

 

[Infiniteloop]

Cheap speakers (within reason).

+1

Good speakers will tell you more accurately what shortcomings your Amp has, whereas a good Amp will make the best of not-so-good speakers, IME.

 

[MajorFubar]

It is all about balance, otherwise it could probably be argued you're not getting the best from either your speakers or your amp, but the valid point Bill was making is if you could somehow rate the percentage improvement in a product-category as you increase the price, speakers would easily take the lead as there is a far bigger difference in sound between a £1,000 pair and £150 pair than there is between a £1,000 amp and a £150 amp. I would agree, and just to complete the list, the least difference of all is attained by ugrading your digital source, but that does not hold true of an analogue source.

 

[CnoEvil]

It is all about balance, otherwise it could probably be argued you're not getting the best from either your speakers or your amp, but the valid point Bill was making is if you could somehow rate the percentage improvement in a product-category as you increase the price, speakers would easily take the lead as there is a far bigger difference in sound between a £1,000 pair and £150 pair than there is between a £1,000 amp and a £150 amp. I would agree, and just to complete the list, the least difference of all is attained by ugrading your digital source, but that does not hold true of an analogue source.

It was a simplistic question, to which I gave a simplistic answer. Taken to extremes, I would rather have a £4k amp driving £800 speakers, than the other way round.

I would also have an "inverse rating system"; ie. How much worse do expensive speakers sound with a cheap amp, than with an expensive one.

Most people never get to hear the potential of their "cheap" speakers, as they are very seldom matched with an amp several times their price.

The Source becomes ever more important as the system gets expensive....I have heard a (proportionately cheaper) Source letting down an expensive system....so as you say, it's about balance.

 

[NS496]

As always get a system well 'balanced' is best advice.

I once had to use two small bookshelf's in a small apartment - JBL J50's, driven by a quite a bit more expensive Aura VA100ii amp. It was the worst HiFi I ever had. Period. Muffled, dull and unexciting sound. The Aura was known to be 'warm' sounding and the JBL's were made to let cheap and 'bright' electronics sound acceptable - so probably not the best match - but still, it was dire and really terrible.

Then again I often read about how the 'cheap' NAD 3020 could drive some very difficult speakers back in the day.

I would say - get a balanced system, unless you plan to upgrade imminently, but if you really have to, spend more on speakers - it is ultimately the transducers of the music. Just beware not to damage speakers when driving them hard with a subpar amp. But you get a lot of good value 'entry level' amps like the Marantz 6005, NAD 326BEE or Yamaha AS-501 at very reasonable prices, there is no excuse to not have at least a fairly decent amp to begin with.

Ultimately, I've enjoyed the balanced systems I had over the years the most.