Is it all Hype ?

[matt49]

I looked into his bio and I mentioned he is retired in a positive way, as in experienced. Read the context of the whole sentance.

I hate you too.

That's fine. We're both small and ignorant fish in a small pool full of other ignorant fish.

 

[paulkebab]

Seems to suggest that there is probably no increase in quality from say a 500 amp to a 1500 amp but you may get a different sound that you like.

So why not spend 500 and find an amp that you like the sound of

I still find it strange that someone will spend say 1500 on an amp that they know has no real extra quality over a 500 amp, but almost convince yourself that it does or at least enough to warrant an extra 1000.

The only big difference I have noticed is in my speakers, from 900 dynaudio to 2500 spendor a6r. Listening to different amps at this stage seems to make no real difference at all

the money numbers you quote are almost exactly the difference in my amps. The Yam does sound nice, as long as the volume is midway. Low volume material is very vague and lacking detail. High volume and my transmission line speakers start controlling the amp instead of v-versa. After a few demo's from different manufacturers it became plainly obvious the amp was lacking but at the end of the day it's a budget amp. In a back-to-back test with the Yamaha in its mid-volume stride, it sounds good; my Vincent, at roughly the same volume level, sounds good too. The giveaway is the bass control, the Vincent clearly is far better (at any level) and so were all the amps I auditioned. As I was trying to point out many posts ago, the speaker/amp relationship is very relative on size/design/drivers. Auditioning is a must. I wouldn't spend money on something I couldn't justify shelling out for but the differences in my amps made buying the Vincent easily the best money I've spent in a long time.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Seems to suggest that there is probably no increase in quality from say a 500 amp to a 1500 amp but you may get a different sound that you like.

So why not spend 500 and find an amp that you like the sound of

I still find it strange that someone will spend say 1500 on an amp that they know has no real extra quality over a 500 amp, but almost convince yourself that it does or at least enough to warrant an extra 1000.

The only big difference I have noticed is in my speakers, from 900 dynaudio to 2500 spendor a6r. Listening to different amps at this stage seems to make no real difference at all

the money numbers you quote are almost exactly the difference in my amps. The Yam does sound nice, as long as the volume is midway. Low volume material is very vague and lacking detail. High volume and my transmission line speakers start controlling the amp instead of v-versa. After a few demo's from different manufacturers it became plainly obvious the amp was lacking but at the end of the day it's a budget amp. In a back-to-back test with the Yamaha in its mid-volume stride, it sounds good; my Vincent, at roughly the same volume level, sounds good too. The giveaway is the bass control, the Vincent clearly is far better (at any level) and so were all the amps I auditioned. As I was trying to point out many posts ago, the speaker/amp relationship is very relative on size/design/drivers. Auditioning is a must. I wouldn't spend money on something I couldn't justify shelling out for but the differences in my amps made buying the Vincent easily the best money I've spent in a long time.

i agree speaker and amp are very important get both of them right you should be on to a winner and auditoning is very important in getting both speaker , amp right in the first place or its a big gamble

 

[Gazzip]

I think that building a great sounding hifi is a far more symbiotic process than simply spending x amount of money for y amount of performance. The positive/negative affect that a pair of speakers can have on the performance of their amplifying partner is, for example, as great as the affect that the amplifier can have on the speakers.

Speaker cables are another often misunderstood part of that chain. It is absolutely true that OFC speaker cable is all you need. It does however need to be the correct gauge for it's length in order to maintain the correct resistance. Get that wrong and the frequency response of the speakers can be altered and getting it wrong above 3 metres or so in length is pretty easily done with most of the branded "hifi" speaker cables you can buy.

You have to review the whole system as a package. You really are just throwing away money if your buying is based purely upon the higher price the higher the performance.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I bought a pair of speakers, DAC and cables based on measurements alone and without auditioning just last month. *crazy*

Um, and does that system sound the way you expected it to?

 

[Vladimir]

*drinks*

 

[Infiniteloop]

*drinks*

Better than tonally flat and neutral?

 

[Vladimir]

I didn't expect them to go so loud. They can do well as main speakers in a smaller room.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I didn't expect them to go so loud. They can do well as main speakers in a smaller room.

Didn't the specs tell you that?

 

[Vladimir]

I didn't expect them to go so loud. They can do well as main speakers in a smaller room.

Didn't the specs tell you that?

It's included in the data sheet but I didn't bother looking since they are on my desk less than a meter away from my face so SPL was never a factor. When I tried them where my floorstanders sit I was positively surprised how well they filled the room. Sweet!

 

[paulkebab]

but how about this? On paper my Yamaha is the winner, on audition its clearly not so one can look at all the numbers but ears will be the final judge - use both factors carefully.

 

[Gazzip]

but how about this? On paper my Yamaha is the winner, on audition its clearly not so one can look at all the numbers but ears will be the final judge - use both factors carefully.

I couldn't agree more Paul. The measurements presented by most amplifier manufacturers only tell half of the story and do not measure for all distortion typologies.