No such thing as the perfect amp.

[matt49]

I know it doesn't matter (to me anyway), but the hifi industry is in decline, certainly in this country and manufacturers are going to have to move with the times or go under. Moving with the times is progress and largely, a good thing.

Well, we're all in favour of progress (I hope). Whether you get more progress in a declining industry than a growing one is surely debatable (not that I particularly want to have that debate).

I've also been wondering recently whether the term 'hifi' is meaningful any more. It's now very difficult to say where traditional 'hifi' (i.e. the old-school separates business) ends and high-sales-volume consumer electronics begins, especially with the growth of computer-based and mobile audio. And I happen to think we're living in very exciting times for the audio industry, as traditional 'hifi' separates manufacturers marry high-end engineering skills to the user-friendliness of digital technology. This is a growth area.

 

[Overdose]

I know it doesn't matter (to me anyway), but the hifi industry is in decline, certainly in this country and manufacturers are going to have to move with the times or go under. Moving with the times is progress and largely, a good thing.

Well, we're all in favour of progress (I hope). Whether you get more progress in a declining industry than a growing one is surely debatable (not that I particularly want to have that debate).

I've also been wondering recently whether the term 'hifi' is meaningful any more. It's now very difficult to say where traditional 'hifi' (i.e. the old-school separates business) ends and high-sales-volume consumer electronics begins, especially with the growth of computer-based and mobile audio. And I happen to think we're living in very exciting times for the audio industry, as traditional 'hifi' separates manufacturers marry high-end engineering skills to the user-friendliness of digital technology. This is a growth area.

Personally, hi-fi to me is still high fidelity and has never meant anything else, but the industry is mainly moving away from separates and into more integrated systems. There will always be more niche equipment available to fill larger spaces than your average living room and other bespoke brands concentrating on 'premium' products, but most people seem to be happy getting their music fix via almost anything other than a separates system.

Soundbars seem to be the product of the moment and they are apparently quite capable. Products like these would see the demise of the separates system.

 

[steve_1979]

Steve, you seem like a learned character.

Thanks for the vote of confidence PP.

The truth is though I'm really just a keen amateur who enjoys reading a lot and likes to understand how things work. I've also learnt quite a lot about hifi technology from Ashley James who I've found to be a reliable source of information whenever I ask him specific questions about technical aspects of how hifi technology works.

But as I often say on this forum - I'm not an expert so take anything I say with a pinch of salt. You know what they say about a little bit of knowledge being a dangerous thing... :shifty:

If you walked into a house (could be painful) and heard a decent set-up for the first time could you immediately tell if there is distortion or colouration?

I don't have golden ears or anything like that but I do think I'm reasonably competent at spotting a neutral sounding hifi system that has minimal distortion and colouration. My AVI Neutron system fits into this 'neutral tone and low distortion' category and as I listen to it every day I know the sound well and can use it as a rough benchmark to judge other systems by.

Of course if I listen to a new hifi playing music that I don't recognise in a room with acoustics that I'm not accustomed to it's more difficult to spot a system with low distortion and colouration.

Does this all mean that a warm set-up like Marantz pearl Lite with Dynaudio speakers would be distorted?

I think that when most people say "a warm sound" what they really mean is that the treble volume is reduced and/or the bass volume is increased. If a Marantz pearl Lite with Dynaudio speakers has reduced treble and/or increased bass then yes this is a type of distortion.

Some people do seem to like systems that have warm sounding distortion though. This makes sense when listening to music that's been mixed to sound too bright by having too much treble. HERE is a Spotify playlist which I think sounds better on a warm sounding system (or a neutral system with the treble reduced using a graphic equalizer).

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Dang!!....... post a thread, disappear in the real world for a few days and this happens and I missed it all..... :O

Anyhoo, Steve_1979, I have to say you are wrong on this, amps do not sound the same and its nothing to do with distortion. they just have different characteristics. In a system were the amp is the only component change differences can still be heard, no matter the price level.