Question What would your "imaginary amp" need?

[AJM1981]

I have used quite some amps and there were elements from some that others didn't have.

Now let's say, if there was an amp and the sound would be according to taste, what options would it need apart from that you came across.

My list for a Class D.

Cinematic bass
It is 2023. Apart from listening to music we use services for series and movies. I would like a double bass option like on the arylic a50+ for when having bookshelf speakers to create an istant cinematic coloration. Especially speakers with loads of headroom in bass are great for utilizing this.

Valve amp simulation
I am not convinced valve amps are that holy and I would like to have a setting like "enhancer"on the Yamaha Wxa50 that has a vague description and seems to add harmonic distortion the same way valve amps do. It colors the mids but sounds great, like whoever knows how good valve amps perform. But without anything glowing and a higher energy bill. Excellent.

three way tone controls
I don't use them but I think it is useful to be able to bump the mids instead of bass and treble only

 

[JDL]

I think I agree to a large extent. I'm a bass guitar player. I had an Orange AD200B with 4×10 and 1×15. It cost a fortune and the valves failed after about a year Never again I thought. I'm certainly not a fan of valves in Hi Fi amps. I like my PM7200 a lot but I do detect a little bit of distortion and a slight lack of clarity and separation of the various instruments in orchestral pieces and slight muddiness in my choices of Rock music which at the moment comprises Gong, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd,. I like in addition some Jazz Fusion type music. Jaco Pastorius, Weather Report, Funky..Sly and the Family Stone but lots of classical. Mozart Piano Concertos, Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Rachmaninoff, Sain Saens, Dvorjac, I won't go on more. I tend to use source direct even for Rock, Motown, Funk etc. Clarity, separation even frequency response, some warmth, not too sterile, but not over warm. Punch. Piano must not sound too harsh. But being very inexperienced with Hi Fi brands, with a fairly limited budget, I will stick with what I know has worked fairly well for me. Marantz Amp, probably B&W speakers but I'm perfectly willing to try something else around the £500 mark for bookshelf speakers, passive I guess because I don't know what the application of active is for. And for now my Meridian CD player and an iPad pulling music off YouTube. Philistine, I know but I don't know any better and don't know how to use an MP3 player.
So that's me Hi Fi wise in a big nutshell.

 

[Deleted member 201267]

My Amp would need to be perfectly matched to the Loudspeakers.

This, i believe, is only achieved via properly designed active models such as those made by ATC.

This then removes a major headache as regards to "system matching"...

Any tone control adjustments should then be present on the source component(s).

 

[matthewpianist]

I've had so many amplifiers over the years including models (in some cases multiple ones) from Sansui, Fisher, Rotel, NAD, Cambridge Audio, Audiolab, Creek, Pioneer, Arcam, Quad, Leak, Musical Fidelity, Roksan, Marantz, Denon, Exposure, Naim, Rega, JVC, Technics...

They've ranged from a 10wpc sansui integrated from 1975, to Quad Artera Play/Pre and Stereo power amp and everything in between.

I have everything I need in my current Rotel and Audiolab amplifiers, and they are capable of sounding as good as anything else I've owned. I'm particularly enjoying the Rotel at the moment, which isn't really surprising as I've always enjoyed their amps, right back to the RA-920AX I had as a teenager. They're just great all-rounders and serve the music well.

 

[plastic penguin]

I have everything I need in my current Rotel and Audiolab amplifiers, and they are capable of sounding as good as anything else I've owned. I'm particularly enjoying the Rotel at the moment, which isn't really surprising as I've always enjoyed their amps, right back to the RA-920AX I had as a teenager. They're just great all-rounders and serve the music well.

I'm quite a fan Rotel amps, but never owned one. Another one of those very underrated brands.

Loved my RCD 975, pity the transport was flaky.

 

[jjbomber]

Now let's say, if there was an amp and the sound would be according to taste, what options would it need apart from that you came across.

Something the wife likes the look of. As you say 'imaginary amp'.

 

[plastic penguin]

Something the wife likes the look of. As you say 'imaginary amp'.

Oh yeah, needs to meet the approval of the better half.

 

[bigfish786]

I’m looking at the amp I have and wondering if there’s anything else it needs to be the perfect amp, as it’s damn near perfect as it is.
cartridge loading for the phono stage,
multiple dimming levels for the VU meters.
and that’s about it. 👍

 

[plastic penguin]

I’m looking at the amp I have and wondering if there’s anything else it needs to be the perfect amp, as it’s damn near perfect as it is.
cartridge loading for the phono stage,
multiple dimming levels for the VU meters.
and that’s about it. 👍

Do you think perfection is achievable?

 

[bigfish786]

Do you think perfection is achievable

just Taking the amp as it’s own entity, its sound to me is perfect (or as perfect as I’ll ever need/afford) just the minor tweaks would make it perfect for me.

having a “bottom of the range” cd player in the Luxman catalogue I have to wonder just how much better a cd player can be? For me, it’s all the player I’ll ever need.

 

[plastic penguin]

just Taking the amp as it’s own entity, its sound to me is perfect (or as perfect as I’ll ever need/afford) just the minor tweaks would make it perfect for me.

having a “bottom of the range” cd player in the Luxman catalogue I have to wonder just how much better a cd player can be? For me, it’s all the player I’ll ever need.

It's always good to experiment and seeing what improvements can be achieved, but I'm sure the nature of the beast that is hi-fi is the Holy grail.

Always interesting following your journey.

 

[JDL]

My Amp would need to be perfectly matched to the Loudspeakers.

This, i believe, is only achieved via properly designed active models such as those made by ATC.

This then removes a major headache as regards to "system matching"...

Any tone control adjustments should then be present on the source component(s).

I'm afraid I have no experience of active speakers and if and how to use them with a 'normal' stereo amplifier hooked up with a CD Player. Can you use active speakers with any Amplifier? Or do you need a specific kind of Amplifier?

 

[WayneKerr]

I'm afraid I have no experience of active speakers and if and how to use them with a 'normal' stereo amplifier hooked up with a CD Player. Can you use active speakers with any Amplifier? Or do you need a specific kind of Amplifier?

Active speakers don't need an amp John, the amp is generally inside the cabinet. Just attach a source: CDP, streamer, etc. and away ya go.

 

[JDL]

Active speakers don't need an amp John, the amp is generally inside the cabinet. Just attach a source: CDP, streamer, etc. and away ya go.

Ah thanks for taking the time to inform me of that. Surely then you'd never get the quality sound you get when you choose a high quality amp, or do they make very high quality ones of these?

 

[Deleted member 201267]

Ah thanks for taking the time to inform me of that. Surely then you'd never get the quality sound you get when you choose a high quality amp, or do they make very high quality ones of these?

ATC.

 

[JDL]

ATC.....? I'm not very well up on the meaning of things.🤣

 

[Deleted member 201267]

ATC.....? I'm not very well up on the meaning of things.🤣

Apologies it is the name of the company :-

Hi-Fi, Home Cinema and Custom Install | ATC Loudspeakers

Exceptional hand made loudspeakers, active loudspeakers, pre-amplifiers, amplifiers and source components for the discerning music lover and audiophile.

atc.audio

 

[JDL]

Apologies it is the name of the company :-

Hi-Fi, Home Cinema and Custom Install | ATC Loudspeakers

Exceptional hand made loudspeakers, active loudspeakers, pre-amplifiers, amplifiers and source components for the discerning music lover and audiophile.

atc.audio

Ah cheers, I'll have a look because I love all things audio Hi Fi related. It's all fascinating to me. 👍🏻

 

[WayneKerr]

Surely then you'd never get the quality sound you get when you choose a high quality amp, or do they make very high quality ones of these?

There are arguments for and against but if you look into the more reputable brands* they are supposed to be very very good indeed. Prices can be huge for some active speakers.

* ATC, PMC, KEF to name but three.

 

[Gray]

Surely then you'd never get the quality sound you get when you choose a high quality amp, or do they make very high quality ones of these?

Genuinely active speakers can be very high quality John. It's why they're used in studios.

With passive speakers (such as your current ones) the amplifier output is split by an internal passive crossover into high and low frequencies to feed the appropriate driver.
To be any good, a passive crossover needs to be well designed and use high quality components. But any passive crossover compromises sound quality.

Active speakers don't contain passive crossovers.
Within them, the input signals are split by an active (powered) crossover before being sent to an amplifier - which outputs directly to the driver.
Each of those amps only needs to amplify a specific band of frequencies and being directly connected to the drive units, they have better control of them.

That's certainly not to say that all active are better than all passive speakers (but those technical differences give them every chance to be).

The Result 6 model is an active speaker - and is the cheapest model that PMC sell.
In the right house, I'd like to try some favourite tunes through these:

SCM50ASL Pro | ATC Loudspeakers

atc.audio

 

[JDL]

Genuinely active speakers can be very high quality John. It's why they're used in studios.

With passive speakers (such as your current ones) the amplifier output is split by an internal passive crossover into high and low frequencies to feed the appropriate driver.
To be any good, a passive crossover needs to be well designed and use high quality components. But any passive crossover compromises sound quality.

Active speakers don't contain passive crossovers.
Within them, the input signals are split by an active (powered) crossover before being sent to an amplifier - which outputs directly to the driver.
Each of those amps only needs to amplify a specific band of frequencies and being directly connected to the drive units, they have better control of them.

That's certainly not to say that all active are better than all passive speakers (but those technical differences give them every chance to be).

The Result 6 model is an active speaker - and is the cheapest model that PMC sell.
In the right house, I'd like to try some favourite tunes through these:

SCM50ASL Pro | ATC Loudspeakers

atc.audio

Thanks, that is very interesting, now I understand to the limitations of my mental capacity what a crossover is. So the amps are part of the active speaker and there are several of them?. This sounds very confusing to an electronics simpleton such that I am.😂

 

[Gray]

...So the amps are part of the active speaker and there are several of them?

Yes, at least 2 or 3 amps in genuinely active speakers.

Not to be confused with 'powered' speakers - the equivalent of having your current integrated amp inside the speaker cabinet.

Those types (often used in desktop setups) still have a passive crossover within the cabinet - so no benefit to them, other than a bit of physical tidiness 👍

 

[JDL]

Yes, at least 2 or 3 amps in genuinely active speakers.

Not to be confused with 'powered' speakers - the equivalent of having your current integrated amp inside the speaker cabinet.

Those types (often used in desktop setups) still have a passive crossover within the cabinet - so no benefit to them, other than a bit of physical tidiness 👍

If you have the amplifier within the speaker cabinet doesn't resonance and vibration become a problem? Is this real progress? Can you get a better sound with this kind of set up than with a decent traditional set up?.

 

[Deleted member 201267]

If you have the amplifier within the speaker cabinet doesn't resonance and vibration become a problem? Is this real progress? Can you get a better sound with this kind of set up than with a decent traditional set up?.

Not with properly designed products from the likes of ATC etc...

These videos are worth a watch :-

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkeIanGsKYA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms0WLy7dAlk

 

[Gray]

Can you get a better sound with this kind of set up than with a decent traditional set up?.

No, not with merely 'powered' soeakers.
You're doing it the best way, as most people here have done, keeping things separate, giving yourself full choice over amp / speaker combination 👍