On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 12:51:54 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 23:42:04 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:

"Stewart Pinkerton" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 16:52:46 GMT, Bob Latham
wrote:

In article ,
Ian Molton wrote:
Bob Latham wrote:

I would contest the "popular opinion" bit though. I don't know
anyone
(as in spoken face to face) who is remotely interested in Hi-Fi who
would say amplifiers sound the same. I only hear that opinion here.

No. you dont.

the opinion you hear hear is that all *COMPETANT* amps sound the
same -
that is, all amps, able to drive enough current into the load to
accurately replicate the input signal on the output terminals, will
sound identical.

Provided you are also saying that there are very few competent amps
around
I think I could just about swallow that.

Sorry, there are *lots* of competent amps around. The basic
preconditions of no clipping and level matching from 20-20,000 Hz
seems adequate to eliminate the dross.

OK, but 'dross' like what? OK, *all* valves amps - goes without saying,
but
fer gawd's sake give us an example of what you consider to be 'dross'???

That should be obvious - any amplifier which does *not* sound just
like its input signal. And yes Keith, a few valve amps can indeed
passc this fundamental test of fidelity - but they're very expensive.
Think C-J Premier Eight and ARC VT-100 etc.

I would also simplfy things by including all amps with less than 30
watts output per channel into 8 ohms, all amps not capable of driving
a 2 ohm load to at least three times the rated 8-ohm power (at least
for a few seconds, and I'll accept a valve amp used on the 4-ohm tap
for this test), and all amps with more than 0.1% THD from 20Hz to
20kHz at all power levels up to 75% of full output, and more than 0.1%
HF IMD on a two-tone test. Those measurements (boo, hiss!) will IME
ensure that the first and most important condition is met.
--

No, sorry, probably didn't make myself clear - I mean a *specific*
example(s) like 'Cyrus X', 'Quad Y', MF 'Z' or whatever....??

Or, put it another way, what freely available/current make and model amps
would you regard as 'bad'....???

Any single-ended valve amp....., and IME, any amp costing less than
£200 - except from Richer Sounds!
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering