Mutts, if you're not familiar with the classic
Stereo Review blind listening test on amplifiers which enraged some audiophiles, but opened the eyes(and ears)of others, you might find it to be informative(and somewhat amusing). Among other results, note that the $12,000 pair of tube amps were indistinguishable from the $220 Pioneer receiver. It's also instructive to compare the sometimes flowery language used to describe sound characteristics in the open listening before the blind sessions with the total inability to identify those characteristics in the tests. When the labels and price tags disappeared, so did the sound differences.
Nothing's changed; engineers can design amplifiers with flat frequency response from 20-20KHz and with inaudibly low noise and distortion levels at quite reasonable cost. When operated within their designed power limits they add no discernible sonic coloration and the answer to "How does it sound?" is "It doesn't" .
