Originally Posted By: chesseroo

All technical jargon which means little when any unit is played within its specs so yes, it is that simple.

A frequency response graph is what humans hear as measured by devices more accurate than the human ear. If a frequency sweep is measured as ruler flat, wherein do all your listed variables make any difference?
They don't, unless as i iterated to, there is something out of spec such as playing the unit too loud and into a clipping zone.


Really? The problem with your view here is that you presume linear FR is all that matters to what we perceive as good quality sound . It would follow from your statement that all amps will sound the same when driven within their limits (big qualifier but let's set that aside for a moment).

The other list of variables above have a significant impact on sound and that is where a side by side comparison comes in handy. It used to be that THD and IMD were distinguishing factors but these days most any name amp has respectable distortion numbers below clipping. Check the signal to noise ratios, quieter amps help us hear the micro-dynamics and nuances. Rise time and slew rate measure time, important to how tight bass sounds...some amps do sound tighter than others and again that comes out in a side by side comparison. Damping factor not important, huh? The designer better match that spec right if he wants good control of the drivers. In addition, size and number of capacitors also effect things. This isn't meant as an all encompassing list but it really isn't as simple as linear response within spec. Geez if it was that simple any old beat up pro amp or small receiver amp would do the job.

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Tube amps can be an exellent addition to any system. In the midrange in particular their additional harmonics are much closer to replicating the sound of musical instruments and voices than solid state amps. Most are as linear in term of frequency response as solid state amps.

No comment.
A whole other can of worms.
Yes and subject of perhaps a different thread. I have tube amps as well. When properly setup they can sound wonderful. Besides the pleasant sounding second order harmonics the tubes generate, tube amps don't "hard clip", they let you down easily so you get less of that aweful distortion when you max out the amp. There are other features which aren't as good as SS amps.

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When you have had time to properly assess separates and amps through long listening sessions please post your impressions.

I have many times in the past, years before you came onboard.
But thanks for playing.


Always appreciate another perspective especially when it doesn't contain sweeping generalizations. One thing about audio, there are few absolutes. \:\)


John