Originally Posted By: fredk
Originally Posted By: cohesion
For those who continue to recommend or even gush about how great these cheap "Pro" amps are, I have only one question: Have you actually heard one and compared its performance on real music material against a good quality separate amplifier driving good quality speakers like the Axiom M80's or LFR's?

Sadly, no. Damned kids keep sucking up all the money. Say, you wouldn't want to buy a couple of kids to fund my experiments would you? grin

The best I can do is Danley Labs bench tests. They are a credible source and have both the equipment and expertise to properly evaluate an amp.

Originally Posted By: Ken.C
AHA! We're back to my question. Double blind test.

Indeed.


I have two kids of my own to pay for and look after, so I'll have to pass on your very generous offer to double my fun!

Seriously though, from a value perspective a less costly receiver or pre/pro plus one or more cheap "Pro" amps are indeed worth considering. They may even provide as good or better real performance as a more costly, or even very high end, receiver. But until I hear one myself I will remain doubtful that they'll be near as good as a better amp -- whether "Pro" or consumer.