Does all power amp sounded the same?

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#366554 - 02/14/12 04:28 AM Does all power amp sounded the same?
mpyw local Registered: 07/24/09 Posts: 276 Loc: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Does all power amp sounded the same? DO we need more power to drive our belove Axiom? I think many of us asked these question before and some might agreed and some don't. Me and a few audio fanatic (and bass nuts) did a power amp test at my place, comparing 3 different amp for the front 3 channel of M60v2 and VP150v2 The amp are:- 1. Emotiva XPA-3 (200W/ch) 2. Odessey HT-3 SE (150W/ch) 3. Anthem PVA5 (125W/ch) All of us (6 of us) agreed that the Odessey sound best with great dynamic and much more refine sound and detail. The anthem have a better detail than XPA3 but due to it lesser power, the dynamic of the sound somehow are a lot flatter than the other two. And thus not good for movies. The XPA 3 have the same dynamic (with lots of headroom) as compared with the HT3, but the sound is more metalic and edgy and also lose out the detial to the Anthem and HT3. And yes, we agreed that amp do sound differently and we need as much power as possible to get most out of the speakers. We tested scene from Star Wars' "Pod Race" and many concert songs. Now, please don't fight :p
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#366556 - 02/14/12 05:53 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
JohnK axiomite Registered: 05/11/02 Posts: 9980	Michael, the facts of audio technology, which would be confirmed in a properly controlled blind listening test, are that there's no audible difference in either the quality or quantity of power available from those three amplifiers. _________________________ ----------------------------------- Enjoy the music, not the equipment.
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#366565 - 02/14/12 08:46 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
Ken.C shareholder in the making Registered: 05/03/03 Posts: 17373 Loc: NoVA	Oh, there's going to be a fight. _________________________ DON'T... call me stupid!
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#366566 - 02/14/12 08:47 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
MarkSJohnson shareholder in the making Registered: 09/27/04 Posts: 10188 Loc: 543 miles North of VAST	Get out the canned deer and popcorn! _________________________ ::::::: “Yum. I'd love to gnaw on those with my ears." :::::::
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#366569 - 02/14/12 09:11 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
Tariq frequent flier Registered: 01/17/11 Posts: 16 Loc: Muscat, Oman	I thought I heard some metallic sound during the iron giant. Must be the XPA-3. It did feel 'edgy'. _________________________ Tariq M80v2 - VP180 - S:QS8 - SB:QS8 - SWide:QS8 Denon 4311 + XPA-3 Sub: Dual SVS Ultra-13
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#366571 - 02/14/12 09:27 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: Tariq]
medic8r axiomite Registered: 02/05/06 Posts: 5969 Loc: Fredericksburg, Virginia	Originally Posted By: Tariq I thought I heard some metallic sound during the iron giant. Makes sense, no? _________________________ "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi
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#366572 - 02/14/12 09:30 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
CatBrat axiomite Registered: 08/05/09 Posts: 5401 Loc: Kansas City, Missouri	I love the new avatar. Got a laugh out of that one. _________________________ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?...amp;usp=sharing
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#366575 - 02/14/12 09:42 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
dakkon connoisseur Registered: 02/08/04 Posts: 1683	Originally Posted By: mpyw And yes, we agreed that amp do sound differently and we need as much power as possible to get most out of the speakers. See, John, I've been right all along!..... :~) It says so right here on the interweb...
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#366588 - 02/14/12 10:51 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
BlueJays1 connoisseur Registered: 09/19/08 Posts: 3984 Loc: Porch,enjoying Bombay Sapphire	Originally Posted By: mpyw Does all power amp sounded the same? DO we need more power to drive our belove Axiom? I think many of us asked these question before and some might agreed and some don't. Me and a few audio fanatic (and bass nuts) did a power amp test at my place, comparing 3 different amp for the front 3 channel of M60v2 and VP150v2 The amp are:- 1. Emotiva XPA-3 (200W/ch) 2. Odessey HT-3 SE (150W/ch) 3. Anthem PVA5 (125W/ch) All of us (6 of us) agreed that the Odessey sound best with great dynamic and much more refine sound and detail. The anthem have a better detail than XPA3 but due to it lesser power, the dynamic of the sound somehow are a lot flatter than the other two. And thus not good for movies. The XPA 3 have the same dynamic (with lots of headroom) as compared with the HT3, but the sound is more metalic and edgy and also lose out the detial to the Anthem and HT3. And yes, we agreed that amp do sound differently and we need as much power as possible to get most out of the speakers. We tested scene from Star Wars' "Pod Race" and many concert songs. Now, please don't fight :p Good stuff. For another get together, test out some different brands of AVR's with different speaker/room correction programs. Use them as pre-amps if possible with external amplification with the auto calibration and equalization engaged on the AVR. It would be interesting to see which one would come out on top in your test. _________________________ I’m armed and I’m drinking. You don’t want to listen to advice from me, amigo. -Max Payne
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#366589 - 02/14/12 10:56 AM Re: Does all power amp sounded the same? [Re: mpyw]
casey01 aficionado Registered: 07/03/08 Posts: 655 Loc: Toronto	Considering the fact that all three of these amps have a different power output, until you somehow, can get them to output at "exactly" equal moderate volume for your source material and can instantaneously switch between them, any realistic comparison is going to be difficult. I dunno, but, it always comes back to the same old story in these comparisons that if one of them is even slightly louder than the other, to the human ear it is going to be perceived as sounding "better" or at minimum, "different". For that reason alone and considering that this is such mature technology, I, personally, have never bought the idea that there is a "real" audible difference between various brands. Edited by casey01 (02/14/12 11:04 AM)
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