All, I was just reading this review and the thought occurred to me that commenting on the sound qualities of modern amplifiers is kind of pointless. When they talk about the 'organic nature' of the voice or that the kick drum played 'quick and deep' isn't this really more a property of the recording, the speakers, setup and listening environment? Am I out to lunch here? I mean, other than commenting on power capabilities, design, ergonomics, setup options, inputs, outputs etc... what's the point in commenting on the sound of an amplifier (assuming there's no or inaudible distortion introduced by the amp)? Do any modern day amps 'color' the sound? I feel like I'm missing something. Why all these reviews that focus on the sound quality? Assuming setup variables could be removed, wouldn't my Pioneer sound the same as your Denon's and Onkyo's? Maybe the answer is obvious to some but not to me right now.


Apparently I'm in a ponderous mood.

I'm definitley not a tube guy and, I think that it is there that you would find the most differences in sound.

I have owned more than one solid state amp at a time. I thought the differences between my Hafler and Apt were minor. Slight differences in passages here and there, but I was almost splitting hairs.

And, if you're not actively "a/b"-ing, them you'd likely never notice.

I'll defer from the definitive, since there are others here who know loads more.

You're right. Those reviews are silly.

Fer Sure!

The biggest thing that would influence my purchase, after "listening" to anything is never, never mentioned. How reliable is it? How long will it last? And, what if I DO need repairs?

That's a hard thing to review, but I agree.

OK, so I'm not alone in glossing over the audio part of the report and just paying attention to things that DO make a difference? (Room correction, X-over points, memory slots, OSD etc...) If this is true, seems like a lot of text could be cut out of the audio mags - well, for receiver reviews anyway.

But then audiophiles would be sad.

And the reviews couldn't talk about obscure discs in their collections.

I've read a lot of people that upgraded to bigger amps saying it improves the sound. I tend to believe what those have tried say, as apposed to naysayers just for the sake of nay-saying.

There are a few new SS amps that have some design issues or are designed to sound like tube amps, so I guess this might be why they still comment on the 'sound' of an amp.