Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Is Class A better than A/B?

Or keep the amp and buy some less problematic speakers! JK, LOL, haha, etc...

or if that model Bryston will allow, he could also bridge them into monoblocks and drive each speaker with a separate amp.....

That would be really sweet.

(Long Post Sorry) I own a Class A Jungson amp. Within the last 2 years I have also owned a Jolida Tube amp, Jolida Hybrid amp and Cambridge Audio SS amp.

No, I don't believe a Class a amp will always sound better then Class A/B. Its all up to the designer. There are excellent and poor amps in the both camps.

So my opinion no.

Now the question do all amps sound the same? Well according to some pseudo scientists here the answer is yes. This arguments been around for 30 plus years.

According to them. Flat frequency responses tests prove they all sound the same.

Although some people sware they sound the same. Do speakers that are have flat graphs (+/-3db)from say 60hz to 20,000 hz all sound the same?

I would hope ones hearing has not deteriorated enough to answer in the affirmative.

So why would one assume a $69 Sherwood receiver that measures flat from 20-20000hz would sound the same as a $2000 amp measuring the same?

I know in 1978 I bought a Yamaha CR2020 Receiver to replace a 1 year old Kenwood. A audio enthusiast who was very knowledgable told me there would be no difference in sound, based on the same argument of flat frequency response.

I really did not expect any difference. I just thought the Yamaha would look so good in my living room I went ahead and bought it. I wasn't looking for any difference but there was no mistaking the difference in sound.

The difference in sound from amps while not nearly as dramatic as speakers is definitly obvious IMO.

I know two recent examples in my memory. On a Stanley Jordan live CD there is a drum solo at the end of a track. On my Cambridge Audio Amp you can hear a loud sizzle (sounds just like bacon frying) from the cymbols as the track fades out. On the Jungson absolutely no sizzle at all. You would have to be deaf to miss it.

Another example was when I was doing some experimenting. Took the Jungson out and put in the Cambridge. My wife came home from work and while in another room from the system asked: "Whats wrong with the stereo?" What do you mean. "Sounds tinny and there is no bass".

Now if my wife can tell a difference from 2 rooms away on casual listening, how can someone not hear a difference while actually doing critical listening?

One final point. I've noticed those who preach all amps, speakers and CD players sound the same (based on scientific measurements), don't practice what they preach. You can buy a 105 watt Sherwood receiver for $69, an Audiovox CD/DVD player for $40 and some KLH floorstanders that go to 40hz for under $150. Do any of the them actually buy a $250 system, since on paper it should sound the same as a $2500 system?

I really wish my $500 Cambridge Audio amp sounded the same or at least close to my $2000 Jungson. I would definitly rather spend the money elsewhere. But it just ain't so.

Sorry to rant but I find this "All amps sound the same" argument to be seriously in error

Let me point out that our camp (assuming there is a camp... some help here, guys? ) does NOT say that a Sherwood sounds the same as a Bryston. Well built and designed amps should sound the same. I mean, they're just amplifying a signal. If they don't sound the same, there's something wrong with the design. There's also the possibility of a subtle difference in volume between the two.

Oh yeah, and btw, NO ONE here says that speakers sound the same.

As to the rest of that argument, there is quite a lot to be said for build quality, styling, warranties, prestige from owning cool stuff, etc.

Okay, for a little more detail on amp classes the discussion and illustrations here may be of interest. Any competently designed class AB amp, regardless of the nameplate or pricetag, reduces the crossover distortion which may trouble a pure class B amp to inaudibly low levels. When this is the case and other distortion sources along with noise are inaudibly low combined with ruler-flat frequency response(common these days at very low price)amplification is transparent and nothing audible happens except that the sound is much louder, of course. Properly controlled blind listening tests have shown that when the nameplates and pricetags disappear so do sound differences which were previously extravagantly described.

Hi Kcarlile! If a $2000 Jungson amp and $69 Sherwood receiver both are flat (20-20000hz +/-3db) and have comparable Harmonic and other distortion then why wouldn't they sound the same or at least very very close?

The reason I use the Jungson and Sherwood as examples is because I have used both to drive my 3K monitors and they are like night and day.

No. No one here said all speakers sound the same. But there are those who steadfastly say that all speakers sound the same, are based on the same arguments of flat frequency response and rapid fire blind testing. Why wouldn't two speakers sound almost identical if they test flat from say 60hz to 20000hz?

Also a CD player reads simple digital code. Even the cheapest machines can do this. Yet some say all players sound the same, because just like an amp merely ampifies a signal a CD player merely reads digital code

Dude! Read my post! I never said anything about the "$69 Sherwood" being the same as the big amp! I said well designed amps should sound the same! They should be transparent! A "$69 Sherwood" is NOT A WELL DESIGNED AMP!

So what would account for the difference in sound among "quality" and lesser amps? If the Sherwood and Jungson both have flat responses and distortion levels below human hearing why would there be a differnce?

Isn't the whole argument, all amps sound the same based on Scientific measurements which show no statistically significance in measurements.

Do they really have flat responses, or does their marketing crapola say so? Well designed are the key words here. Show me the numbers. Audio ain't magic, folks. It really, really isn't.

God to think I got into this just wondering why people refuse to believe in the placebo effect...

Edit:
I should correct my statement: If the designers are competent and the builders are competent AND assuming they want to build a flat amp (as opposed to a SS amp that tries to mimic a tube amp), the amps should sound the same, all factors (volume level, wattage/headroom) being the same.