Amplification is underrated

[odcics2]

Only 15 wpc but great music! Posted the thread this morning.

WOW! Bogen RP 230 tube receiver

Got my fully restored Bogen back in the mix, pushing a pair of Polk Monitor 7B speakers. Simply blown away! I had forgotten how good vintage tube equipment sounds. Love that champagne finish too.

audiokarma.org

 

[Monad]

point of interest.. i ran through a pile of amps over the last few years, with mixed results between high watt and midwatt amps.
- power conditioner
- cables, interconnects
- power cable

.. made more of an immediate, visceral impact on fidelity than any of the amp swaps I did.

i say this not to start a lamp cord debate but to share what I found, when I defocused on equipment and refocused on how the gear was connected and powereed...everything got better, across the board.. a high tide raises all boats.

1- point about high end kit, there seems to be diminishing returns above a certain 'quality/ pricepoint' but it's imo dramatic, going from Amazon RCA to silver DH Labs Revelation cables.. which were also 'better' than the Analysis Plus mid-high end copper cables they bumped down to amp duty.

-feelies- when I think about all the gear I bought, sold, the changes to my system over the years before i refocused.. bums me out. wish I could cycle them all through again, to really hear them.

 

[Gigantic]

You should have tried upgrading to lower power. As has been stated, quality over quantity.

That's really only useful if you have the sensitive speakers to benefit from it. 90's me could never have envisioned upgrading to a 15 Watt amp from 150 Watts, but that's where I am presently, but with better speakers than I had in the 90's, too.

 

[mad shadows]

Once you heared what a great amp can bring to the game there's no stepping back.

My ticket in to the higher echelons of amps was a Threshold S200. It brought calm, authority, openness and smidgen of warmth beyond what I previously had heard in my system. I friend of mine has the big Threshold class A mono blocks of the same era. They bring the same qualities just soo much more (the bas is just sublimely controlled and extended).

 

[hopeless]

Once you heared what a great amp can bring to the game there's no stepping back.

My ticket in to the higher echelons of amps was a Threshold S200. It brought calm, authority, openness and smidgen of warmth beyond what I previously had heard in my system. I friend of mine has the big Threshold class A mono blocks of the same era. They bring the same qualities just soo much more (the bas is just sublimely controlled and extended).

My wife is very depressed by the lightning induced demise of my Electrocompaniet stack. "It's just not as good" has been a running commentary at our house.

I think your description here is very nicely stated. I teased my wife a bit about finding a new amp and preamp, but she balked. We don't have room for a pair of 600 Nemos, the 500 watts of quiescent power draw was a concern, and the tremendous amount of real estate needed in our tiny living room killed the idea faster than the $15,000

 

[jrtrent]

Capable high end amplification is worth every nickel spent. The ability to make little speakers sound big is only the beginning. Got my brothers attention this week.

For most of my years in this hobby I've been of the opinion that cartridges and speakers were relatively unimportant, and that it was the turntables/tonearms that controlled the cartridge and the amplification that controlled the speakers that were the most important. I've had some highly engaging systems, all components purchased brand new, in which the turntable and amps made up over 90% of the budget, leaving less than 10% for cartridge and speakers combined.

One thing I haven't yet heard, though, is a demonstration of Alan Shaw's claim that with his easy-to-drive Harbeth speakers, something like a bottom of the line Pioneer integrated would sound just as good as any other amp regardless of cost. I don't know if it's still going, but he once posted a challenge in which he would give away a brand new pair of Harbeth speakers to anyone who could prove otherwise, with no winners last time I checked.

It's an interesting idea to me to consider that a $350 Onkyo 9110 driving some $3200 Harbeth P3ESR XD speakers might be just as effective a combination as my usual habit of reversing those numbers, and spending the bulk of the budget on the amp. Has anyone heard a cheap amp plus Harbeth combination? What did you think of it?

 

[hopeless]

For most of my years in this hobby I've been of the opinion that cartridges and speakers were relatively unimportant, and that it was the turntables/tonearms that controlled the cartridge and the amplification that controlled the speakers that were the most important. I've had some highly engaging systems, all components purchased brand new, in which the turntable and amps made up over 90% of the budget, leaving less than 10% for cartridge and speakers combined.

One thing I haven't yet heard, though, is a demonstration of Alan Shaw's claim that with his easy-to-drive Harbeth speakers, something like a bottom of the line Pioneer integrated would sound just as good as any other amp regardless of cost. I don't know if it's still going, but he once posted a challenge in which he would give away a brand new pair of Harbeth speakers to anyone who could prove otherwise, with no winners last time I checked.

It's an interesting idea to me to consider that a $350 Onkyo 9110 driving some $3200 Harbeth P3ESR XD speakers might be just as effective a combination as my usual habit of reversing those numbers, and spending the bulk of the budget on the amp. Has anyone heard a cheap amp plus Harbeth combination? What did you think of it?

He does sell speakers, not amplifiers. I would claim a little exaggeration here.

 

[jrtrent]

He does sell speakers, not amplifiers. I would claim a little exaggeration here.

That is a possibility, but that's why I'm asking if anyone's actually had a chance to hear it for themselves.

 

[Blue Shadow]

For most of my years in this hobby I've been of the opinion that cartridges and speakers were relatively unimportant,

My opinion is that as transducers, converters of energy from one form to another, the speakers and cartridges are the place where big sonic differences can be made by changing brands. Getting ones that sound good to you is important, especially with speakers. Some seem to cause listening fatigue in many.

 

[hopeless]

That is a possibility, but that's why I'm asking if anyone's actually had a chance to hear it for themselves.

Keep in mind that the Products available in the UK are often a bit more upscale. That said, I think for $600 to $1000, you could find something quite adequate for the job.