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Do all SS amplifiers sound alike?

Do all solid state amplifiers sound alike?

  • Yes

    Votes: 19 12.1%

  • No

    Votes: 138 87.9%
  • Total voters
    157
This is one of those topics where it's much preferable, and far more comfortable, to hang onto ones opinion and be in the dark. In a former role, I trained salespeople and installation professionals. One of the demonstrations that we set up was just this. What I learned was stunning - it mattered not whether folks could or couldn't hear a difference. It was the behavior of those that couldn't hear a difference that was stunning - denial, objections, yelling even. The demonstration was rigged some claimed! This is BULLSHIT! It wasn't . . . Several came to us after the fact and expressed dismay that we had ruined this for them. [That wasn't the intent.]. Eventually, we eliminated this entirely from training sessions as the outcome was always the same.

This is the very reason why manufacturers market as they do. Fortunately, we as enthusiasts can always use scientific method to prove or disprove marketing claims of differing or improved sound quality. Or, we can take a side and just yell louder, show more passion for our position, dismiss anyone with a differing position, rebuke science, or all of the above. But then that would be kinda' like discussing politics on Facebook ...
 
IMOP the reason folks hear a difference when they switch cables, amps, preamps etc is you when you move anything around in the room, even slightly, you are actually changing the room response hence you will hear a difference.
 
From Ethan Winer "So unless you strap yourself into a chair and clamp your head in a vise, there's no way the sound will not change dramatically when you move even one inch".
 
I have a collection of 30+ solid state receivers: different brands, models and eras. What I have noticed is that many late 1960's-early 1970's receivers have a warm, rich "wooly" tone. A lot of it may have to do with capacitor coupled output and/or old and out of spec components. Mid to late 1970's, many I have are brighter and more detailed. An example: a Realistic STA-82 I had was not highly detailed and a bit "tubby" at the bottom. A later STA-800 was brighter and more dynamic. Some 1980's receivers I own...most notably a Denon DRA-355...can be described as bordering on sterile. To my ear, there are definite differences in sound. Some people may not listen as critically as others and, therefore, may not hear difference. Just my .02.
 
I can attest from personal experience that even the same amplifier can sound dramatically different with simple - but required - enhancements. Many years ago, I modified a Luxman L-2 amplifier adding 4x10.000uF capacitors in the power supply. It originally had 2x3.300uF (IIRC). The difference in sound was un-imaginable. Comparing the two versions of the same amplifier, before adding the capacitors, the sound was harsh and audibly inferior, even in medium sound levels. Cranking it up a bit, clipping started pretty soon. Adding these capacitors offered a much cleaner, smooth sound that was natural, with much less audible distortion and not causing fatigue.

What I mean to say with this is that low end amplifiers, that cut corners in the power supply section, perhaps the most important part of a power amplifier, will sound worse than they could and better designed and built amplifiers, equipped with a sufficient power supply will sound much better. Add to that small differences that can be had with better VAS/biasing and output sections and the differences will become much larger.

Comparing vintage, well built power amplifiers (like a Technics SE-9060, that sports 4 huge capacitors and dual transformers) with a more recent 5.1 receiver (DX-950), the difference is so audible that I can identify each in an A/B test easily. And I'm one that can't really hear a difference between a CD and well encoded 320kbps MP3 version of the same piece of classical music.
 
you guys are all preaching to the choir.

there are deniers here on AK
cable
capacitor
burn-in

now
SS are all alike
tubes are all alike
and some speakers are better than LS3/5As (from those who've never heard them)
(but there main underneath argument is that all speakers sound alike w/o hearing any)

and in the future - wait for it

ALL MUSIC IS ALIKE - rock= classical = jazz = acapella = folk = Japanese noh = Chinese opera.
 
"Many years ago, I modified a Luxman L-2 amplifier......Adding these capacitors offered a much cleaner, smooth sound that was natural, with much less audible distortion and not causing fatigue".
Luxman L-2:

Power output: 33 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo)

Frequency response: 15Hz to 60kHz

Total harmonic distortion: 0.03%

Certainly screams out for mods to bring down that THD.....Just saying....
 
Some of us are not deniers, just think there are more reasonable explanations for the change in sound you are hearing be it a humid day, tube swap, cable change, whatever. For the record speakers and room acoustics are responsible for 99.9% of good sound reproduction.
 
not all AK posters are deniers only some of them. then they show up with their
counterfactual arguments (like proving a negative) and we get these threads
that now number 56.

and to be fair - cap-deniers are not the same guys as the burn-in deniers and
probably (since I don't know who posted this ALL SS AMPS SOUND ALIKE)
is also a different guy.

I used to live in a very humid clime, my buddies would always tweak my system.
they would remove and re-insert some cables and VOILA - the sound changed.

the guy who came up with this was so good at going into data centers of that era
and go up to each Winchester drive (a la IBM 3330) and listen, then he would
do a custom maintenance for that drive. he became an international troubleshooter.

I understand there are also car engine specialists who can ID "issues" by sound,
and others who tune engines based on sound.

so my belief is that all changes are audible and every different device does
not sound alike.
 
Putterman said:
The standard answer for anyone who challenges the subjective status quo.
Click to expand...

Because of how most think that the possibility doesn’t exist, except for those with a lack of experience or hearing problems. Then this situation did come from an AVR thread....
 
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