[Arny Krueger]

"Gareth Magennis" wrote in
message

Not if you clip them like you might a valve amp for
example.

Straw man. It is entirely practical to build power amps that are never
clipped in actual use. If you don't like how your power amp clips? Get one
with enough output so that it never clips.

Would a Mosfet amp clip more "nicely" than a
BJT amp?

Power amps aren't just devices, they are circuits. Circuit design can
easily trump device characteristics.

In fact the sharpness of the clipping of a power amp relates to things like
how much negative feedback it has, all things considered. If you have a
circuit with lots of negative feedback, it is very likely to clip very
sharply and ideally. If you have a circuit with less negative feedback, the
clipping will be softer, but will occupy a larger proportion of the transfer
characteristic.

I'm thinking driving bass speakers.

If they need lots of power, get a powerful power amp. Forget about what's
inside the box, worry about how the box works.


Is this
what some of these "audiophools" or perhaps PA guys are
getting at by saying they sound better?

This whole "amp sounds better" stuff was fully debunked 30 years ago. Good
power amps sound the same and they sound like a piece of wire with gain.

There are tons of power amps that can't be distinguished from a piece of
wire with gain, while driving well-designed speakers.

There are quite a few amps that meet the same criteria while driving even
the weirdest speaker load.

A really good power amp will destroy a poorly-designed speaker before it
starts sounding bad, and really good power amps aren't all that unique.