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On Thu, 24 Jul 2003 16:43:24 GMT, (S888Wheel) wrote:

There's no problem in discarding amps that really do sound bad (and
there's plenty of them out there - the SETs, for one whole class!).

Bad is subjective. It does seem that many people prefer them in their systems.
I'm guessing they will claim they sound quite good.

OK, I'll requalify that to sounding different from their input signal.
As you say, some people do *prefer* that distinctive sound.

The trick is to ignore the specs (and the price tag) and actually
*listen* under controlled conditions, whereupon you discover that most
halfway decent amps actually *do* sound the same.

Most but not all? depending on your definition of a "halfway decent amp" that
may be a different claim than what Nousaine claims.

Tom and I disagree to a minor degree on this point.

I am curious, do you think
the differences you have heard in your controled listening tests were actual
differences or do you think that Nousaine's position that such amps are all
identicial in sound is not entirely acurate?

They were heard to a confidence level of better than 15 correct
identifications out of 20 trials, under level-matched double-blind
conditions. I believe them to have been real sonic differences. OTOH,
my speakers (Apogee Duetta Signatures) are both highly transparent and
a fairly tough load.
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Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering