paul packer wrote:

On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:56:58 -0400, Howard Ferstler
wrote:

Recently I bought an old
Luxman L200 off Ebay and it has a warmth and sweetness I've not heard
from any other amp, and which is definitely not imaginary as it took
me quite by surprise.

Good amps do not sound sweet. Good amps do not "sound" at
all.

Ah, but acoustic instruments, especially stringed instruments, sound
sweet, as you of all people should know. If therefore my amp caused
instruments to sound sweet that had not done so before, could it be I
was hearing a more truthful sound than hitherto? Careful how you
answer now, Howard.

Good amps merely reproduce what is fed into them, and
amplify, too, of course. If you had a recording that sounded
sour with one amp and sweet with another, they one, or
possibly even both units were defective. I leave "both" as
an option, because it is probably not unusual at all for a
tweako freako to own two bum amps and think that one is
superior in one area and the other is superior in another.

Of course, the guy may just be deluded, and rather than
carefully compare the amps he just speculates and swoons
when he hears his favored unit.

I wonder if you have any explanation for that.

The amp must have been a dud.

Why? Why is something a dud because it makes music sound more pleasant
than something else?

It might roll off the top octave a bit and that would make
the music sound more pleasant. Of course, a treble tone
control could do the same thing with a sub-par recording.

Of course, it is also possible
that you did not do any serious comparing of the sort I
indicated in the initial posting.

I've been in hi-fi since 1968 and even contributed to a national hi-fi
mag (so you see you're not the only published audio clown around,
Howard). I've heard quite a few amps and I know what sounds like music
as opposed to mere electronics, accurate or otherwise.

You are deluded.

If you don't
reject the idea of 'musicality' altogether, I'm sure you'll be
sensitive to my questions.

I am aware that you are a tweako freako.

Howard Ferstler