Schizoid Man wrote:

"Howard Ferstler" wrote in message

Schizoid Man wrote:

I think the Hafler might be overkill for the application I have in mind.
I
am using bookshelfs and have a fairly smallish listening room. If it
helps,
my music tastes center around rock, guitar-centric jazz and electronica.

Unless the Adcom has some gross design problems (unlikely)
or is defective or broken (also unlikely), it should sound
as good as any other good amp up to its overload point.
Don't let these idiots give you a bum steer about amplifier
sound.

So does that mean that there is nothing wrong with my current Marantz? And
me not liking it any more is purely psychological?

Anything is possible. The amp may actually have problems.
The way to find out is to get hold of a loaner of some kind
and do a level-matched comparison. Your Marantz has volume
and balance controls, so you can match its per-channel
output to a basic power amp. One way to do this without
instruments is use a pink-noise source (a test disc should
have this) and switch back and forth between each left
channel of each amp and each right channel of each amp until
they sound the same.

Admittedly, you will have to build a switch box (with both
switches and connectors) to do this, but the money you save
might be considerable, so the box would be worth the effort.

Once those levels are matched you could do some sighted
comparing to see if the Marantz is actually distorting. I
mean, due to its age or other factors it really could be.
However, it might be working just fine. One way to find out
is do that comparison. If you think you hear differences, do
the comparing blind, with a buddy operating the switches.

I built a box using double-throw switches that I got from
Radio shack. One switch for each channel. Make sure that
both the hot and ground sections are switched, to make sure
any kind of shorting is impossible. The box will cost a few
bucks and will take a bit of time to build (soldering
required), but it is really not rocket science. Nope, it is
not an ABX device, but it is better than guesswork.

Once the switch box was built, you could loan it to buddies
to do the same kind of comparing.

Howard Ferstler