chip18sw
Well-Known Member
LOL ... I just did this and I'd say big honking amps ... most likely appeal to the "shallow" among us??? If they happen to sound great ... so much the better, It's a thing ... apparently??
Do all SS amplifiers sound alike?
- Thread starter Grenadeslio
- Start date
Yes and disappointed also at times.
damacman
Resident Psycho
I've waited patiently for 8 pages for someone to bring this point to the table! Time is certainly a factor that has until now not yet been discussed.
I usually bring that in, thought I had somehow. Regardless, some sound interesting at first, but don't last long term trials, others may initially annoy and don't get to settle down before being rejected. The experience of others deemed trustworthy helps to save time with choosing candidates.
david1111
Barba non facit philosophum
@lokerola
Yes. Just a cheap one, but I like a lot of Denon products, so it was disappointing.
It was a Denon DRA-395, and it was absolutely flat. It did amplify the sound but the sound was vague and sterile, with zero sound stage. It had multi-room control capabilities, so I guess there was just too much complex circuitry.
I gave it away.
Dave
Yes. Just a cheap one, but I like a lot of Denon products, so it was disappointing.
It was a Denon DRA-395, and it was absolutely flat. It did amplify the sound but the sound was vague and sterile, with zero sound stage. It had multi-room control capabilities, so I guess there was just too much complex circuitry.
I gave it away.
Dave
BLAH BLAH
Super Member
And some opinions are better than others!?!
Don't I wish that all ss amps sound the same lol as if that were the case I would've been able to save a LOT of money spent on them over the years. I'm a looonng ways from having "golden ears" but I've had ss monoblocks which are the same model from the same company and have found differences in the sound between the two.
Grenadeslio
Lunatic Member
Most people get this part wrong. In the challenge, the Carver amp was made to sound like a Mark Levinson amplifier. At first it was declared Bob had failed, the Carver amp now sounded "better" than the target amp (Bob didn't know it was a Levinson). So he went back and worked some more to make the Carver sound "worse?". When he returned the challenge was met, they couldn't tell the amplifiers apart.
Here's where most people get confused, the line of TFM (transfer function modified) amplifiers were never intended to replicate the Levinson amplifier, hell no, Bob had his own reference amplifiers for that, the Silver 7's.
How this amp came into existence is another funny Carver story. It was stated by some Carver critics that although Bob built "nice" stuff it was more pedestrian and targeted the masses. Bob took umbrage with this and decided to show just what be could do if he really wanted, how great was that, it brought us the amplifier below. So it's no surprise the TFM amps sounded great but didn't sound like the Levinson amplifier, they were never meant to.
I've owned a lot of Carver gear over the yrs, all great, but then it's all been separates, none of his more "pedestrian" stuff lol.
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DonQuixote99
just give me some truth
To the OP question, no. I have AB'd amps. At FIRST they all tend to sound alike, but as one listens more, they don't.
I wasn't 'double blind,' but I can simulate that by flipping my listening position AB switch a lot and losing track.....
I wasn't 'double blind,' but I can simulate that by flipping my listening position AB switch a lot and losing track.....
Grenadeslio
Lunatic Member
The poll results are not surprising, I would expect some unable to hear a difference.
Nearly 25 percent of those aged 65 to 74 and 50 percent of those who are 75 and older have disabling hearing loss. Roughly 10 percent of the U.S. adult population, or about 25 million Americans, has experienced tinnitus lasting at least five minutes in the past year.
Nearly 25 percent of those aged 65 to 74 and 50 percent of those who are 75 and older have disabling hearing loss. Roughly 10 percent of the U.S. adult population, or about 25 million Americans, has experienced tinnitus lasting at least five minutes in the past year.
Yea, that's me - and I'm only 50. All those young years in bars standing right in front of the stage for hours on end. What a dumb-ass I was. Now it's tinnitus all the time.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
For hearing differences I use my ears and accumulated experiences to prove or disprove sonic changes. But that is another issue.
I wanted to say that the bolded statement is the way most threads go off the rails on ak. We have those that have opposite positions and the sides are taken and the yelling happens and it escalates as you say, until the explosion. How come folks can't just make their statement and move on, I don't know but it might help some threads stay open longer.
Gibsonian
Super Member
Yes, amps are very pretentious. No matter how they look, how much they weigh, no matter the topology or components inside, or who designed or built them, they sound identical if not pushed beyond limits.
Just a crazy bunch of different looking boxes, from all over the globe, where every input that comes in, shoots out of those speaker terminals exactly the same. It's almost magic...……………..
Just a crazy bunch of different looking boxes, from all over the globe, where every input that comes in, shoots out of those speaker terminals exactly the same. It's almost magic...……………..
quiet
Addicted Member
Just an elementary observation here. Most of my old receivers have pre-outs. So I took some long cables and changed things around a bit. I feed a variety of different receiver pre-amps to different receiver amps and vise-versa. As expected the pre-amps have lots of color. Less with the amps, but still color.
The Yamaha/Sansui combo clash is very nice. I think I'll try that for a while.
The Yamaha/Sansui combo clash is very nice. I think I'll try that for a while.
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