and can be dynam
Arguably, two amps with identical specs/measured performance at a given output power level will perform identically with a signal that does not cause any kind of pathology in the output- so if all that matters is the concept of unrealized power reserve then I concur, but isn't that just the trivial case? At low enough volumes into benign loads almost any amplifier will sound equivalent- but what you likely will have would be something that cannot in any sense provide the "power and majesty" that can be supplied by recorded music.
I agree that just output power alone is not a sufficient criterion for quality, and the existence of single ended triode tube amps driving relatively inefficient speakers as a preferred combination for many people suggests that there is probably no absolute set of criteria that can be applied anyway.
So I return to my assertion. Quality high power output amps, in circumstances such as those that I described, clearly outperform their lower powered competitors all other things being equal.
Also, most amps are designed with their rated distortion specified at full power or something similar and in general, distortion drops as the output amplitude drops due to the nature of the non-linearities that cause distortion in the first place. Of course, there are many caveats to this and I don't plan to list them right now, but in the instance where two amps have similar rated distortion it is often the case that the amp with higher output power has lower distortion at the same lower amplitude as a lower output power amp.
Of course, it is not necessarily the case but it's a reasonable statement as far as amplifier design is concerned.
I don't believe that I shifted the goalposts, as you say. I simply clarified what a possible meaning of "all other things being equal" could be, which I did as in my opinion the original definition was insufficiently specified.Here we go again, the goalposts have been moved to fit the narrative - again. What part of "all other things equal" do people not understand.
The fact that one amplifier is distorting more than the other is not the issue! Not all high powered amplifiers necessarily have less distortion than lower powered amplifiers - and certainly it is not due to mere fact of being a higher powered amplifier. This is not a difficult concept to understand.
Go up to McIntosh and speak to the engineers there.
Arguably, two amps with identical specs/measured performance at a given output power level will perform identically with a signal that does not cause any kind of pathology in the output- so if all that matters is the concept of unrealized power reserve then I concur, but isn't that just the trivial case? At low enough volumes into benign loads almost any amplifier will sound equivalent- but what you likely will have would be something that cannot in any sense provide the "power and majesty" that can be supplied by recorded music.
I agree that just output power alone is not a sufficient criterion for quality, and the existence of single ended triode tube amps driving relatively inefficient speakers as a preferred combination for many people suggests that there is probably no absolute set of criteria that can be applied anyway.
So I return to my assertion. Quality high power output amps, in circumstances such as those that I described, clearly outperform their lower powered competitors all other things being equal.
Also, most amps are designed with their rated distortion specified at full power or something similar and in general, distortion drops as the output amplitude drops due to the nature of the non-linearities that cause distortion in the first place. Of course, there are many caveats to this and I don't plan to list them right now, but in the instance where two amps have similar rated distortion it is often the case that the amp with higher output power has lower distortion at the same lower amplitude as a lower output power amp.
Of course, it is not necessarily the case but it's a reasonable statement as far as amplifier design is concerned.
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