2. amps-preamps
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A mistake spending too much on amplification?

I was wondering if I screwed up by spending too much money on amplification? I have been upgrading my amp/preamp for awhile now (I started with a CODA Unison, then upgraded to a McCormack DNA-125 and EE Minimax, then to a Herron pre, and now mating that with Sixpacs). And, although there are subtle improvements, I am not hearing any night/day improvements, even when I go back to the CODA. And the CODA is much cheaper!

Does this mean I outpaced my speakers? Kind of like putting a supercharged turbo engine in a car with bald tires? Speakers are VS VR2's and Soliloquy 6.3's. Anyone have a good estimation on amplification costs relative to speaker costs? Sell the better amplification; use the money to buy better speakers?
chiho
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
"Source first" reminds me how much I hated my Linn Sondek LP 12.

I think a much better theory is that your system will only be as good as its worst component.
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Chiho, Whether you hear differences or not, or whether the differences are large or small (to you) depends mainly on what you are trying to accomplish by changing amps and how experienced a listener you are. If you have no specific goals and only want to make your system sounds 'better' then I think Narrod's comments may be appropriate. But don't think that the differences are not there or that they are not important to many others. They can be small to Narrod perhaps but they will be to many others what floats of sinks their boat.

Not to be rude, but I would suggest that you take time out to re-evalute exactly what you are trying to accomplish apart from assembling competent components.
warnerwh
539 posts
 
Spend money on room treatments if you want to hear a huge improvement!
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
It is certainly a strongly held opinion by many but is not and, in my opinion, cannot be proven as "fact". I've been in this hobby a very long time and experience tells me that quality components are much more alike than different.
I must be missing something here. Are you honestly suggesting that there is little difference between Levinson, McIntosh, Zanden, Wolcott, or Audio Note? You can't be serious. Not even 300B amplifiers sound like one another, let alone comparing one SS (or digital) amp to another. We can argue the point 'til the cows come home, but the fact is that neither of Chiho's speakers will sufficiently illuminate the considerable differences that exist between amplifiers.
david12
1,454 posts
 
I agree with Duke, to me, there is more variation between speakers than any other component and that must be because there are more variables to account for and a wider range of choices. I have found a greater change in sound character changing speakers than any other component. Note that is character, not quality, not better just different. To me, that difference is as important as pure quality considerations. The old Linn mantra of source first accepted, speakers still make the biggest change to a system, in my experience.
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