What is missing here?
I would make a different point about the problem with the review. I am not in the market for a low power amp or for $15,000 amp of any power. The knowledge that this is a low power amp that costs $15,000 would very likely inform my decision about whether to read the review ... I shouldn't have to read to the end of a long review to find that out. To make the point a little more sharply, suppose TAS were to publish a long and detailed amplifier review that ended with the sentence "Unfortunately, only 10 of these amplifiers were manufactured and they were all destroyed when the factory exploded." Would't you feel sort of cheated that you had read an entire review of a non-existent product? [I guess this might be OK on April 1, but not in September.] |
@ billzame - hi there, I don’t mean to be contentious regarding your recent point, but I have something that might give you some room for thought - being new to the whole high end audio hifi hobby, I’ve poured over so many articles, reviews and everything audiogon has to offer, and I’ve discovered something interesting - I’ve never seen reviews as necessarily written for the sole purpose of one’s selling, or my search for, a particular product - I read everything I come across to learn more about details,; about concepts; about audible and inaudible differences; about power cords; about what certain reviewers specific preferences are for certain products I may not have listened to, in comparison to those that I have; and just about everything related to our hifi world, in order to understand the complex relationships between technology and the human ear. I may be mistaken, but I believe most audiophiles read for the sake of deeper knowledge too, and that the specific purpose of buying is not necessarily the most important. Imagine what might have been missed in the review if one merely focussed on the specifications of cost and power output that were already at the start of the review! And, even if specifications were all that were desired, I have been powering my 88db sensitive speakers with a 15wpc SET amp for the past six months to the most amazing sound - numbers that a hifi component exhibits as an isolated object doesn’t really tell any truly accurate story, because it will never be isolated in use, in being a part of a very specific set of complex relationships within any given system. I have found that the focus on specification numbers as an object of research is an unhealthy habit, as it might make me miss everything else more important about the profound and critical relationships that musical reproduction and listening is truly about. In friendship : ) - kevin |
@kevn Kevin, perhaps you could answer my question. If you read the review I alluded to in my OP, there is no mention in the body of the work that the amp in question puts out a maximum of 9watts/ch and at 10% distortion. Furthermore, there is no mention of what kind of speakers would seem to be mandatory if one is to consider this amp. Given that you state that the relationship between components is a very complex aspect ( which I concur with), I ask this: if you had bought this amp and hooked it up to your 88db sensitive speakers, and the result was far from what you are expecting based on the review, what would your thoughts be? |
