The 'connoisseurs of coloration' notwithstanding, if you want accuracy to get as close as possible to 'true to the original' then you CAN go by the specs.
There are a few low power Triode amps with distortion <0.1%, but not many, at any price (check out Rogue). The guys like a warm blanket to cover trashy highs either in the CD or another component, and believe, 'its not the specs, its how it sounds' rethric that is necessary to sell very expensive yet inferior audio products.
However if you play a sonically superior, well engineered, not over-mixed CD, when componenets are not the problem, you will never hear that superiority (the warm blanket ---you may as well actually cover your speaker with a real blanket :-)
Also note, Audio Artistry, for instance, recommends for its say 'Dvorak' main panel: 100wpc minimum. OR, 25wpc tube amp.
Do not believe what is said, but what you hear. Beware the 'psycho-acoustic' phenomenon (aka: gullibility through suggestion :-) and compare your best recollection of real live sounds to what your system, or the source material, is producing. That is the best ANYONE can do, regardless of who is paying them to say it.
There are a few low power Triode amps with distortion <0.1%, but not many, at any price (check out Rogue). The guys like a warm blanket to cover trashy highs either in the CD or another component, and believe, 'its not the specs, its how it sounds' rethric that is necessary to sell very expensive yet inferior audio products.
However if you play a sonically superior, well engineered, not over-mixed CD, when componenets are not the problem, you will never hear that superiority (the warm blanket ---you may as well actually cover your speaker with a real blanket :-)
Also note, Audio Artistry, for instance, recommends for its say 'Dvorak' main panel: 100wpc minimum. OR, 25wpc tube amp.
Do not believe what is said, but what you hear. Beware the 'psycho-acoustic' phenomenon (aka: gullibility through suggestion :-) and compare your best recollection of real live sounds to what your system, or the source material, is producing. That is the best ANYONE can do, regardless of who is paying them to say it.