What makes you build a system around an amplifier?

robd1 :

Um, not sure what speaker / control he is talking about but yes, speakers which have low bass impedance tend to sound limp / gutless unless driven by a beefy amp, which often implies SS.

Notice all the caveats you haters before you come at me!

Best,

E

Unless you're a reviewer who listens to different piles of gear for months to form an opinion, I think most people luck into the synergy of a good system since they're not likely to be able to audition several amps in their own listening environment to see what makes the magic for them. I read about Dennis Had's "Inspire" gear for a while and enjoyed a Youtube interview with him before randomly finding one of his SEP amps for sale. I had no idea how it would sound with my current gear (as with any new component) but was astonished with the damn thing immediately…it just sounds right, or at least more right to my ears than any amp I'd listened to previously. Clarity (from 12 watts per side), tonal accuracy, etc., but mostly it keeps me stuck in my listening spot longer…the ultimate test I think. Luck is often created by action, but in audio there's so much hype and nonsense around what, in the end, wind up as personal preferences that it's great thing when something works for you.

wolf,
Agreed. So often I read posts by members admonishing other members that they must listen before buying, but for the majority of us, it just isn't possible for a variety of reasons, so we just read what we can and hope that our sixth sense is operational. I have made about as many mistakes that way as good calls, but it is really nice when it works out well.

I agree that it is really hard to actually audition gear at all, much less audition the gear in one's own system.  But, it pays to at least hear a few pieces to become familiar with differences in sound between types of amps so that one can at least filter some of the comments on this and other forums.  To me, just relying on popular opinion can easily lead one astray.  Like anyone else who has heard enough stuff to form an opinion, I prefer certain sounds over others.  But, even though I may not like certain types of amps, as a class, I still can appreciate what others see in them and I would hardly think they are terrible sounding.   But, some of the most hyped gear, I cannot even begin to understand what anyone actually finds good about the sound so, at least for me, popular opinion has little merit.  It helps to have heard enough gear so that one can at least know which people who post on these fora share similar likes and dislikes and which ones are reliable in the advice they give.  

@robd1

Is this statement from @atmasphere above true?

"At the other end of the range, the speaker is pretty low impedance (1.5 to 3 ohms depending on the position of the Brilliance control) which will cause most solid state amps to be too bright and nothing for it but to turn down the Brilliance control and deal."

That is, if it’s a low impedance speaker, an underpowered (or maybe not enough current) solid state amp will sound brighter?

Yes it is true, but the answer to your concluding question is ’no’. The more the powerhouse amp, the worse this problem becomes:

The comment is regarding a Sound Lab ESL, which is about 30 ohms in the bass and has the impedances stated above at about 20KHz. Like many ESLs, the impedance curve goes from high impedance in the low frequencies to low impedance in the highs, covering a range of about 10:1. If you put a solid state amp on that, it will be bass shy and way too bright, due to the amp likely acting as a voltage source (IOW, can double power as impedance is cut in half). For this reason, you can see that ESLs are generally incompatible with solid state without special measures being taken.

Its important to understand that the impedance curve of an ESL is not also a map of its efficiency (they are quite unlike a box speaker in this regard). They tend to have the same efficiency from lows to highs. Their impedance curve is based on a capacitor which is the basis of their operating principle.