Is my Amp OK?
“I think that quite possibly the quality of your speakers and that of your DAC might be of superior quality than your Rotel amplifier. Revel and Cary I believe are generally of a superior quality than Rotel audio products. So maybe an amplifier upgrade should be considered.” that’s what I am thinking. But what do I upgrade to? |
No speaker is ever better than a decent amplifier. Frequency response of even the best speakers is at best within +/- 2dB for the central part of the spectrum. Good amplifiers stay within 0.2 dB, or even far less. Distortion figures are a similar story. The explanation is very simple: speakers have mass that can resonate, is slow, behaves in a non linear way etc. Good amplifiers have been sonically perfect for decades, and cannot be distinguished from each other in a double blind test. See here for the classic and legendary test: http://www.keith-snook.info/wireless-world-magazine/Wireless-World-1978/Valves%20versus%20Transistor... And here for a hilarious one: http://matrixhifi.com/ENG_contenedor_ppec.htm If you google you will find quite a few more. I personally attended a private demonstration by Quad's designer Peter Walker. He had this set up where you could listen blind to his three famous amplifier designs (using studio master tapes). I thought I could hear a difference, but he just grinned: I had been no better than random. That was a lesson learned. There are a few proviso's and I have listed those in my earlier post. If those apply, there will be sonic differences because one of the amplifiers does not meet the criterium of 'properly designed and used within its specification'. This is why many tube amplifiers fail the test. If that is not the case, the perceived sonic differences are the product of level differences (the brain interprets louder as better). For a listening test levels should be kept within 0.2 dB, and that is such a small difference that you can only achieve this with a decent Volt meter (and not with an SPL meter, let alone with a smartphone app). Did you ever see a dealer equalizing levels in the demo room using a Volt meter? |
Still waiting for the list of amplifiers from personal experience. If we were to only use measurements and hearsay as the criteria for "good" sound, most people here would be buying the same brand(s). As for the OP, no budget was stated so I'd think any model from the usual suspects like Pass Labs or Mark Levinson with more than 100 wpc should sound real good with the 208. I recently heard one of the higher powered Belles amps with a mid line Focal and it sounded real weighty and engaging. |
willemj Good amplifiers have been sonically perfect for decades, and cannot be distinguished from each other in a double blind test.Julian Hirsch proclaimed that too, at Stereo Review back in the ’70s. He was so wrong then that he helped give birth to virtually the entire high-end audio industry. Some people credit publishers such as Harry Pearson and J. Gordon Holt with helping to establish high end audio, which is valid. But without Hirsch’s "it all sounds the same" dogma, it would never have happened the way it did. As Hirsch was wrong then, so are you mistaken now. |
