Is there actually a difference?


Speakers sound different - that is very obvious. But I’ve never experienced a drastic change between amps. Disclaimer that I’ve never personally ABX tested any extremely high end gear.

With all these articles claiming every other budget amp is a "giant killer", I’ve been wondering if there has ever been blind tests done with amplifiers to see if human ears can consistently tell the difference. You can swear to yourself that they do sound different, but the mind is a powerful thing, and you can never be sure unless it’s a truly blind test.

One step further - even IF we actually can tell the difference and we can distinguish a certain amp 7/10 times under extreme scrutiny, is it really worth the thousands you are shelling out to get that nearly-imperceivable .01% increase in performance?

Not looking to stir up any heated debate. I’ve been in audio for several years now and have always thought about this.
asianatorizzle
The Amps are well known as 10k since 10000 watt is standard output each. The quality of sound is input=output uncolored or unaltered except for lots more. and i do have current sense Cts transformers at the loads 30ft away-feedback.
and tube sound is passed purely from tube preamp input-warm as a puppy.
i have storage scopes and CROWN RTA and THD analzers online at all times to watch for glitches- see crown addiction site pg 4 pics
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/crown-addiction-photos.340649/page-5

oh the accuracy of Specs on  these are regulated by Mil-spes and FDA medical and more Govt assc.
I had a friend who is now passed that ran a recording studio professionally and did hall n oats, todd rundgren and many private works out of Manhatten and NJ area. we used to play on stuff with the studio master tapes as source with totally uncompressed un corrected for riaa or anything and compare systems. often with real pro musicians listening and wouls say:" hows that now" without doing anything at all cept turning off the feed for a split sec so they hear a click and think a different system is now online. but Ha Ha on them. we would get all sort of eserteric comments on what they now hear of can detect. we were mean I know but proved outright the A/B/C comparisons when properly done proved its all in the head. given everything is more than a chinese junk system. LOL!!! not even the decent home 20-30k$ systems could compare to cheap  studio stuff. And I have no interst in them But Crown and Jbl were king. even when laying down pro tracks of the NYSymphand NY classical music. well enough pesisism on the cost affecting proper performance and dont get me started on connection wiring false hoods. plain 12/4 Sj cord for 3bux a foor is all you need ever.
As a former commercial property appraiser, I appraised 17 sound studios in Southern California.  Many of the studios had high end playback gear.  Same with my friend Robert Pincus, record producer, who visited various major label studios.  They did not use junk pro gear equipment in the 80s or 90s.  Two studios used my Legacy Focus for playback. Sony used big B&W800d2 for playback in NY.  I didn't check their cabling which was probably standard issue balanced and heavy duty A/C.  Most of the studios had superior power conditioning.  I remember one had 22 isolation transformers of 2KV each (former use was for tube computer equipment for BofA accounting).  
Interesting read on this topic here:

https://www.dagogo.com/audio-by-van-alstine-abx-comparator-review-part-3-new-twists-conclusion/

The reviewer can pick out cable differences much more easily than amp differences.  In fact, as long as the amps are level matched, he couldn't distinguish a tube amp from a solid state amp.  

Alan Shaw of Harbeth makes a similar point, although he is often misquoted as saying "all amps sound alike."  He actually claims that level-matched comparisons between properly functioning amps within their normal operating capacity will sound indistinguishable.  If they don't sound the same, then they are not level matched or are producing distortion (pleasing or not).