How far have ss amps really come in the last twenty years?

P.T. Barnum was right...

So, the question that keeps coming up in my demented mind is, if the goal of high end audio is to reproduce the sound of live performances, why isn’t the high end defined by the likes of Crown, JBL, ElectroVoice and other pro audio items of reproduction? After all, unless you are sitting in the first 10 rows of a concert venue, what you are hearing is coming from the pro audio world. I can buy a lot of Crown amplification (substitute any pro audio product here) for the cost of A Gryphon or Dartzeel amp. Just wondering.

I am using an old Amber 70 in my second system that with the revealing Thiel 2 2's is more musical than any of my more modern power amps.  No question a thorough parts upgrade would improve transparency.  But not overall ability to reproduce music that sounds like music.

@wspohn

You make a good point.  Most every time you change a component and often when you change a wire, you end up hearing something different...but that doesn't mean that the change you hear will be appealing to you!

@doubleblindtest

Maybe your goal is to reproduce that kind of sound it would not, however, be the goal of many others.

A consensus goal here among this community is likely to be able to reproduce the human voice accurately, to reproduce unamplified acoustic instruments accurately and to do both with proper texture, tone and dynamics. Next, another goal would be to reproduce the acoustic space as well as can be accomplished in the home. I have found if you can get these things accomplished to a reasonable degree, then amplified music seems to come along for the ride reasonably well. If you haven't been to Disney Hall in LA, Carnegie Hall in NYC, The Village Vanguard (with all its acoustic faults), etc, etc then you haven't experienced really fine music played within a very special acoustic space, largely without amplification.

The examples you cite are out of context. In a recording studio electronics serve a different purpose. In better studios, the microphone to the recording chain is not typically compromised with equipment like you describe although it depends on the engineer and the artist and their goals (and budget). The playback chain in many studios is determined by who they think their audience will be and that market's playback method. If it is likely car stereos or iphones(think podcasts), they may master a certain way. So why not Crown amplification and Yamaha monitors? (those white coned weapons of mass destruction!). The attitude follows the line of thinking that if you can make it listenable on that gear then you have something you can release to a wider audience that will likely sound ok through the wide array of playback channels. Never forget its the music BUSINESS. They want to sell things the work among a larger buying base.

Now, to your specific example. If something sounds ok at your local stadium concert where Crown amps are used to drive pro monitor horns to 120db of shrillness, knowing the acoustic environment there will tame the deficiencies in the electronic chain where volume trumps sound quality then consider yourself lucky. I am one of the unlucky who can't stomach that. I also believe if the Crown type of gear is 80% of the good stuff and you have 3 different Crown type pieces in your playback chain then the cumulative loss through the playback chain is too great. My 2 cents and you pay your money to get what you want. If Crown gear and the like gets you there, congrats.