what's the point?

According to this article; the challenge began in 1990, for CAR STEREO amps, and- the question of home audio amps being included, didn’t arise until 2005.     Then; they were included, in an added line to the rules.     There’s no mention, as to whether any(home audio amps, that is) ever have been tested/compared, but- there are no records of anyone taking the challenge, since 2006, either.      . https://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/193850-richard-clark-10000-amplifier-challenge/      Verbatim, from the article:  "Do home audio amps qualify for the test?    Yes.    In the 2005 version of the test rules, Richard explicitly allows 120V amplifiers in a note at the end.    How can people take the test?    They should contact Richard Clark for the details.    As of 2006 Richard Clark is reported to not have a public email account, and David Navone handles technical inquiries for him.    Most likely they will need to pay a testing fee and get themselves to his east coast facility.    Is this test still ongoing?    As of early 2006, there have not been any recent reports of people taking the test, but it appears to still be open to people who take the initiative to get tested."

Julian Hirsch was one such proponent of that idea, the man had no ear at all.

OK, to better and thoroughly answer your question, there's a couple of points I want to make:

- We are limited by measurements defined by about the 1970's and 1980's. These measurements have not progressed, despite the progress made in technology such as A/D converters, computer power, etc.

- One thing I've noticed in general is that amplifiers are more susceptible to impedance changes in the load than we think. I think the traditional math / models of a voltage source, output impedance, load, don't really predict how amps sound with different loads or speaker cables.

- Our ear/brain mechanism is capable of learning to pick out a lot more nuance than we think. Just as we are now using AI to train neural networks to distinguish cancer from images, I believe our neural networks also can lead to different tastes as well as levels of discernment.  Now, as you may have seen, I sometimes question whether this is a good thing.

- Amps with meters are much better than amps without meters.

Best,

E

This is like going back to 1973 being a teenager and trying to learn about audio. Yeah. Seriously. Almost 50 years ago. Yet reading this it feels like half a century and nothing has been learned.

Pestering the guys at Radio Shack, killing time in the store reading all the books and magazines I couldn't afford to buy, I learned that back then people were free to make just about any claims they wanted. If they could get an amp to spike 20 watts on a peak at a certain frequency then presto, 20 watt amp! If the amp would produce any power whatsoever at 20 Hz or 20kHz then presto! 20-20kHz response! There were no standards. 

(Useful point of reference for those not around back then, an amp that made a legit 4 or 5 watts was doing pretty good. Nobody knew how efficient the speakers were, they were just barely getting around to that, but you could get good volume from those amps so they were probably around 90 dB, well some of them anyway.)

RMS was little more than a mathematical concept. Years later things that were known even then would become industry standards. THD, IMD, RMS, stringent conditions of temperature and frequency response and more all became standardized and regulated. 

To what end? Marketing. Not music. Anyone around long enough will know that. All these technical standards accomplished, at least in the beginning, was wars for ever lower THD, ever more watts and ever flatter response curves. 

For all the good it did. The phrase measures great sounds bad came about for a reason. 

The whole time this was going on, and even before, and even to this day, there was a tension or competition between the measurers and the listeners. The hardest part to get across to audiophiles is that the listeners have always had the upper hand. The only real thing the measurers have going for them is marketing.

Which turns out to be a pretty good advantage. Oh, it don't do s--t in terms of making anything sound good. But it takes time and effort and energy learning how to listen. Takes like 3 seconds to say "200 watts flat 20 to 20K at 8 0hms with .0026% THD" and to top if off you sound all impressive. Ohms! Oooh! Don't know my ohms from my mhos but it sounds impressively technological! 

Yes, I know, hard to believe, but word salad was a thing even before we knew to call it word salad. 

That fricken moron Hirsch was the epitome of the egghead dope that ruined the game while pretending to be a player. He was a player all right. Just not the way we thought.

Be a phile not a phool. Learn to listen. All the rest is noise.

Yes just pick something randomly and listen and all will work out in the end....decades later.

Or just give MC a buzz. He will tell you exactly what you should do.  🙏