Did any Amp help you understand lyrics better?

A PROPERLY set up subwoofer system that can go low with control can make everything sound cleaner.

One of my tests is using the piece, Carverna Magica which has male and female voices murmuring in the back of a cave with other sounds in the foreground. That is what you hear on poorer equipment. As equipment, amps and room improve you can detect that they are speaking French, as it improves further you can understand the French words quite clearly, at its best you can hear the subtle inflections within the voices.

@redwoodaudio

Most difference? Overall it was the room - purpose made to Salford specs. For voice, turntable, I think. Went to full 3D air bearing with a massive platter. Then tonearm, then phono stage/pre, then amps, then cartridge and alignment of same. Cleaning records with 80KHz ultrasonics was in there somewhere. Since I began with Quad ESL’s there wasn’t that far to go, but the Reference voltage bias ladder from Electrostatic Solutions made a notable improvement, as did improving the LC delay line. A few tweaks helped too: damping the tonearm with Moongel, a sticky gel used for drum kit tuning.

Also helpful was close attention to power supplies, including massive inductors and power isolation transformers. And parts. Can’t say enough about quality parts, like nude Vishay resistors and air gap capacitors. Since changing to Canare microphone cable, haven’t heard anything significantly better, certainly nothing worth the price. Maybe try again after another good cartridge. Maybe.

For what it’s worth. YMMV.

I think there are three factors that help a listener understand lyrics better, or more specifically, how a singer intends to convey those lyrics.

As others have mentioned, transparency or clarity of the sound is one of those factors.

Another factor that I hear is the ability of an amplifier to convey tonal colors. For lack of a better description, some amplifiers sound more "gray" or flat. For me, the lack of tonal differences or gradations takes away an aspect of what parts of song lyrics an artist might trying to emphasize or the meaning they are trying to overlay on the lyrics.

The last factor to which I seem particularly sensitive is the ability of an amplifier to reproduce timing accurately. Specifically, some amplifiers sound slow and lead-footed to me. When the timing of an amplifier's sound output sounds right, music sounds more lyrical and flowing to me.  The same lyrics that sound engaging on one amplifier can sound like they are lacking in life on another amplifier. One example in which this might be more audible are duets in which one singer's lines react to and dovetail with what their partner is singing. Amplifiers that sound slow can fail to convey the nuance of how the two singers intended their individual lyrics to fit together. My impression is that I've heard more than a few higher powered amplifiers that sound like they lack timing and sound a bit flat-footed. My layperson's guess is that complicated circuitry or electrical components that don't react fast enough might affect timing to an extent that is sonically audible. I feel that the ability of an amplifier to convey the musicality of lyrics has a lot to do with its ability to reproduce timing.

I'm now using the Purifi Audio (from Denmark) EVAL1 (two power amp modules and a front end) with an outboard power supply. [Two NAD units now use their power amp modules. So does an outfit called LKV (Veros PWR+ power amp).] Outstanding clarity and "naturalness" of sound. You can have one in your home for about $1000 if you are willing to build a power supply for it. If you can't understand the lyrics with this amp, it's because the recording engineer didn't want you to. Keep smiling.