Your experiences with system synergy
Hi All -
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to demo a top of the line tube amp in my system. This is a summit piece that many audiophiles would consider and end game piece. I was ready to open my wallet and spend a big chunk of money to upgrade my system.
Upon arrival at my home, I set this tube amp and sat back to experience the magic. To my surprise, the amp sounded good, but it did not best my far less expensive current tube amp. I played with speaker placement and demoed lots of different styles of music to find the magic.
Eventually, I plugged my own amp in, the one I was expecting to replace, and there was an immediate sense of rightness. It was if I’d introduced a new dancing partner to my current system and they just could not match rhythms on the dance floor. Now, to be clear, my current system has great components. I don’t think there is a weak link in the system. Thus, I thought the end game amp would be revelatory and transformational, but it wasn’t.
It made me realize the profound importance of system synergy.
I’m wondering if others have had this moment or epiphany when introducing a vaunted and desirable component into their system just be sort of utterly disappointed?
from previous posts: Innuous Zenith, Merason DAC1, Linear Tube Audio Microzotl preamp, Audio Hungary/Qualiton 100 watt tube power amp, and QLN Prestige Three speakers or who knows what by now, OP seems to be upgrading these days :)
On the subject, unfortunately I don't have this problem. Maybe, with my upgrade cycle, in 2028.
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Not too surprising. Yes, that nebulous / nefarious concept of "synergy" is crucial. Everything matters for a good amp match, not just speakers: preamps, source, volume level, music selection, and YOU. Psychology is a factor too. If you’re expecting miracles from a new amp (or whatever), that’s more often a setup for disappointment. On the flip side, I’ve been loaned "next level" amps by my dealer at times when I was already "perfectly happy" with my system. No obligation or risk on my end. I didn’t expect anything, other than a bit of fun experiencing the new amps followed by their return. Twice now that has left me blown away by the new amps, and scrambling to make their purchase. Haha. Preamps have proven a more difficult upgrade for me. They don’t overtly change sound as much as power amps, but somehow synergy is even more key in this slot. A few years ago I purchased my VAC Master preamp, and it didn’t totally blow me away until it was later matched to the VAC Master 300 monoblock amps. Fortunately I kept it until then, because I had been flirting with selling it and just sticking to the Ref 6. It was really weird, in some ways the ARC Ref 6 seemed a better preamp match for my VAC 200iQ amps. |
It is great when you plunk down a new piece of equipment and the difference is instantly obvious and huge. That happens when one is working up to the higher echelons of equipment. But once you are there things can be different. First, as pointed out by @audphile1, it is way too soon to make a judgement. It is too soon even if the amp was broken in. I would make sure to get at least 20 hours or hopefully more on it in your system. (If it is new… then you really will needs hundreds). Second, you want to spend at least a couple weeks before swapping back… listening to the music not trying to listen to the amp. The music you listen to over time will reveal differences. The analytical thinking is only good for glaring differences in some very obvious parameters unless you are really experienced in doing it (like you are a dealer who swaps stuff for a living). You are likely to hear the differences when you swap back to your old amp after a good long exposure to listening to music.
Having said all that. Yes, there is such a thing as synergy. It was not by accident I finally converged on my all Audio Research system (under my ID). In this case, dropping the DAC and amp in were earth shatteringly obvious. But I have compared very high end DACs and while the differences seemed miniscule and required lots of exposure to reveal, once revealed there was no question they had a very profound effect on my system.
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It’d be useful for you to post more details about your system and the new amp. There are a lot of variables in play. I would not write off the new amp without a good long warm up, and ample time for the tubes to burn in (if not done during manufacturering). I’d also ask the manufacturer for input, and/or what cables theyy suggest with the amp....the synergy issue could be that simple. Give it a chance before dismissing it.
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