is McIntosh known for good dynamics?

@faustuss Oddly, many digital titles do not have the dynamic range of their analog counterparts for the simple reason that the digital release has expectation of being played in a car while the LP version does not.

Distortion obscures low level detail. The dynamic range you're talking about isn't the same thing as 'dynamics' to which so many audiophiles refer. The latter tends to be caused by distortion rather than actual dynamic range.

So as a result lower distortion amplifiers tend to sound less 'dynamic'. This is simply because the ear uses higher ordered harmonics to sense sound pressure. If this is coming in the form of distortion it can have the effect of greater 'dynamics'. This has absolutely nothing to do with the dynamic range of the recorded media.

Dynamic compression is nothing new, it has been used routinely since the beginning of electronic recording and the signal to noise ratio of the recording medium, tape, vinyl, CD, SACD, MP3 etc., is truly the only limiting factor.  With the exception of classical music and maybe acoustic jazz, popular music and rock is recorded routinely with only but a few decibels of dynamic range simply because its just loud or compression is used as a matter of course from an artistic effect and the type of limiting or brick walling you're referring to on CDs is relatively recent occurrence due to the fact that iPods and low bit streaming have taken over as the format of choice by most listeners over the past couple of decades. The intent being that the louder the new hot single is the more attention it gets. Commercially produced CDs often contain exactly what crescendos, subtlety or nuance the artist, producer and the engineers intended depending on what type of music and audience they intend to market to. Sometimes the studio executives decide otherwise and the release formats are mastered differently.

@faustuss Of course we are off topic. None of this has anything to do with the opening post. 

WRT ’dynamic range’ (I’m speaking from the perspective of a mastering engineer) the actual dynamic range depends on the producer and how much compression they want. FWIW most releases these days are compressed and do not express the full range of either a CD or LP.  

@atmasphere 

Call it transparency or high-fidelity, but amps can be high fidelity in different ways. Some may be faithful to the timbre, others may also be faithful to the musical impact of the dynamics. The latter is what I call a dynamic amp (or speakers, or DAC, etc.) 

I call B.S. on the idea that good dynamics is a matter of distortion. Good dynamics is a form of accuracy (in acoustic classical recordings) as acoustic classical music has the best dynamics of all. A dynamic amp sounds more like live music. I call B.S. on the idea that a distortion would give the impression I'm listening live.

@ghdprentice - dang, you’ve talked me into trying a WA5.  I’ll likely get the WA5-integrated as I’m also investigating tube sonics starting with flea watt amps on my 100db speakers.  

I call B.S. on the idea that good dynamics is a matter of distortion.

@magon I didn't say that! What I said was in 90% of audiophile conversation where the word 'dynamics' is used, you can safely replace that word with 'distortion' without changing the meaning of the conversation.

How this works is the ear uses higher ordered harmonics to tell how loud a sound actually is. This is very easy to demonstrate with simple test equipment. Ask and I'll explain how.

So if the system for whatever reason (in this case, amplifier 'X') adds higher ordered harmonics to the sound, it will be perceived as louder even though a sound level pressure meter (available as an app for your phone) will show that it is not.

If the higher ordered harmonics are a function of power, as they are in SETs, they will be showing up more on transients. Since the ear is hearing the 'loudness cues' on the transients, the result is a more 'dynamic' sound. You can read about this quite a lot with SET amplifiers, where people often comment about how dynamic they are for their apparently low power. Its simply distortion masquerading as 'dynamics'.

Good dynamics (note the emphasis; the kind that apparently both you and I like) comes from the signal and the amp will not contribute more of its own. This requires the amp to be low distortion (or at least higher ordered harmonics are masked by lower orders). A side benefit is the system will also seem more relaxed and effortless.