Amplifiers and Horn Loudspeakers

I think you will find that most amps with specs like you state for your own will, in most cases, employ undesirably large amounts of negative feedback, a sonic no-no IMHO.

When I first got my A/G Duos, all I had in house was my Bryston 4B NRB so that's what I used 'til my Atmaspere M60s came in. 250 watts/ch, claimed to operate in class A up to about 15 watts and definitely swathed in global NFB. Great for specs but not so great for purity of sound.

undesirably large amounts of negative feedback, a sonic no-no IMHO.

The operational amplifier is used in almost every piece of analog circuitry under the sun. Operational amplifiers are employed in circuits using negative feedback to increase their linearity (accurately represent the input signal). The audio that you listen to has been recorded and mixed in studios and often mastered in another studio....the audio signal has literally passed through 100's of feet of wire and 100's of amplifiers, all with negative feedback, by the time it reaches you on an LP or CD. If negative feedback were even slightly audible then you have already lost the battle for good sound when you leave the record store with your purchases tucked under your arm!

SS with horns is OK....if you want to rip your ears off!!
I am very carefull with horns and tubes!

Shadorne,

Why do you think it is that amps with zero or very little negative feedback sound so much better than those with lots? And that on amps with adjustable feedback changing it is indeed very AUDIBLE?

Why do you think it is that amps with zero or very little negative feedback sound so much better than those with lots? And that on amps with adjustable feedback changing it is indeed very AUDIBLE?

Horns for the post part are expecting constant power output out of the amp, regardless of the speaker's impedance curve. When you add feedback, the gain of the amp is used to force the amp to behave more as if it has a 'constant voltage characteristic'. A lot of horns are not expecting this- impedance bumps will result in less power and dips will result in more. This can lead to colorations since many horns simply are not designed for that.