Most resolving, transparent amps.

AyreV5x....

Nuforce Reference 9SE Mark XII Limited Edition with the Platinum mods and Li-ion battery pack with pure silver jimmies on top and Whore-Hose power cord. I friggin'...oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, it's Mr. Bill! Say, have you seen my green pal, Gunbei? He hasn't been round here much lately. Don't all you claymation dudes stick together? Sorry, just yankin' your Play-Dough™ chain.

I've got a love/hate relationship with transparency. I'm ambivalent. Jury's still out, but I think I like some meat on the bones...a bit of color. But then again, that transparency stuff is like breathing in fresh country air. Can I have both?

Good thread, especially since I've been curious about both OTL and Class D (very limited and positive exposure to the former, and none to the latter).

When I consider it, I don't think I've really heard any amps that I'd consider really transparent. Parasound Halo HC1's might have come close, but in doing so, they really bored me, sounding almost 'sterile'. I don't think that would necessarily be the case with other amps being discussed here (entirely different topology), though I have not heard any of them to comment.

I will add that the most transparent pre-amp I've ever heard excels in transparency, IMO, and is very affordable: Placette passive. It's like putting nothing between your source and your amp. I'd suggest that, in this discussion, the interface of not only the speakers, but the preamp as well (perhaps even more so) would have a strong bearing on overall transparency. But, for that matter, so would all the components in the chain of the system.

Marco

Got a dumb question. How can I tell (without actually listening and evaluating synergy, especially with speakers) if an amp is in fact going to be 'transparent'? Are amps universal in application? If, when I hear a system, I judge to be less than transparent how do I know it's the amp as opposed to the IC's, cables, line stage, etc, that I'm using with it. Is there an absolute reference?

Please help me understand. To the benefit of a lot of merchants I've never been able to figure this out. :-)

Newbee,

There is no way to tell how transparent a given amp may be without listening to it with familiar recordings (so you have some basis for comparison.

If the amp is in an unfamiliar system you must consider the system as a whole. The sonic characteristics can not be attributed to any particular piece contained therein. The only way to get an idea of the amp's capabilities in an unfamiliar system is to change to a different amp and see what gets better, or worse...