Dayglow - I noticed you didn't mention whether you have ever heard or A/B'd an Emotiva product, which I pretty much knew you would avoid answering.
It's pointless to use logic and rational arguments on someone who is talking with ZERO experience in what they are saying and thinks measurements have no correlation to sound...YET price does.
Nevertheless, please call whatever company you are proud to say is on the chassis of your amplifier and ask them if they use measurements. Tell them you think measurements have no correlation to sound quality and listen closely for the giggling they will try to mute to avoid offending you.
Here's another question to ask...Are they using a circuit that is 100% invented by them or just tweaking one that was patented long ago and no longer protected.
It's funny that I've mentioned numerous examples of amps that I know sound better than the Emotiva. Thus, I've never implied that they make the best amps made. However, you claimed their are "many under $2k", but only given one example and it has to be "used".
Since you finally mentioned ONE example, I can now look at the parts and laugh even further. Is your best example a 20 year old amp made by Yamaha?...lol
It's a decently built amp, but would you SERIOUSLY advise someone to buy this amp with 20 year old parts over a brand new Emotiva at the same price...SERIOUSLY!?!
I know you don't like specs, but that amp isn't really passive preamp/direct drive friendly. Plus, I hope you know that the most important part of an amp is the transformer and the generally accepted advantage of toroids over iron cores like the one in the Yamaha.
(Caveat- There are some manufacturers who can make amps with iron core transformers sound just as good if not better than toroids, but I can guarantee that Yamaha wasn't choosing iron core transformers for that amp due to better performance.)
Oh...and if the stock, hard-wired power cord on the Yamaha is so bad that an after-market expensive one would make a huge difference, what does that say about the quality of the piece you are recommending? What were you implying about Emotiva again???
As an aside...If you want a really good story behind how important just one part can be like toroid transformers, go back 10 years or so ago and remember a company called Equitech? It was all the rage because they had an exclusive contract with Plitron who generally made the best toroid transformers. As a result, they made quite a splash with their balanced power conditioners performing and measuring better than almost anything out there. Almost everyone was using them at the shows. Then, Plitron stopped honoring their exclusive contract and others like BPT started using them to great success. In a balanced power conditioner, there really isn't any other "technology" other than the transformer...so the EXACT SAME PERFORMANCE was now available from other manufacturers at lower prices. Equitech had to outsource transformers from China and how much have you heard of them since?
An amplifier is a little more complicated than a balanced power conditioner, but the story above is meant to show that measurements and superior parts play a larger role in performance than the name on the chassis or price.
Long story short...If you would have offered up a name like Parasound as a good alternative to Emotiva for budget prices, then I would have easily agreed with you and said that would be a good alternative for better performance at slightly higher price point. However, my intuition and your subsequent posts proved that you were just spouting opinions on something you had little to no experience.
As for Dave72 - Instead of reading The Audio Critic, maybe you should read marketing books that explain the theory of "anchoring". That's exactly what 80% of audiophile manufacturers rely on to sell their products at outrageous prices.
You could also read Ethan Winer's page and watch his videos.
Maybe you have better ears and more credentials than he has in recording live performances and comparing it to recordings. If so, please reference your website and credentials so that we know you're not just the typical audiophile forum superhero with golden ears just waiting on a contract from Marvel.
It's pointless to use logic and rational arguments on someone who is talking with ZERO experience in what they are saying and thinks measurements have no correlation to sound...YET price does.
Nevertheless, please call whatever company you are proud to say is on the chassis of your amplifier and ask them if they use measurements. Tell them you think measurements have no correlation to sound quality and listen closely for the giggling they will try to mute to avoid offending you.
Here's another question to ask...Are they using a circuit that is 100% invented by them or just tweaking one that was patented long ago and no longer protected.
It's funny that I've mentioned numerous examples of amps that I know sound better than the Emotiva. Thus, I've never implied that they make the best amps made. However, you claimed their are "many under $2k", but only given one example and it has to be "used".
Since you finally mentioned ONE example, I can now look at the parts and laugh even further. Is your best example a 20 year old amp made by Yamaha?...lol
It's a decently built amp, but would you SERIOUSLY advise someone to buy this amp with 20 year old parts over a brand new Emotiva at the same price...SERIOUSLY!?!
I know you don't like specs, but that amp isn't really passive preamp/direct drive friendly. Plus, I hope you know that the most important part of an amp is the transformer and the generally accepted advantage of toroids over iron cores like the one in the Yamaha.
(Caveat- There are some manufacturers who can make amps with iron core transformers sound just as good if not better than toroids, but I can guarantee that Yamaha wasn't choosing iron core transformers for that amp due to better performance.)
Oh...and if the stock, hard-wired power cord on the Yamaha is so bad that an after-market expensive one would make a huge difference, what does that say about the quality of the piece you are recommending? What were you implying about Emotiva again???
As an aside...If you want a really good story behind how important just one part can be like toroid transformers, go back 10 years or so ago and remember a company called Equitech? It was all the rage because they had an exclusive contract with Plitron who generally made the best toroid transformers. As a result, they made quite a splash with their balanced power conditioners performing and measuring better than almost anything out there. Almost everyone was using them at the shows. Then, Plitron stopped honoring their exclusive contract and others like BPT started using them to great success. In a balanced power conditioner, there really isn't any other "technology" other than the transformer...so the EXACT SAME PERFORMANCE was now available from other manufacturers at lower prices. Equitech had to outsource transformers from China and how much have you heard of them since?
An amplifier is a little more complicated than a balanced power conditioner, but the story above is meant to show that measurements and superior parts play a larger role in performance than the name on the chassis or price.
Long story short...If you would have offered up a name like Parasound as a good alternative to Emotiva for budget prices, then I would have easily agreed with you and said that would be a good alternative for better performance at slightly higher price point. However, my intuition and your subsequent posts proved that you were just spouting opinions on something you had little to no experience.
As for Dave72 - Instead of reading The Audio Critic, maybe you should read marketing books that explain the theory of "anchoring". That's exactly what 80% of audiophile manufacturers rely on to sell their products at outrageous prices.
You could also read Ethan Winer's page and watch his videos.
Maybe you have better ears and more credentials than he has in recording live performances and comparing it to recordings. If so, please reference your website and credentials so that we know you're not just the typical audiophile forum superhero with golden ears just waiting on a contract from Marvel.