My amp has no faults


Who has an amp or heard one they can honestly say they find no fault with save for the fact it's not 100% convincing? Having all the sonic attributes one desires in an amp. A description in which there are no buts. If such a thing exists, I would love to hear about it.
csontos

Showing 5 responses by roscoeiii

I will stand by my statement that it is absurd without the mention of speaker for context. See Atmasphere's atatement above. I have had a few amps that, when paired with particular appropriate speakers I felt exhibited no major faults. When I paired each of those amps with another speaker, with different characteristics (due to crossovers or drivers, or other aspects of their construction), these amps were less ideal compared to other contenders.

To this day, I will recommend the Butler 2250 for someone who has a somewhat inefficient speaker that needs current (SP Tech Minis, in my case). The Rogue Stereo 90 for a somewhat more efficient speaker (Von Schweikert VR-4 Gen IIs). The Butler did not sound as good as the Rogue on the VR-4s, but was preferable on the SP Techs.

In the lower wattage realm, for single driver designs, I will always rave about the First Watt F2J, but this is a very specialized amp. And if the speaker's impedance is appropriate for it, I am a huge fan of the Atma-Sphere S-30.

The above are the top four amps I have heard. But this only applies when paired particular suitable speakers for them.

For the best possible sound, match amp to speakers. I have yet to be convinced that there is a jack-of-all-trades amp that will get you the best possible sound across speakers. And yes, I have heard ncores in my system with both the SP Techs and the VR-4s. An impressive amp, but it beat out neither of the amps mentioned above.
Oh, well if you are looking for amps for an active system that does change things. No pesky amp-crossover interactions to worry about. Fun stuff.
Bottom end cutting like a knife? Check OTLs then if you are looking to go tubes. Though the damping factor of the amp will affect how tight the bass is to some degree (this will differ according to the drivers employed for the low-end, another reason to think in terms of specific speaker-amp pairing). I have both amps that overdamped and underdamped the bass on my speakers. With some Atma-Sphere amps, the damping factor can be fairly low, so underdamping is potential risk.