You want the TRUTH from those Wilson Alexia's, maybe you can't handle the TRUTH

@mapman

No, I didn't say 10 watts was enough. What I meant was that too often reviewers focus on things like S/N at maximum output. If you have a 700 Watt amplifier, it may have a better S/N than a 100 watt amp, but in my house could be 4 times noisier. These are just examples.

I am not a small amp guy. I just meant, these big ass amps seem impressive just because of the output power. I'm more interested in an amplifier that plays exceedingly well with vanishingly low noise within the power envelope I use.

Best,


Erik

@roxy54  Hahahahaha. :) Not far off the mark of the old SAE. Haven't heard the latest.

While I appreciate power, I'm with Nelson Pass. I'm much more interested in the performance of an amp between 0 and 10 watts than 10 and 100.

Best,

Erik

@ivanj

Electrical panels are rated by amps, not watts, but I get your point. :)

Fortunately most audio equipment is reasonably efficient at idle. Unless you plan to run those amps near peak power, I suspect most audiophiles will have no trouble at all even in an apartment.

I've gone to Class D and am just fine there thank you. The latest generation of high efficiency amps hits my sweet spot of power, affordability, sound quality and live-ability (i.e. small, easy to hide) but I do wish they had super cool output meters. :)

Best,


Erik

You know, I just thought of something.  SAE gained fame around the time of Halfer and before Sumo, sort of. I mean, these brands were all around and had some sort of a following.  Amber and Adcom I believe were also gaining some fame too around the same period.

James Bonjiorno (1923-2013) worked first for SAE and later for Sumo, but the Sumo amps always sounded to my ears fuller, sweeter and more powerful than SAE and Hafler. I wonder if there was some shared design flaws and later, improvements? I understand Hafler in later amplifiers gained some intestinal fortitude.

Maybe power supply caps were getting better? It's just fun to think of these things.

Best,


Erik 

Or what about Phase Linear, i.e. Flame Linear?

At some point Carver actually owned up to design flaws, but not until the Carver amp was much forgotten.

Best,

Erik