2. amps-preamps
  3. 149424-133172

2000-2500 USD budget for an integrated amplifier. Do amplifiers sound the same? :)

Hey guys!

My first post here! Great community here!

I recently bought a pair of Klipsch Forte III and I’m thinking about upgrading my current budget amplifier Cambridge CXA60. My budget is around 2500 USD. I hope you guys can give me a few insights. Cheers!


Current setup:

  • Macbook Pro
  • Network streamer + DAC: Chord Mojo + Poly
  • Amplifier: Cambridge CXA60 (60 watt)
  • Speakers: Klipsch Forte III, 99db sensitivity
  • Subwoofer: Klipsch R-115SW
  • The room is pretty small: 4*6 meters (roughly 13*19 ft) but very well acoustically treated (I covered all the power corners with GIK acoustics bass Tritraps and Soffit + complete acoustic treatment on early reflection points

The Cambridge amp sounds nice with the Fortes but I feel like I’m missing out on something. I don’t know what "something" actually, since I haven’t paired the Fortes with anything yet but the Cambridge.

So the crucial question is: should I upgrade?

I’ve been considering integrated amps like the Rotel RA 1592 and the Peachtree nova300.

I know that it’s kind of an overkill to drive the Forte III with respectively 200 watts (Rotel) and 300 watts (Peachtree).

However knowing myself, I might upgrade the whole system (speakers included) in like 4-5 years or so. And it might be nice to have a capable high powered amp around (with lots of power headroom) so I won’t need to spend further capital again on a new amplifier in a few years.

On the other hand, I feel like I’m wasting quite a bit of money buying a powerful integrated amplifier right now. At the end of the day the Cambridge CXA60’s got 60 watt and it is more than sufficient to drive the Forte III.

This leads to another thing that’s bugging me… The sound quality of an amplifier! People like Ethan Wiener argue in a very convincing way that when compared evenly, the sonic differences between amplifiers operated below clipping are below the audible threshold of human hearing.

This guy summarized this view here:

https://jakekuyser.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/do-hi-fi-amplifiers-sound-alike/


Furthermore I’ll most probably have Sonarworks room digital EQ correction toggled on all the time to remove all the equipment unwanted colorations. These colorations might sound nice, but I’m more of a "I want to hear what the artist intended" type of a listener.

(((To me Sonarworks was an eye opener when I first used it to calibrate my Sennheiser HD800.

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2017/8/24/headphone-shootout-sennheiser-hd800-vs-hd800s

It made me think about the extreme amount of the self delusion nature in the audiophile community. Many audiophiles rave about the alleged flat response of the HD800 when there are indisputable peaks at 5,5kHz and 11kHz, plus very very weak bass. Without correction they’re almost annoying to me and they definitely do not deliver what the artist/sound engineers intended. However, these cans are very often just described as extremely revealing, clinical, unforgiving… which eventually led to the claim that the HD800 is picky regarding the amp…)))

Questions:

  1. So considering that I’ll most probably have Sonarworks room digital EQ correction toggled on all the time to remove all the equipment unwanted colorations, do you guys still think that I might be able to get a "better" sound by upgrading the Cambridge to a more powerful amp, like the the Rotel RA 1592 and the Peachtree nova300?
  2. Is it worth to spend 2000-2500 USD more for this? Or should I use this money for a better DAC or a network streamer?

Sorry guys for this long post!

Cheers,

Egoq


egoquaero
erik_squires
15,647 posts
 
I think all of this theory is pretty useless at this stage.


It reminds me a great deal of a friend who spent 2 years fantasizing about buying a Harley. I kept telling him to get his license and buy any motorcycle first, so he'd have some time in the saddle and figure out what mattered to him. Instead he got married, started a family. Never got the bike.


I strongly suggest you get off this forum and go listen for a while.

Best,

E
firstnot's avatar
firstnot
248 posts
 
Egq,

It sounds as though not wasting money is your priority at this point
and I totally agree. Questions:

1. Do you live too far from an upscale retailer to test equipment?
2. Stop reading all the (generally) garbage and just listen.
3. You seem pleased with the horns and why not? Have you ever heard   electrostatics or Planars? 
4. Power headroom is a very valid consideration. When you listen at db over say 80, your amp and most other peoples amps are clipping. Perhaps you may want to consider an Active Crossover such as the DBA Venue 360  (about $700). It will show you in real time the clipping.
5. You could buy a used Antique Sound labs amp for $500 and
get aquatinted with tube sound. In your shoes spending $2,500
on an amp upgrade without knowing what your next speakers
might be is very possibly wasted money unless you buy right.

As you have already well researched  setup, a good room acoustically as well as good equipment, focus on "musicality". By that I mean on which sound "moves" you with magic moments. 

Enjoy!


digepix's avatar
digepix
121 posts
 
I'm not a fan of Klipsch speakers but whatever. The Belles Aria integrated is the best I've heard in your budget. 75 watts/ch but that's not your concern.
Post removed 
thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 
Ethan Winer is in the business to sell acoustic panels. Of course he would say "nothing matters, spend your money on acoustic panels". 
More to discover