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Okay here goes.

Posted by RGA (R) on November 18, 2020 at 03:57:13

In Reply to: Why do audiophiles.... posted by Bill the K on November 16, 2020 at 21:34:04:

Let's look at the case against the lower watt (under 10) amps

1) Severely limit speaker choices - this argument seems to me to fail because most people don't buy 10 speakers for 1 amplifier I am I right? Most people buy ONE set of front main loudspeakers and One amplifier (or monoblocks) to drive the speakers.

So who cares if the SET amp can't drive 95/100 speakers that are not in your living room. The SET amp only needs to drive the speakers you own.

Chances are SET amp owners didn't start with a SET - it is a "final destination kind of thing. So they, like me, have already auditioned or owned ATC speakers and Parasound JC-1, or B&W and Classe, or Sonus Faber and Accuphase, Vivid Audio with D'Agostino, Or Rockport Technologies with VTL, or SoundLab and Bricasti, or Wilson Audio and ARC and on it goes.

2) People who go to tube amplifiers may be trying to get a band-aid solution trying to fix bright tweeters or add warmth. SET is a bit different - with 8 watts or less of power you have to do some homework and legwork and listening.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been listening to some of the partnerships above and I have had some fun listening to it but none of them would replace what I have.

The better value proposition of the above set-ups is ATC and Parasound. But I understand why Steve Hoffman prefers and owns a similar system to mine over the ATC/SS rig that he has worked with for decades. He has mastered nearly 1000 Classical music SACDs and most of the big-name artists like Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Eva Cassidy, John Coltrane, etc.

Yet when he is home listening it is with a version of my speakers and a sub 20 watt 211 SET.

So when I first auditioned the ATC speakers with the various SS amps at the dealer here in Hong Kong I was quite impressed. The problem comes in after a few auditions and some cracks appear in the armor. The Hi-fi elements are solid - I sit and I listen to the sound and I am fully impressed. Then I notice that halfway through every track I am looking at my watch and thinking about the next cut I should test. "let's see how it handles acoustic piano - let's see how it will do on steel-string guitar - let's see how it will render Loreena McKennett.

After 45 minutes - and with vocals - I don't want to listen to it anymore. This is a pretty high dollar set-up and it may be a good studio tool and it does sound like good hi-fi - big bass tight - great stereo imaging - a nice exacting nature to things. But in the end I know why a mastering engineer like Steve would use them in the studio and go home and listen to music with a version of my speakers and a SET amp.

3) I don't think audio shows can actually truly capture this. If you think about it, most people go to audio shows looking to hear exactly what the ATC/Parasound or Vivid Audio/Momentum or Soundlab/Bricasti or Martin Logan Neolith/Pass Labs offer up. The sound that bowls you over and wows you in the first 2 minutes that you walk into the room. A "Release the Kraken" experience. PS I love it too - just can't handle it for long.

4) It goes back to that ole left brain right brain thing. The right brain hemisphere is geared to artistic, creative personality while the left brain hemisphere is logic and mathematics, and intellect. We are all on some spectrum somewhere in the middle but one is usually more dominant - like handedness.

In the end, you just choose the one you like to listen to more. I greatly GREATLY prefer listening to Eva Cassidy or Jackson Browne on my system over all of the above set-ups I've been trying out the last month.

But like I say - I like those other set-ups for some things as well and so I have been looking for a SS or class D power amplifier for those hard to drive speakers. But the money I put there is less money for my SET system. I listen more to music than Krakens so there is only so much money I am willing to put into a slam and bang sound.

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