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In Reply to: RE: Help me with amp-buyer's remorse- Adcom GFA5500 posted by mr.bear on May 11, 2015 at 15:17:08
Neither Parasound nor Adcom are anywhere near really "good, good", unfortunately.
Perhaps, if you lower your wattage requirements (I assume "big" doesn't refer to size, or at least not only), you would be able to include something of quality in your search.
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Within the OP's price range, the smaller A23 is quite good.
Opus 33 1/3
I have a PAIR of the A23, one per speaker as biamp. No possible complaints. pretty much the same output as the '21, for about -20% the $$$ but a path forward using a line level crossover which will basically reclaim even MORE available power.
Too much is never enough
N/T
Sure think the basic circuit of quite a few Adcom amps - including the 555, 555II, and 5500 are pretty darn decent.
You make me wonder.
Curl and Pass are in (were in, perhaps) roughly the same position with Parasound and Adcom.
Now, I really wonder how much influence they had over the final product. While the Adcom 555 got great reviews, in retrospect it was not as refined, perhaps as it could have been.
I think the Parasound Halo stuff overall gets better reviews, with the fairly expensive JC-1 monos being reference amps for some of the bigtime users.
so while Curl and Pass did the design, were they responsible for Voicing or final parts selection?
Too much is never enough
I copied this from DIYAudio a long time ago... And yes, I think Pass is very cool, with a great ear for music. I have a Pass preamp and I'm praying for synergy.
Exactly. Curl and Pass may produce outstanding designs but those brands have to choose parts to a price point and some of it isn't exactly top shelf. That was my experience with some Adcom gear.
Edits: 05/12/15
Price point covers a LOT of ground. Casework / packaging all the way to selection of individual components.
Lifetime of those parts matters, too. I can't imagine a resistor failure under normal circumstances, but power device (output transistors) will be rated in MTBF. There are only SoMany manufacturers of these devices, too. So a design may have a certain transistor which can be sourced from 3 or 4 builders. All have similar specs including MTBF and are considered 'interchangeable'. Buy the cheapest? Most expensive? Listen to 'em and buy THAT one? How do you control which is used if/when the amp is repaired?
I think money can be saved on circuit board material, too. I've seen and tried to repair boards made from what looked like plastic coated compressed cardboard. It'd char and than conduct.
This as opposed to a good glass epoxy board or one made of G-10.
I love to see the actual cost based on 'cheapest' stuff and 'costliest' and what effect that would have on final consumer cost.
I've argued in the past that even IF Emo made an amp from the SAME schematic as a Bryston, that it wouldn't be even CLOSE to the same, but as far as sound only goes, I'm not too sure any more. As for how long it'll last? You are buying down QUITE the warranty with Bryston, and they DO go to lengths to insure good stuff leaving the factory. It all 'adds up', as they say.
Too much is never enough
Power because music sounds better unclipped ... :)
Regardless of speaker's sensitivity, impedance over frequency range, levels it's listened at, room size, and the music played?
Sorry, but I'm afraid your explanation is not very convincing, to put it mildly. Not to mention it doesn't actually answer my - admittedly indirect - question. Let me restate it explicitly:
Why would you want a lot of power from an amplifier that's guaranteed to NOT sound good?
I think this is an 'all other things being equal' type question.
If 2 amps have similar sound signature? Say a pass xa30 and xa100? I'd expect I could easily tell the difference on my very low sensitivity panels at the HIGHEST levels. But not at 10pm TV watching levels.
Too much is never enough
Sounds good to you is subjective, clipping is not .........
Edits: 05/12/15
They are only 89dB sensitive and at 4 ohms nominal to boot. Most say they need power and if the OP likes loud......
E
T
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