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In Reply to: RE: I would say nearly all amplifier designs are conceptually WRONG! posted by noway on September 22, 2015 at 08:05:53
"But can anyone do all that in a mass market device (so the company can make a decent profit selling to other than the limited audiophile market)at a decent price and light weight (for low shipping costs) that can drive almost any of today's speakers (100-200 wpc and stable/flat frequency response into 4 ohm loads or lower)"
No, true high fidelity is expensive to make and probably always will be. I didn't think this forum was about mass market...but all this talk about Class D is starting to make me think otherwise. Why does light weight in an amp matter to you?? Do you want to slip it in your pocket for a road trip? I can understand heat as some of my amps have been real cookers but beyond that I don't see the appeal. A Class A/B chip amp has much more appeal.
First, you have been sold the lie that you need at least 100 watts to drive a speaker to a suitable level. As long as the speaker is reasonably sensitive, 20 or 30 watts is plenty. Speakers that are very low impedance will never realize their full potential because they need to be driven by inferior amps. I have yet to go to a home or a show where a low sensitivity speaker driven by monster amps sounds truly realistic...even if it gets the dynamics right the tone is wrong and or the soundstaging or low level resolution or all of it. Many of the insensitive speakers actually compress very early and never achieve realistic dynamics anyway, regardless of the power you put into them.
"be used in multichannel installations and subwoofers and runs economically 24/7 (so no warmup required) and low maintenance "
Again I think you might be on the wrong forum...could be mistaken but your post is highly suggestive.
Follow Ups:
I was very happy with a 5wpc single ended tube amp driving some Klipsch Forte II but ended up selling the Klipschs to try some Magnepans. That little amp was the best I've ever heard, but you should have seen the trouble I had selling it! If I had trouble selling a made-in-USA tube amp like new with enough tubes for a lifetime for under $500 (no takers for my original $900 asking price), how would a manufaturer stay in business selling them for multiple times that amount?This isn't about what I think at all. I love single-ended tube amps. But manufacturers have to sell stuff to stay in business. Not just to ten or twenty audiophiles on a forum. And when they ship them they won't sell too many if they weigh 50 pounds each. If you think that current manufacturers are missing the mark, try starting a company yourself with your own money and see how well you do. Your bank manager will be more than concerned with your distain for the buying power of the mass market.
As far as SS goes, do you envision 100 more companies like First Watt? How many of them would survive more than a month or two? I dare you to try.
Edits: 09/22/15
Well the weight of history definitely causes a problem with buyer's perceptions...also the desire to sit in front of a stereo system and just listen to music does not seem to fit with many modern lifestyles.
That said, top quality anything is always a niche product. However, we are on a forum of supposedly fanatics about music reproduction...
I never said it was a good or easy business model. However, if all manufacturers stopped you are much more likely to be able to build a good sounding SET amp yourself than a complex Class D or transistor amp yourself.
I was talking about the whole concept of what makes an amp sound the best given the non-linear amplification technologies at our disposal.
It would be really great if someone could figure out a truly linear amplification device...maybe it is not even theoretically possible given physics as we know them??
First, you have been sold the lie that you need at least 100 watts to drive a speaker to a suitable level. - Morricab
Agree, he is being sold a lie alright ..... LOL :)
Edits: 09/22/15
From his reply it seems he more or less agreed with me...at least about the power :)
Even Ralph admitted to using way more than your alotted 30watts and his speaker has more sensitivity Than yours.
Realism , some want it ... :)
depends on room size and volume level considered live. i can easily achieve live levels undistorted in my room and have measured it....have you?
An amp that can't put out enough clean power with a flat fr vs load with most modern speakers is irrelevant today.
try it! you know you want to!
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