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In Reply to: RE: Stereophile Reviews Moot Points posted by mark.korda@myfairpoint.net on November 15, 2015 at 07:36:29
Loudspeaker designers sometimes know of a synergy with an amp, but some loudspeaker designers are clueless (or just do a very good imitation of being clueless).
BTW, your idea of using "1 standard amp is used for all speaker reviews" is a non-starter, and that is being polite kind and generous. I hope that was in the spirit of, to state the proposition is to refute it.
I have been told that Wilson Audio has a store room of different amps so they can check for drive problems.
One little-considered problem is that loudspeaker designers... want to sell loudspeakers. And so you run across cases (I have seen two with my own eyes and ears) where the designer of a loudspeaker I would objectively consider a difficult load to drive assured the customer, in one case, that a budget integrated from the UK was all they needed, and in another case, that any good home theater amp was all they needed.
Back in the day I saw a Tweeter Etc. salesperson sell Dahlquist DQ-10s with an inexpensive Yamaha receiver that it turned out kept having its protection circuit kick in, DUUUH.
The world being the fallen sinful place that it is, it would take a heart of gold for a loudspeaker designer to say, "Look, I think you would be better off buying one of my models from the middle of my range and not the top of my range, and allocate more of your budget toward source components and amplification and cables."
So, I suspect that there are many cases where a loudspeaker designer might say less than he knows, in the interest of not damping sales.
So, one is left at the tender mercies of retailers, many of whom are in it for love not money, and the more punctilious of audio reviewers.
An example of how time-consuming the chase can be is (if anyone has a complete collection of 1990s-2000 TAS) my "A Stereo for Mr. Stevens" project. Once I pretty much decided on the Shahinian Obelisk Is as King of the Hill, I spent the rest of the time auditioning amplifiers.
If it were easy to do it right, everyone would do it right...
And plaudits to JA for using a perhaps counter-intuitive amplifier choice.
jm
Follow Ups:
Darn, two speakers I was actually thinking of today. I wonder how many recall the B&W DM70?
I was a bigger fan of the leak sandwich cone drivers and speaker system during that era , i wonder if JA had any real experiences with them in the UK...
Go Rossi ......
Edits: 11/15/15
One little-considered problem is that loudspeaker designers... want to sell loudspeakers,
So, one is left at the tender mercies of retailers, many of whom are in it for love not money, and the more punctilious of audio reviewers.- jm
Lol .....
Go Rossi ......
Edits: 11/15/15
yes, that's true, but some amps are amenable to drive nearly ANY loudspeaker. that would usually be a powerful SS amp. a powerful tubed amp is usually much more expensive. i am taking the tube vs SS sound out of the equation here.
lower powered tube amps are more subject to variations in sound quality due to impedance induced colorations. i have experienced the receiver shut down effect when i tried to drive Janszen 412HPs with a sherwood s8900a receiver (a very good one). i did this in a showroom and knew that day that my days with the 8900a were numbered. another foolish demo was a dealer attempting to drive DQ10s with the Stax amplifier.
i couldn't afford said Janszens and stuck with my stacked Dynaco A25s but migrated to separates and haven't looked back.
a speaker maker should be willing to suggest amps (more than one) in the same league with their review unit so as to somewhat guide the reviewer and eventually the consumer to a successful mating.
so many times i have heard someone say that a given component sounds like excrement only to admonish them because i had heard the component PROPERLY demonstrated. that list includes Wilson Audio and Magico speakers. even the dealers that SHOULD know how to properly set up a demo before allowing prospective buyers to hear them.
i also realize that this can conflict with the dealers's current product lineup and associated tsuris to be dealt with regarding to the suppliers involved with him.
unless you live in a LARGE metropolitan area like LA or NY, hearing a proper demo on a given product is a crap shoot. the flourishing of the audio shows is a good substitute for the availability of dealer density
...regards...tr
Speakers with low/average sensitivity and low-dipping impedance curves with difficult phase angles absolutely NEED a powerful, stable amp with good current reserves, be it tubed or SS. If they're highly resolving speakers, they can tell you much about the subtle sonic differences among those amps. So if a reviewer or dealer has several appropriate models on hand, he should by all means try them all to find the best synergy.
But if you mate power-hog speakers with an inadequate amp (as some dealers and reviewers apparently still do), you will never hear either the speakers or the amp at their best.
Save the low-powered tube amps for high sensitivity speakers with benign impedance plots. This is the combo where both can shine.
agreed
...regards...tr
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