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RE:Quality is important - BUT

more important on lower power amps or low sensitivity loudspeakers is the way the amplifier behaves when clipping!

Quality is important because most the time we listen the average power is only one or two watts or less. At two watts though a musical transient might require passing a 20dB higher than average signal. If the amplifier cannot swing it's voltage or current (or both) - to cover that transient (Peak power of 200Watts) the the amplifiers clips the signal. For some amplifiers it gracefully limits the signal and continues tracking the input voltage after the peak. Other amplifiers - under some or all loads - hickup on recovery - sometimes for just a momment.

Why test reports do not report this - even after articles (even in Stereophile) have documented this behavior. Note: the sound of this "clipping" events is not a click or obvious aural artifact - as it is sometimes "hidden" in the music that passes after (and sometimes before) the event.
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius


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