Quote:
Originally Posted by
pjp
This is why I really hate those "everything sounds the same" and "blind test" comments when they come up on AVS. I've had a gazillion receivers, preamp/amps, AVR's, and AVR preamp/amp combinations over the years and not one of those combinations has sounded the same. When you've lived with equipment for a year or two, you know the difference, good or bad, when you plug in new stuff. My "internal bias" should have been a night and day slam dunk for the Adcom because it cost 5 times what it replaced, it was a decade newer, it was a separate preamp and amp versus a receiver, and it was a sizable investment for me at that time, but I hated it.
But, But......you have not done the DBT and level matching, you don't know what you are talking!!! Ha ha ha ha ............
Seriously, I don't even think you can judge as well if you a being put on the spot to compare amps one after the other. You likely be trying so hard to pick out the difference that you miss the moon all together. That's the reason I have been talking about the best comparison is just use it, enjoy it. When you are not thinking about it, relax and listen, you notice more the difference. It's like when I wasn't compare, I put in a new amp and just watch tv. All of a sudden, I hear things different, it might sound sweeter, the sound seems more real, or I hear things I never experience before. That's when you can tell which one is better or which one you like better.
Even in comparison, I could hear the difference of singer voices that are different. Forget level matching, but the time you match everything, you forgot how the last one sound already!!! You just listen.
Last but NOT the least. Someone link me a DBT to prove amps don't mean anything. But then I read the article in detail. They tested all the high end amps with a $1995MSRP pair of studio monitor!!!! Testing a $10K with a $2K monitor??!!! Don't we learn to very first thing about buying a system, that you put AT LEAST half the budget into the speakers??!! that's the speakers is the most important piece in the system?? That the speaker define the sound of the system?? How can you tell the high end amps with so so speakers? This sure feels like politics to me, that we read about climate change........written by all the liberal professors in the universities....that make up the test to convince people that it is real. Until you have both sides testing the amps, you only hear one biased side of the story.
Also, be aware of the sour grapes factor.