For the same expensive passive speark pair, has anyone compared the audio qualities between cheap and expensive desktop amplifiers, for example, less than $100 Fosi Audio BT10A with over $500 NAD D3020 V2?
Edit: Apart from the theoretical differences, has anyone done a physical test?
What specs? The NAD specs seem to have been lost in the wash.
I found them?
Is it for your computer? Active speakers are my preferred route, no messing with an amp.
Haven't tried the expensive ones but I'm happy with this (with Russians valves put in)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000167238891.html?spm=a2g0o…
Being fed from this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000340881392.html?spm=a2g0o…
Into a pair of Swann M50W's
Do the specs have a THD number? The lower this number is the better.
Nah, That is the line they love feeding you nowadays, some of the most musical amps have a quite high THD. We need to move back away from spec comparisons, and base reviews of listening impressions.
So you love gramophones then?
Gramophones, Sure :), time and place
But honestly, I would easily bet you what would win with a modern class d amp with 0 THD, vs my Vintage Sansui, Vintage Pioneer, Elekit 8200 or similar ?, happy to do a blind test
Edit vintage Sansui 555a THD 0.5%, who cares sounds great!
@mudvin: Some of the “sound” of older gear is about what we are accustomed to hearing as “good”.
I gather for critical listening (as opposed to what I do, which is enjoying music) the clinical sound reproduction sounds ‘flat’ to traditional audiophiles.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out in years to come - an analogy is like with digital cameras that now have filters to reproduce the colour distortions of films, that can look more attractive than an exact reproduction on a digital sensor.
@mskeggs: Yep I agree with a lot of your thoughts, similarly those of us raised with incandescent bulbs, typically find cold white bulbs clinical, a lot of modern films are adding film grain for the same reason.
I also agree that getting a "by the numbers" amp would be the thing to do for clinical listening, but I (and you probably) find them hard to listen to for extended periods.
In this specific thread, the issue I have is that people think that a cheap nasty class D amp, is seriously better, just because of lower THD. Buying stuff just on specs just does not work.
P.S. I personally find it weird that people are very happy with colouring sound using vinyl records, vs a clean CD source with a warm amp / or even EQ
@mudvin: I think it is the reason hi-fi mags/websites exist, because there is always the debate about what sounds good. The light colour temperature is a great comparison - I had a friend who declined energy efficient bulbs because he didn’t like the light and pointed to my 2500k LED as an example of the desirable light.
Having a great stereo sounds fantastic, but I am sitting on my back deck listening to songs from a dodgy JBL mono wireless speaker.
I am very cautious not to become an aesthete about audio or visuals in case I discover I can’t enjoy lesser sources. Too late, unfortunately for wine and craft beer! Love a craft IPA a lot, but it came of the expense of liking a VB as much after work when somebody else is buying…
@mskeggs: Yeah, I actually think the hi-fi mags formed at the same time stereo became spec driven. Along with advertising, just a way to sell mediocre equipment for higher prices. The rise in mags correllates strongly with the decline of stereo sound [mid 80's ?] (and also the rise in home theater).
"I am very cautious not to become an aesthete about audio or visuals"
Life is too short for that, both on sound and beer ! :)
Saw a bloke give a talk on Gramophone tech last year. Was very interesting.
Would be extremely high fidelity, as it is a purely analog path - the recording captures everything in a wax grooved disc, then plays it all back.
The issue being the sensitivity needed to hear all the detail captured at anything above quiet room volumes, and the steel needles wear out very quickly, and the discs copied from the wax are still quite fragile, like an LP.
do either go up to 11?
.
The cheaper amp is probably fine at low volumes but will likely not go as loud or sound as good at higher volumes. NAD is a well known quality brand.
You could probably get a decent 2ch amp on Gumtree for not much more than the new cheap Amazon one.
Member @decryption who runs the Sizzle IT newsletter has been on a mission to up his audio and did a good blog post.
Includes links to the forums where they measure the stats of different audio gear:
https://blog.decryption.net.au/t/not-here-to-(profanity)-spiders-audio-edition/116
Look at the specs to start with.