I think I understand that all responsibly designed and tested amplifiers capable of 50+ wpc output should sound identical. There just is not a lot that remains to be innovated as far as specifications go, it would seem. Given that knowledge, what should we be looking at for the State-Of-The-Art amplifier in 2018? I'm not talking audiophool nervosa stuff, like polished copper heatsinks and weight measured in tons, but how about power efficiency after having met the standard suite of measurement criteria? For that matter, does it make any difference at all if amplifiers exceed certain minimum values? What are those values?
I keep swinging by Stereophile and seeing the "absolutely undeniable" sonic improvements offered by round after round of amplifier. My poor old 25+ year old amp should be positively destroyed by the new stuff they keep talking about in such glowing terms. Given the march of progress they claim to hear, my system should just sound like hammered shit, comparatively, but you know what? It does not. And, as far as I can tell, the measurements of my gear still very often exceed those of the kilobuck gear they are reviewing. So, where does that leave us?
What makes a 2018 amplifier great (in comparison) to one from 3 decades ago?
I keep swinging by Stereophile and seeing the "absolutely undeniable" sonic improvements offered by round after round of amplifier. My poor old 25+ year old amp should be positively destroyed by the new stuff they keep talking about in such glowing terms. Given the march of progress they claim to hear, my system should just sound like hammered shit, comparatively, but you know what? It does not. And, as far as I can tell, the measurements of my gear still very often exceed those of the kilobuck gear they are reviewing. So, where does that leave us?
What makes a 2018 amplifier great (in comparison) to one from 3 decades ago?