Amp for focal clear

[seedragon]

But how do people find this inaccurate amp which does change the sound how they would like? (well, other than by demoing them) By and large, testimonials of how amps sound are unreliable due to perceptual biases. So you can't really rely on subjective reviews.

Certainly, there are a very small number of individuals who might look at measurements of distortion characteristics for an amp and guess how it could sound different. But the vast majority of people searching for amps to change their headphone's sound can't do this.

Making audio buying decisions is a lot like shopping for any large/important investment, such as a car: you use subjective reviews to help you narrow down your options, but then you have to test drive before you buy. There's no way to buy a car blind and be sure that you got the best bang for your buck because no reviewer shares your preferences. You can certainly buy on faith and be happy, but it's a gamble. Amps (and any audio gear) are no different. The only way to know if an amp is for you is to empirically test it for yourself. Then, after you've owned it for a while and you start to feel like there must be more, you start the process all over again. That's really what this hobby (or any hobby) is all about, after all!

My advice, narrow your choices down to 2-3, buy them all if you can afford to, A/B them, keep one, return the rest. It'll cost you shipping, maybe. The time is worth it if you enjoy this sort of thing. Otherwise, you just have to buy and be happy with your choice on faith. And there's nothing wrong with that!

 

[Helicopter]

I would totally buy a car without driving it, especially if it was new. When I got my current car, a new at the time Prius, I knew exactly what I wanted in advance and the entire purchase process seemed like a giant inconvenient waste of everyone's time and resources. It came with a service package that furthered the inconvenience for me. I really prefer the service part of the mix on something like a car to be as small and inexpensive as possible.

 

[raistlin65]

Making audio buying decisions is a lot like shopping for any large/important investment, such as a car: you use subjective reviews to help you narrow down your options, but then you have to test drive before you buy. There's no way to buy a car blind and be sure that you got the best bang for your buck because no reviewer shares your preferences. You can certainly buy on faith and be happy, but it's a gamble. Amps (and any audio gear) are no different. The only way to know if an amp is for you is to empirically test it for yourself. Then, after you've owned it for a while and you start to feel like there must be more, you start the process all over again. That's really what this hobby (or any hobby) is all about, after all!

My advice, narrow your choices down to 2-3, buy them all if you can afford to, A/B them, keep one, return the rest. It'll cost you shipping, maybe. The time is worth it if you enjoy this sort of thing. Otherwise, you just have to buy and be happy with your choice on faith. And there's nothing wrong with that!

Yeah, but that still doesn't address how to make that decision of narrowing it down to two or three in light of what I said.

Given how often subjective reviews assign tonal signatures of warmth, cold, bright, etc. to amps and dacs which should be neutral, given that they measure very accurate, how can the subjective reviews of non-accurate amps and DACs be reliable?

 

[seedragon]

Yeah, but that still doesn't address how to make that decision of narrowing it down to two or three in light of what I said.

Given how often subjective reviews assign tonal signatures of warmth, cold, bright, etc. to amps and dacs which should be neutral, given that they measure very accurate, how can the subjective reviews of non-accurate amps and DACs be reliable?

Subjective reviews aren't reliable, but that's not their purpose. Their purpose is to help you decrease the probability that you will buy something you don't like. Measurements are reliable (assuming they are done correctly), but a piece of gear that measures neutrally may not even sound "neutral" to you if you have a particular sensitivity to a certain frequency range or significant hearing damage, not to mention when it encounters the non-linearities of your tranducers themselves. The Topping DX3 Pro measured extremely well by ASR standards (which is why I bought it), but I didn't like how my Clears sound when powered by it. Should I keep using it because it measures well? Sorry, but no.

Ultimately, you use measurements and subjective reviews as guides, then listen for yourself. If you don't trust subjective reviews enough to use as guides, then you'll either have to buy based on measurements alone (a valid way to do it), listen to all of the available amps yourself (a valid but resource-intensive way to do it), or randomly pick one and hope for the best (valid for people who like surprises).