MasterApex
Active Member
- Joined
- May 3, 2021
- Messages
- 167
- Likes
- 84
I am new in this journey of acquiring more amplifiers and speakers. I usually shop based on just measurement. Recently I have been listening more to different equipment and notice that there are several "audible" sonic quality that does not yet have measurement metric to explain.Yes I think that is the case... My previous TX-SR876 sounded good with my speakers - my current DRX 3.4 does not sound as good (running on its internal amps) - even though there is no obvious apparent strain, and the volume was well below reference (circa 75db spl at listening seat).
Switching front L&R to either the Quad 606 or the Crown XLS amps, resolved the issue immediately ... And the Crowns are the best sounding option.
I don't think this is at all related to "low resolution speakers" - there are high resolution speakers that are much easier to drive... eg: Quad ESL63 electrostatics.... where with the Gallo's there was a clear differentiation Crown XLS>Quad 606>Onkyo 876 - with the Quad ESL, without doubt one of the highest resolution speakers around, the 3 sounded the same.
If your amp is required somewhere in the frequency range, to drive a low impedance load below what it does comfortably, the resulting changes in distortion become subtly audible... even though it is theoreticaly "idling".
The Quad 606 is "unconditionally stable into any load" to use Quad's own words... where the Onkyo 876 is specified only for speakers of 4 ohm and above... but the Quad design is still much more current constrained than the Crown - Here is where I make the intuitive leap ... that the ability to supply massive amounts of current on demand, without impacting other performance aspects, becomes critical with any speaker having a low impedance (and I am not talking about the nominal impedance for the entire frequency range, but rather, the lowest impedance a speaker reaches at any individual point in its frequency range.
IMO - for many such speakers (Gallo, B&W, Revel) - people underestimate how much current , (possibly instantaneous current) speakers with low impedances require...
For example the sound quality of 100Hz 80dB SPL produced by 12" woofer vs Planar will be audibly different even though the measurement is the same 80dB SPL.
I have observed that the improved materials (e.g. diamond tweeter) or improved driver design does have improved the sound quality in term of more real-life like cymbals, bells, etc or more natural voice, etc. Therefore I called them more resolving.
In reading measurement I did not come to conclusion that the amps will sound different but your explanation helps me....thanks.