Amplifier sound

[voodooless]

BTW, @rwertz your little amp supports Dirac. This is advanced room correction software. Do you use it?

 

[RexrothPigeon]

Maybe what sounds right to one person, sounds a bit different to another? People have different hearing, not to mention different speakers and rooms which interact differently.

this may be true, but there's no way to know if what you prefer is actually the sound and not the sound+your biases, unless you're doing some kind of blind testing. turns out blind testing is onerous and inconvenient. so the best thing we have to avoid our biases is the measurements.

 

[Johnkeizer]

I am fortunate in having a friend with more money than he knows what to do with. So he buys a good few of the superb measuring and low priced gear.
I then get to try it in my system, only changing one item at a time.
The Topping Pre90 was good sounding, nice and clear, thought the extender idea a bit naff and the remote problematic.
Put my preamp back in and then tried his Topping monoblocks. Neither of us liked what it did to the sound compared to the Rotel 991.
Flat and a bit harsh. Yes, I know they measure great but that is what we heard, irrespective of the volume level.

 

[JSmith]

Put my preamp back in and then tried his Topping monoblocks.

One can't compare like this mate... echoic memory is 4s at best.

Echoic memory - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Maybe you're confused with pitch/tonal memory?


JSmith

 

[RexrothPigeon]

that is what we heard

and saw...(see my previous comment)

 

[Johnkeizer]

We just didn’t like the sound, irrespective of volume level.

 

[solderdude]

Only the looks of the Rotel 991 powerhouse will impress compared to relative puny Topping.... this can (and will) set your mind.
Gain could also differ which can skew 'results' when leaving the volume control of the pre in the same position.

The point is that the test was sighted and not level matched, blind and statistically relevant (who does that anyway ?)

It is a preference and if one is fine with that so be it. That is something different than truth-finding.
On the other hand it is fine to express a preference, regardless where it came from.

 

[delta76]

I am fortunate in having a friend with more money than he knows what to do with. So he buys a good few of the superb measuring and low priced gear.
I then get to try it in my system, only changing one item at a time.
The Topping Pre90 was good sounding, nice and clear, thought the extender idea a bit naff and the remote problematic.
Put my preamp back in and then tried his Topping monoblocks. Neither of us liked what it did to the sound compared to the Rotel 991.
Flat and a bit harsh. Yes, I know they measure great but that is what we heard, irrespective of the volume level.

Oh please, the "flat, soulless, boring" argument
Preamp should not sound like anything. What you heard is the vice versa, Rotel has distortion that you are used with. Once it is gone you hear your speakers and suddenly it is not good!
None of your equipment - dac, preamp, amp, should add colors to your signal. Their jobs are to transform and amplify it, as truthfully as possible. If you want to sound different, use equalizer which is free (in most cases), and adjust to your taste. Save your money for better speakers because they will make the actual difference

 

[JSmith]

It is a preference and if one is fine with that so be it.

Sure, but be realistic that it's more to do with the aesthetics of the device and expectation of it, rather than the actual signal coming out of it.


JSmith

 

[Johnkeizer]

Actually the preamp was good, sound wise. It was the power amps we didn’t like that much.
And who is to say which one was “ correct” in my room and my speakers, which are quite good, thank you.

 

[Johnkeizer]

By the way, I loved the look and feel of the little monoblocks, more than the black box of the Rotel.

 

[JSmith]

who is to say which one was “ correct”

The one that is more linear, less distortion and noise is more technically correct, thus close to the actual definition of Hi-Fi. I didn't think people wanted Lo-Fi?


JSmith

 

[Johnkeizer]

Hmmm, never heard of anyone referring to Rotel as Lo Fi before, but ok, live and let live.

 

[voodooless]

And who is to say which one was “ correct” in my room and my speakers

Your amp doesn't know about your room. And any proper amp doesn't drive speakers in a different way. If the output impedance is low enough, the frequency response of the speakers will be identical.

Your Rotel amp is pretty good. It has a lot of power and low enough distortion. I don't see a reason why it would sound different from the Topping as long as you don't drive the Topping into clipping.

 

[jools]

Thanks. I’m well-versed in the scientific method and am a medical scientist by profession. I get it. In retrospect, this was the wrong forum in which to ask the kind of question I had asked.

It's a very good forum to ask your question but it seems like it was the wrong forum to receive the answer that you wanted.

 

[JSmith]

Rotel 991... ok, let's get some data on the table, no more "he said, she said";

Rotel RB-991 power amplifier Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 3: Measurements The measurements of the Rotel RB-991 were made primarily in unbalanced mode, though selected readings were taken in balanced operation. Unless otherwise noted, the results discussed here refer to the unbalanced connection.

www.stereophile.com

Topping B200 Monoblock Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping B200 "monoblock" (single channel) audio amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $599. I don't think it is possible to make the unit more solid and high-quality feeling in this form factor. The amp is heavy for its size...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[Johnkeizer]

Really can’t be bothered arguing anymore, I have better things to do tonight.
Maybe listen to my hifi with that lofi Rotel.
Glass of good bourbon, unless they’re all the same as well.
No wonder hifi is dying.

 

[voodooless]

Rotel 991... ok, let's get some data on the table, no more "he said, she said";

Rotel RB-991 power amplifier Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 3: Measurements The measurements of the Rotel RB-991 were made primarily in unbalanced mode, though selected readings were taken in balanced operation. Unless otherwise noted, the results discussed here refer to the unbalanced connection.

www.stereophile.com

Topping B200 Monoblock Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping B200 "monoblock" (single channel) audio amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $599. I don't think it is possible to make the unit more solid and high-quality feeling in this form factor. The amp is heavy for its size...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

1kW vs 80W at 2R. The power difference is obvious. If you have speakers that go there, this might be an issue when turning up the gain.

 

[Redacted]

This is getting heated! FWIW, in my limited experience, matching speakers to rooms and positioning them in the room makes the biggest sound difference, and I put effort into this, but I have also come across one or two apparently fine-measuring or highly-regarded amps that didn't play well with certain speakers. All subjective impressions when 'trying each other's gear' with friends though, and I can't recall the exact kit - but like with cars, you tend to turn up the volume when trying kit! Maybe this is all a thing of the past with amps, but some didn't always respond well (usually at volume!) to some loads, maybe where 'scalar' impedance (R) can dip a bit low or the speaker's reactance causes odd effects. It did happen. These days I'm using Hypex on my main system and have no complains, no matter the volume, so for me, amps (and DACs) are a solved problem - good enough is good enough. We could do with some paradigm/tech shifts in speakers though, but it's hard to imagine what, as in the end, some kind of device has to wobble air!

 

[solderdude]

Sure, but be realistic that it's more to do with the aesthetics of the device and expectation of it, rather than the actual signal coming out of it.


JSmith

Sure, but being realistic other than some ASR members the vast majority of people will buy based on preference and or subjective reviews/marketing fluff telling them it is great.