I think you might want to review a bit more of ASR and the information available on what humans actually can hear, and what sighted listening does to our ability to discriminate.
Suffice to say most amps sound the same. Bryston are even more indistinguishable than most.
See page 78 for a classic test of how properly working amps are indistinguishable.
https://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-HiFI-Stereo/80s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1987-01.pdf
Bryston amps work properly unless broken.
I just know what I hear. Alan Goodwin of Goowinins Highend in Waltham once offered me !/2 the store if I just set up and tuned systems the way I do. In order to do what I like to do, you have to know how the small differences add up to larger differences,. If most amps sounded the same, then I would be happy with a ****** Sony amp or some crap modern day Marantz home theater chip amp.. Sadly IMHO many manufacturers have lost some of the special edge and accuracy that once made them famous instead trading for more power and frankly pushing Specs that have little to no influence on the sound and enjoyment of music.
For me , it's pretty simple. Listen to an amazing guitar, then listen to a lesser quality guitar of the same manufacturer. Or , if you have ever had the royal PITA "opportunity" to go and listen to a bunch of the same model of piano , having them tuned carefully before deciding which on to buy (I had to do this for people and I hate doing it) well...there is a difference. Even between the same piano from the same manufacturer.
I have heard some amplifiers make the instruments sound more like what the instrument producer was on track to doing. For instance when a speaker or amplifier makes it seem like you inched up the line a bit in terms of instrument quality. Not Like I want an Upright to sound like a Steinway Grand.... but I want that Steinway Grand to sound like one of the better Steinway Grands I selected...because you bet those accomplished musicians,,, they want those instruments in their recordings.
Thats how I personally gauge a REALLY GOOD amplifier is one that is "truer" to the instruments through the recordings which I deem as conveying more of what the artist, and maker of the instruments intended to give us a feeling of fulfillment of the promise of music and how it transcends us.
And I am NOT a huge music lover... I'm really not- yes I can really get into some songs that defiantly change my mood - most of the time I just used my music system to get attractive women to stay up listening until they fell asleep in my arms in college.
I require a great PROPERLY SET UP system to really get into it.
And then I really get into it. But ti sucks because when I go to an Audio show or to a persons house... I have to a djsut their system first.. And sure they love that...but I wish I could just walk into a room, car, lounge , and know I will like the SQ of the systems. Which is why I suppose I'm trying to design systems for EVs- so at least I could have a decent car system. Someday I'd love to set up audiophile lounges all over the world... and oddly... it might be the car audio world that will allow for this. Because what good is an audiophile lounge where the only great seats are the middle ones? Well there is a new up mixer that isn't just about steering sounds to discrete channels , but it is about creating additional phantom channels like out phantom center- to stabilize the image over a wider area.
I wish I had some huge breadth of musical knowledge... I don't . I just know when it sounds right. I get part of my enjoyment from setting up systems that amaze people and enrapture them, capturing all of their listening ability. I want them to listen, not to just hear. It's like a guy who can pair great wines and meals for his friends, but doesn't know why he has this weird ability.
But comments like the one above are fine for the guy who doesn't have the ability to do what I do. I can see where he is coming from. He probably couldn't design a top level audiophile speaker either. And likely his system isn't optimized for tuning well enough to even hear the differences between a similar line of amplifier... but hey... the manufacturers try to and sometimes do.
Its just that sometimes, the founder either loses interest, loses some of his hearing, or appoints someone else to to the job he was really great at , but the new person just deosn';t have the ear to understand where to take the brand to the future.
Part of the problem with the audio science review.. is that if you can't measure it, you assume it doesn't exist... well how far would physics have gone without a hunch that there was something there that we could not see?
To many of the people on these forums and others.... but Particularly on this forum...I would wager that very few systems are actually properly set up . I look for example on Youtube...and see these acoustic nightmare rooms ..which couldn't even be addressed with great DSP - and I think...who is this Shepard leading people into a brick wall.
Next time I'm at an audio show, give me a decent room with high quality gear. Give me about 40 minutes , and I will transform that room. Give me more time and I will transform it further.
Then you can flame me once you hear the before and after.
If all the science here doesn't produce great sound... you may as well just buy a bunch of HT receivers set them up in an equilateral triangle and call it day but there are differences between gear , amplifiers ( and yes we all know about that amplifier challenge... but I'll bet its not in an accurate great room, not with really resolving music, and not with great speakers and the speakers are not optimally positioned to propeller couple with the room. For instance set me up with some PSB Alpha loudspeakers, not set up well in an echoing room and I couldn't tell the difference between amplifiers. Its like asking someone to tell wines of difference vintages but burning his tongue and adding mud to each wine.
