Is it normal to have multiple amps in this hobby?

[mhardy6647]

The Venn diagram of normal and this hobby doesn't show much of an intersection.

 

[tmtomh]

I think every hobby - either by tendency or by definition - tends to be about more than just the practical, efficient, economical hobby activity itself. It's also about collecting, experimenting, and so on - in other words, it's about play, which is a very important and underrated activity that should not be limited to childhood.

Personally I'm very much not one of those folks who collects audio gear. To the extent I have gone through gear and accumulated some extra stuff over the years it's because of necessary replacement or upgrades, because I've made what turned out to be mistakes in choosing new gear, because my needs and use-cases have changed, or because I've been given or inherited stuff. My goal is always to have a system with the fewest possible components to play the media I enjoy (digital files and CDs), and to (at least eventually) sell anything I don't feel I will be using in my setup.

But there are lots of folks in this hobby who do love to collect gear - to regularly swap it in and out of their systems, to have multiple full systems, to work on it, to display it, and to look at it. We can critique that as excessive, wasteful, or an inefficient use of resources, but in the end there's really nothing wrong with it (as long as it doesn't become truly pathological hoarding that negatively impacts a person's life). I think live and let live is a good guide when it comes to a hobby.

 

[tc2007]

I am new to this hobby. I find myself beginning to collect amps (2 channel music). I own the Yamaha r-n2000a, as-3200, and now I am thinking about buying a Luxman. Is it normal for someone in this hobby to have multiple amps? I guess I eventually will sell 1, but I feel like I need months to compare to come to my conclusions.

Not normal. Please consult a therapist

 

[EJ3]

Not normal. Please consult a therapist

I have the opposite take: it is not normal to not end up with extra amps & other cool stuff.

 

[Nybto]

Yes, multiple faulty amps, and one that still works..

 

[grogi.giant]

It's common, but not normal.

That's internally contradictory...

You might have something that is not common, but normal. Like left-handness. But you cannot have something common, but not normal.

If something is common, it is normal by definition.

 

[tmtomh]

That's internally contradictory...

You might have something that is not common, but normal. Like left-handness. But you cannot have something common, but not normal.

If something is common, it is normal by definition.

Not necessarily. There are many human moral and behavioral norms that we act as though we adhere to, but most of us don't. Also, if you have a population of, say, 10,000 folks in the hobby and 2,000 of them have multiple amps, it's hard to say it's not common, but it's easy to say it's not the norm.

Even putting that aside, I think it's clear that the post you're responding to was combining an observation with a judgment - empirically it's common for audiophiles/audio enthusiasts to have multiple amps, but when you step back and think about the wisdom, utility, or necessity of having a bunch of amps, it seems kind of strange, aka not "normal."

 

[Bridges]

It's normal but not super useful. It's rare for there to be any audible difference between amps as long as they're not running out of power.

If you want to collect something that has real differences, speakers and headphones make the most sense. It's not hard to see why collecting IEMs is popular - they actually all sound different and they don't take up much space.

Speakers are too heavy and take up too much space, but yes they are all diferent where as all good power amps sound similar; what is hard to understand are the much aclaimed 25 watt amps that cost a fortune; however good they may be, they are still 25 watts and go to distortion if you listen above 65db average.

 

[kemmler3D]

what is hard to understand are the much aclaimed 25 watt amps that cost a fortune; however good they may be, they are still 25 watts and go to distortion if you listen above 65db average.

They look cool and people actually generally like certain kinds of distortion, so in that sense they also sound better than clean amps.

On the other hand, they mostly fail at the purpose of an amp, so I personally would never waste my money on them.

 

[Joe Smith]

Yes.

 

[EJ3]

I am new to this hobby. I find myself beginning to collect amps (2 channel music). I own the Yamaha r-n2000a, as-3200, and now I am thinking about buying a Luxman. Is it normal for someone in this hobby to have multiple amps? I guess I eventually will sell 1, but I feel like I need months to compare to come to my conclusions.

I have 2 APT/Holman Pre-Amps (resto-modded by Peter Williams @ QuirkAudio, which I sometimes run quad), in conjunction with a few of my 6 NAD 2200's (Resto-modded Sextuplets by Peter Williams @ QuirkAudio) & 2 NAD 2100's (resto-modded by Peter Williams @ QurkAudio).

I can vary configurations (sometimes running the NAD's as 4 Ohm mono-blocks on a pair of subs).
Should I want to, I can run several systems in various parts of my home, or blasting out toward the dock in my backyard.
I have 8 speakers: 4 of 1 model (2 of which have had the crossovers done with modern caps of the same spec but with much tighter tolerances [by Peter Williams @ QuirkAudio]), 2 of another model & 2 more of a third model (not including a pair of non-powered custom subs).
My NAD 2200 amp have's 95 SINAD through their LAB inputs (1 was tested by Amirm on this site), as was one of my APT/Holman's.

I have some other gear making up a couple of bedroom systems.

But it has taken about 40 years to acquire this many amps, pre-amps, tuners, DACs Reel to Reel's, cassette decks, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray & 4K, Bluetooth devices, cameras & other assorted gear.

Have a fun journey!

 

[Chrispy]

I am new to this hobby. I find myself beginning to collect amps (2 channel music). I own the Yamaha r-n2000a, as-3200, and now I am thinking about buying a Luxman. Is it normal for someone in this hobby to have multiple amps? I guess I eventually will sell 1, but I feel like I need months to compare to come to my conclusions.

Curious, what did you end up doing?

 

[Steven Holt]

Man, you ought to see my basement....

 

[mhardy6647]

Man, you ought to see my basement....

Y'all may or may not have noticed -- but I never show photos of my basement.
not a pretty sight

 

[Mart68]

I think I have eleven amplifiers right now but it has been more than that in the past.

No, it's not normal.

 

[fpitas]

I'll confess I have an ancient Technics SU-7300 sitting behind me, from my misspent youth, as well as a spare QSC RMX-850. No idea what I'll do with either. I feel a lot better after having read this thread, though.

 

[dtomsen]

Yes...and multiple set of speakers. Next question

 

[mhardy6647]

I'll confess I have an ancient Technics SU-7300 sitting behind me

I was long fascinated with them back when I was young, and poor, and amp-shopping (mostly window-shopping, for about 2 years).

source: https://www.hifiengine.com/hfe_downloads/index.php?technics/technics_hifi_1978_en.pdf

Feel free to use me as a bad example.

 

[fpitas]

I was long fascinated with them back when I was young, and poor, and amp-shopping (mostly window-shopping, for about 2 years).

Feel free to use me as a bad example.

No complaints about it, it sounded fine, and to my knowledge it still works. But only 40W, so it runs out of juice very easily.

 

[Andysu]

for THX cinema class d amplification