Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterMusic
With all due respect--I would not go with "any dedicated amplifier with ample current reserves". Electronics will make a huge qualitative difference in the sound, independent of the power rating. The character of my B&Ws changes dramatically with Mc tubes, Mc SS, Luxman, Marantz, NAD. Listen to several great amps with sufficient power, then pick your favorite
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Ample current reserves is kind way to say expensive. 200 watts RMS per channel is a useless specification for example. On the other hand power reserves dynamic headroom etc are the true measures of "current reserves". Quality amps are in general not only heavy but expensive too since all that reserve current takes large capacitors and transformers. Amps can have particular sigantures which may or not be appreciated by anyone in particular. However the best signature is none at all. The so called openess amp heads so much talk about is the capacity to provide ten times a nominal output of 100watts, for example, to 1000 while still staying within much less less than 1% distortion. Few to none maintream "hifi gear" can provide that type of power aka current". Of course it depends on the speakers but thereare few very good quality speakers with efficiencies of significantly more than 90db or so. If you want to listen at realistic live performance levels of over 90dbs plus you need a ton of power. My 200 watt mac 6700 could not drive my 803D3s without cranking it to clipping levels to do it, so I had to jump to the MC462. An amp that can provide 3 times the peak power than the receiver can provide 1800 vs 600 watts. That type of headroom is why big high current amp seem to breath regardless of brand, the capacity to accurately portray live music in all its splendor.