Editor's Eye

This is just a great article!! I could read stuff like this all day long. Very cool!

Whenever I read about power amplifiers (or write about them), I can't help but think of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor's grunting (hur, hur hur) when describing the specs :)

I am curious though, there is a huge price difference between the Krells, Macs and Brystons of the world when compared to something like a Emotiva power amp.

I have had the opportunity to hear Bryston and Parasound amps for extended periods and some exposure to Macs and Krells, and I'm just not hearing any appreciable "improvement" in SQ over any of the Emotiva amps and I'm mostly talking about their XPA-1 mono blocs.

The specifications of all these power amps are all so similar if not identical (at least audibly) so what is the reason that the "boutique" amps are better?

What is the benchmark or litmus test? I'd love to know because I can't seem to find any "improvement" from the $995.00 Emotiva to the $4500.00 Parsound or the $8000.00 Bryston.

The biggest difference is Bryston and Parasound are N.American made in small quantities and sold through dealers that typically make 40%-50% mark-up. Knowing electronics pretty well, when I look inside a power amp I try to find how it can cost $20,000.00 in some cases. It can't...

Emotiva is designed in the US and made in China, and sold direct to the end user via the internet. Thats a huge savings. Some say the Emotiva XPA-1 if sold through the traditional path to the market would sell for $3500.00-$4000.00

Where am I going wrong?

Mercedesman, You may not be wrong. In regards to the Emotiva mono blocks I've heard nothing but good things from people I trust on the matter. They measure very well and have solid specs. I have personally not heard them so I can't comment on the quality, but again based on conversations I've had with people I trust wholeheartedly on these things, they are a steal. In the case of my JC-1s, they sound amazing and their performance continues to impress me with everything I throw at them to this day. The fact that they were designed from the ground up by John and his team gives me all the confidence I need to know that every detail was covered in the design and building of these amps. Who knows, if I had the chance to sample the Emo's before I got the JC1s I may not have purchased them. But I don't regret my decision with the Parasounds at all. Happy hunting!

Thanks for the interesting comments here, guys. Let me throw in my own two cents. First, whether you believe me or not, amplifiers sound different. Take two different amps rated at the same per-channel power capabilities (measured all channels driven, please), put them on a REVEALING speaker with other electronics in the chain staying exactly the same, and a trained audiophile ear will hear differences. They may be spatial differences evident in soundstage or the precision of imaging within that soundstage, they may be differences in dynamics and how the speaker maintains control or otherwise interacts with the speaker elements, but you'll hear differences that the specs tell you should not be evident. I learned this early in my career at The Absolute Sound magazine, where at any given moment we had state of the art speakers in our reference systems that revealed differences in virtually every tiny change we made in the system. Even the differences in interconnect and speaker cables on high end systems like that are immediately evident, though I believe many enthusiasts who operate in the realm of normal purchasing power are not likely to hear differences when upgrading to uber-expensive high end cables. (That's an issue for a separate blog). We listened almost exclusively on vinyl in those days, and we could tell when the humidity level rose because you could hear how it affected the stylus damping in the phono cartridges. The point here: If you've got really decent gear surrounding it, you'll hear what makes a great amp great.

Second, Mercedesman is not wrong in believing that the high end amps mentioned above are all sold with healthy margins attached that dramatically drive up their cost beyond the cost of build. This is the way of the high end -- manufacs accept they won't sell a lot of them so the idea is to get as much as you can for the units you do sell. If a publication reviews it well, that adds to the mystique and allows it to capture its high price among the few who have to have it. I'm not suggesting that there is no value in these amps or that they are a rip off, or that they do not, in fact, deliver a noticeably more stellar audio experience than what else is out there that might be rated similarly. A John Curl amp is a John Curl amp, and a Dan D'Agostino amp is a Dan D'Agostino amp. Our colleague Steve Guttenberg, who writes our Vintage Gear blog for us and does the Audiophiliac blog for CNET, just told me he recently purchased a used Krell amp designed in Dan's early days with the company. Steve knew the amp because he'd sold that very unit back when he was a high end audio salesman, and he bought it back from the same customer many years later. It just sounds amazing in his system. Whatever these guys know about designing amps, it's golden, and it's not just about hitting a spec. As a company, you can't fully reproduce that magic in your products without a truly gifted designer behind you.

That brings us to Emotiva. I mentioned them and Outlaw specifically because they inhabit a unique space in audio commerce -- that of an Internet-only operation focused on trying to deliver high-end value and sonics at prices that are higher than the mass market stuff but quite reasonable if not downright cheap next to what the McIntosh's, Bryston's and Parasounds of the word might charge (not to mention the exclusive, uber-high end brands out there). I recently visited Emotiva's headquarters in Nashville and saw the new reference amps, both inside and out, and I was very impressed with the build quality. They are true audiophile products. From what I learned about Emotiva's design approach, I feel confident saying that, if we got to bench them, they'd meet if not exceed their specs and look flat as a pancake in their response characteristics. What I can't tell you about, though, without listening on a great reference system or giving them to a reviewer on our staff who does, is their "magic" factor. That's the more subjective part of the experience that makes a Krell a Krell or a Curl a Curl. We'll find out when we get a chance to test these.

Rob,
Long time subscriber of HT Mag and I enjoy receiving it every month. I had an opportunity several years ago to participate in double blind listening tests of amplifiers. The results where surprising to say the least but to net it out there was not a single participant that could reliably pick out the "high end" designs over more moderately priced but well designed offerings.

I do not disagree with you when you say that you heard differences. Where I differ is in how the changes were made and if they were quantifiable and reproducible via an scientific testing method. If not perception and bias plays far too major a role in what we think we hear.

I would love to see HT Mag conduct a double blind listening test of amplifiers for publication in an upcoming issue. How amplifiers sound seems to be one of the most hotly debated issues in audio circles. Really looking forward to an HT Mag ultimate amp shootout!

JD

Good luck with the ABX blind testing request. You will NEVER ever get a response to that. Have you seen ANY? EVER?

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