What amplifier for reference?

[lumanauw]

and it's very unlikely that there will ever be a referencedesign that "sounds good" to
everyone...

OK, how about an amp that "sounds good" to every kind of music? I certainly wouldn't put tube amp for disco music.

 

[MikeB]

Hmm, that sounds like a superhybridamp, maybe using tubes
for the VAS, and siliconstuff for the output ? All ClassA of course...

That could be a real challenge, an amp suitable for any kind of music !

 

[millwood]

As amplifiers get more and more 'perfect', I would expect them to sound more and more alike.
Cheers
IH

absolutely true. You just cannot have two perfect amps that sound different,

that's logically impossible.

 

[paulb]

absolutely true. You just cannot have two perfect amps that sound different,

that's logically impossible.

I'd have stopped your sentence a few words earlier.
"You just cannot have two perfect amps." Or even one.

 

[markp]

The perfect amp exists! In my dreams.

Everything that makes up an amp contributes to it sound or lack thereof. Distortion spectra and the ability to drive a complicated load are the two areas that tend to set amps apart for me. Odd vs even order harmonics are very distinct(tube vs ss). If an amp runs out of guts into a funky load before it should also make the sound characteristic of the amp.
The most drastic change in the sound of an amp came when is replaced all the carbon resistors with mf ones. Detail went up and noise down. Caps are much less noticable.