This is what the founder of Harbeth Speakers, Alan Shaw says.
Don't you think this is a disrespectful comment to Nelson Pass and other amp designers who have spent years on this business/hobby?
How about others who measures ACA amps or similar and find them bad according to their measurements?
This is ridiculous IMO.
Don't you think this is a disrespectful comment to Nelson Pass and other amp designers who have spent years on this business/hobby?
How about others who measures ACA amps or similar and find them bad according to their measurements?
This is ridiculous IMO.
That's what a lot of speaker mfrs think, conveniently enough. No matter what amp you have,
you can buy their speaker and it will "sound good".
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If one adopts the notion that an amp is a perfectly linear “wire with gain” view of amplifiers, then yes, all amps would sound exactly the same.
It would be just as silly for an amp manufacturer to say all speakers sound the same.
We can of course, measure very audible differences between amps that correlate to good vs not good sounding. SNR, frequency response, noise floor, crosstalk, THD, distortion components harmonic profile, intermodulation distortion, etc.
And of course, not all low distortion amps are “good sounding”.
It would be just as silly for an amp manufacturer to say all speakers sound the same.
We can of course, measure very audible differences between amps that correlate to good vs not good sounding. SNR, frequency response, noise floor, crosstalk, THD, distortion components harmonic profile, intermodulation distortion, etc.
And of course, not all low distortion amps are “good sounding”.
I don't care who this guy is, just measuring something and saying I cannot recommend it because it does not measure well is to me very disrespectful. At least say, "It did not measure well, but hear it and decide".
Pass ACA Class A Power Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
Conclusions
As a starter hobby amplifier to get some sound coming out of a speaker, with relatively few components, the Pass ACA Class A Amp does the job. Build it, have fun with it and then put it aside and get a proper amplifier. Amplifiers need to have a lot more power. And much less distortion. We are not even close here folks.
Do I need to tell you that I can't recommend the Pass ACA for hi-fi listening? I hope not.
Pass ACA Class A Power Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
Conclusions
As a starter hobby amplifier to get some sound coming out of a speaker, with relatively few components, the Pass ACA Class A Amp does the job. Build it, have fun with it and then put it aside and get a proper amplifier. Amplifiers need to have a lot more power. And much less distortion. We are not even close here folks.
Do I need to tell you that I can't recommend the Pass ACA for hi-fi listening? I hope not.
Not at all, he says the only reason amps sound different is when they are played at different levels.
My takeaway from reading the article:
1. He explicitly said he was not saying all amps sound the same;
2. He asserted that the state of the art of amplification was much further than speaker design. Can’t argue with that.
3. He said in order to have meaningful audio testing, everything must be controlled, including volume. Agree with that too.
The writing is a bit like stream of consciousness, not that well organized, so probably causing confusion to the casual reader.
1. He explicitly said he was not saying all amps sound the same;
2. He asserted that the state of the art of amplification was much further than speaker design. Can’t argue with that.
3. He said in order to have meaningful audio testing, everything must be controlled, including volume. Agree with that too.
The writing is a bit like stream of consciousness, not that well organized, so probably causing confusion to the casual reader.
So in general, amplifier sq is much further ahead in terms of sq than speakers?
Okay, I just read the article. I don't see where you came to this conclusion. He said amp design reached it's echelon a generation ago(25yrs), and speakers have stagnated for "decades". Pretty well at par in terms of progress.
I would say he's got his crossovers wired wrong, though.
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You're rigjt, the measurement guy will burn in afterlife.. ..
This part of forum is full of cult like followers.
When this review came out (about the time I just completed my ACA), there was quite some tremor in the forum.
But this guy’s listening test (haha) he dared to publish was, well, ridiculous.
I hope Alan Shaw is not the guy behind Pass ACA Class A Power Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum ?