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<blockquote data-quote="helotaxi" data-source="post: 2064069" data-attributes="member: 550915">Grossly simplified, what squeak is getting at is that if the measured differences betwen two amps fall within a certain range, the sound coming from them will be audibly indistiguishable.&nbsp; Basically, there is no magic, mythical property inherent in a highly expensive amp that makes it sound good.&nbsp; As long as these specs fall within tolerances at the power level required to produce the desired output, you&#039;re good to go.The problem with the really cheap amps is that they don&#039;t fall within tolerances at moderate volume levels much less at high volume.&nbsp; The distortion, typically, will be excessively high with the amp running well shy of clipping.&nbsp; The quality of the components and the lack of quality control is usually to blame.&nbsp; They may be acceptable at really low power levels but quickly fall short of acceptability as the volume is increased.Quality amps will keep distortion well within acceptble limits, usually less than 1%, right up to clipping.&nbsp; I&#039;m not talking about the super high end amps, but rather basic reliable amps such as the vast majority of mainstream amps.&nbsp; IMO the only thing you really gain by going with a really high end amp is a certain margin of overbuild.&nbsp; It might run a bit cooler because of a larger heatsink or is less likely to blow because of an overspeced power supply or output devices capable of flowing way more current than they need to.&nbsp; The tolerance of the components used to build the amp are usually tighter and the amp is more of a known quantity vice a midlevel amp that will usually produce something more than rated power ut how much is unknown and varies from sample to sample.Your decision if that is worth the order of magnitude increase in price.&nbsp; It isn&#039;t to me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="helotaxi, post: 2064069, member: 550915"] Grossly simplified, what squeak is getting at is that if the measured differences betwen two amps fall within a certain range, the sound coming from them will be audibly indistiguishable. Basically, there is no magic, mythical property inherent in a highly expensive amp that makes it sound good. As long as these specs fall within tolerances at the power level required to produce the desired output, you're good to go. The problem with the really cheap amps is that they don't fall within tolerances at moderate volume levels much less at high volume. The distortion, typically, will be excessively high with the amp running well shy of clipping. The quality of the components and the lack of quality control is usually to blame. They may be acceptable at really low power levels but quickly fall short of acceptability as the volume is increased. Quality amps will keep distortion well within acceptble limits, usually less than 1%, right up to clipping. I'm not talking about the super high end amps, but rather basic reliable amps such as the vast majority of mainstream amps. IMO the only thing you really gain by going with a really high end amp is a certain margin of overbuild. It might run a bit cooler because of a larger heatsink or is less likely to blow because of an overspeced power supply or output devices capable of flowing way more current than they need to. The tolerance of the components used to build the amp are usually tighter and the amp is more of a known quantity vice a midlevel amp that will usually produce something more than rated power ut how much is unknown and varies from sample to sample. Your decision if that is worth the order of magnitude increase in price. It isn't to me. [/QUOTE]

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