Can you really hear the difference between amps?

[spark plugs. 10+ year member]

Is it really possible to hear the difference between different amplifiers?

a friend of mine has a us amps xt-1600.4 which is supposedly 125x4 (more like 100x4 at most) and i have an arc 4150-xxk which is about 80x4. he tells me that there is no audible difference because 80 watts is 80 watts and because his amp is capable of more power, it should be able to play easier at 80 watts.

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

In a word?

Yes.

Can you hear a difference between those specific amps at the same power level?

Not likely.

 

[2Tone 10+ year member]

this is a perfect example.. in my everyday driver i use a alpine mrv-f307 4 channel... i think its like 30 or 40 watts x 4 at 4 ohms, now i pulled it out to test a phoenix gold m44 i just bought thats 55 x 4 at 4 ohms... the alpine was at half gain and the m44 was at NO gain... the speakers sounded like they didnt want anymore... the lower watt alpine sounded fantastic and wasnt overkill at all... the phoenix sounded raspy and almost changed the sound of the music... the higher wattage amp was just thrown in to test, but it sure didnt have that detailed sound and didnt hit any sweet spots....

 

[spark plugs. 10+ year member]

this is a perfect example.. in my everyday driver i use a alpine mrv-f307 4 channel... i think its like 30 or 40 watts x 4 at 4 ohms, now i pulled it out to test a phoenix gold m44 i just bought thats 55 x 4 at 4 ohms... the alpine was at half gain and the m44 was at NO gain... the speakers sounded like they didnt want anymore... the lower watt alpine sounded fantastic and wasnt overkill at all... the phoenix sounded raspy and almost changed the sound of the music... the higher wattage amp was just thrown in to test, but it sure didnt have that detailed sound and didnt hit any sweet spots....

interesting.

 

[spark plugs. 10+ year member]

In a word?
Yes.

Can you hear a difference between those specific amps at the same power level?

Not likely.

so the price difference between the two (which is significant) really aren't justified?

 

[shortyg83 10+ year member]

What is the price difference because US amps normally does rated power. so you looking at 45 watts more per channel.

 

[cblaze 10+ year member]

ive always been told the install is more important than the amp.i say a decent amp.but good speakers/subs

 

[2critical 10+ year member]

The only thing I can say is in the early 90's I had a shop (yes a real one) and a car I competed with. My amps were the series VII HiFonics (2) Zeus and one Olympus (4x110) I sold HiFonics in the store but wanted "newer" more affordable line in the car to maybe boost sales. I went with two Earthquake 2300's to replace the Zeus'(same rated power) and a 4100 (4x100). The earthquake line was pretty good then, and it sounded totally different. Never did get it as good as it was. Put the "old" HiFonics back in, ahhhhh that's better! Same install by the way.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

so the price difference between the two (which is significant) really aren't justified?

If I had a choice, would I get the USAmps?

No...but that's for different reasons than audibility //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[spark plugs. 10+ year member]

If I had a choice, would I get the USAmps?
No...but that's for different reasons than audibility //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

do explain, kind sir.

 

[Troydb 10+ year member]

Is it really possible to hear the difference between different amplifiers?
a friend of mine has a us amps xt-1600.4 which is supposedly 125x4 (more like 100x4 at most) and i have an arc 4150-xxk which is about 80x4. he tells me that there is no audible difference because 80 watts is 80 watts and because his amp is capable of more power, it should be able to play easier at 80 watts.

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for you and your friend to get together and swap your amps out to see if you hear a difference. I'd love to know the outcome.

 

[cblaze 10+ year member]

amps make a difference imo,andi know ppl that stick with that too

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

the only possible way to have a significant audible difference is a significant difference in power.

everything else is subjective.

 

[its_bacon12 10+ year member]

the only possible way to have a significant audible difference is a significant difference in power.
everything else is subjective.

damping factor is subjective? thd is subjective? slew factor is subjective? protection circuitry in the signal path is subjective?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

damping factor is subjective? thd is subjective? slew factor is subjective?

Damping factor and slew rate aren't subjective.

And they aren't really important either (in the amplifier's we are talking about in the realm of car audio).

99.9% of [solid state] amplifiers on the market are going to have adequate enough damping and slew rate as to not audibly affect the sound over the bandwidth the amplifier was designed to operate in.

If they DID by chance affect the sound, the result would be a measurable difference in frequency response.

protection circuitry in the signal path is subjective?

The only way that is going to affect the "sound" of an amplifier is if it audibly (and hence, measurably) affects the frequency response, noise or distortion.

No one or test has yet to demonstrate that something other than the measurements of frequency response, distortion, noise, gain and power output affect the "sound" of an amplifier. These measurements completely characterize the "sound" of an amplifier. If those measurements are within inaudible tolerances, there will not be a difference in sound between two amplifiers.