Difference in SQ among these amps?

[OLD_SCHOOL 10+ year member]

amps can give durabilty, stabilty, flexabilty, and power, not all xovers are the same when it comes to amps, thats one thing. first thing you would have to do is find a jenson that is truly a 200 watt amp and compare it to say a orion 200 watt i will take the orion thank you for the reasons listed above, not because it offers better SQ. save on amps spend on speakers

 

[Depression 10+ year member]

YEA...I agree with that one post..If we accept that all amps are the same then it takes away from the pleasure of thinking we have the "BEST" amps. BUT..I do remember seeing that although the theory is that they all sound the same..It was agreed that all amps sre NOT made the same or as efficient..so there actuall is some credence to buying "good" amps..just not for thinking it's gonna give you so much better SQ

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Believe me.......first off amps dont produce sound, their job is to amplify a signal and not let in noise or distortion in the process- most amps produce a level of 'coloration' (which is basically distortion) which is what people claim to be a different sound from using diff amps

As far as higher end amps go- they have higher damping factors and can control the reactive nature of speakers better , keeping them from producing distortion into the sound-

higher damping also is key to keeping the amp from loosing speaker control and maintaining lower distortion levels at lower impedances

Also you are paying for better efficiency, higher grade componentry and power supply, greater build quality

As far as Richard Clark goes, no one may be able to take 10G's from him- but who gives a crap- i trust my own ears, I want to run high grade stuff for my personal preference- and that makes me happy

You can run any of those amps you mentioned, and achieve great sound

People that want a McIntosh are people that know what they are looking for- Same for Tru, Zapco, Arc, Brax,,,etc....whatnot- they aren't debating the 'watt is watt' theory- if thats the case we'd all be running Lanzars

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

nope, roadgear !

 

[Ne1 10+ year member]

Go with the soundstreams, i had a set for well over two years, and they were a non-issue, never gave problems, always sounded great, can't beat it.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Go with the soundstreams, i had a set for well over two years, and they were a non-issue, never gave problems, always sounded great, can't beat it.

Heck, I have an SA120 and a USA180 going strong onto 9yrs now, currently powering my lil bro's cars- Soundstream has been good to me

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

Go take RC's challenge.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
If you take 2 different amps with the same power output. Set them flat. You will never tell the difference between them. He made this challenge partly do to tube amps. Automotive amps and HT amps. An amp is an amp. A watt is a watt. An amps soley job is to amplify sound. That's it. It has nothing to do with SQ. Amps don't produce SQ. EQ's do though. Take his test. Collect your $10,000. Change the world.

werd. teh only way to compare amps (outside of price & sexiness) is the OTHER features they have onboard, i.e.- eq's, ssf, phase shift, etc... otherwise, get an amp that puts out the power you are looking for. need 1200 watts rms? get an amp that will do that and has the fun buttons you're looking for.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Deja vu. Seems like we've had this conversation before; about 100 times //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

BTW, if anyone wants an old school Soundstream amp, let me know. I have a BNIB Rubicon 302 that I need to get rid of //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif