valvesRus wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:14 pm
Lindsayt wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:39 pm
Because World Class amplifiers by sound quality can be made / sold / bought for less than £3000.
What "world class" amplifiers do you know that cost less than £3,000 ?
And of that list how many have you actually heard, and if not who says they are "world class" ?
Actually, what does "world class" really mean ?
World Class = as good sounding as any other products ever made in a swings and roundabouts give or take a
little bit kind of way. It's when you get to the point where other components may sound different but they don't sound better overall. Or it's where you get to the point where any sonic flaws when compared to other products are nit picking. Where, for example, you have to do level matched A to B demos on several tracks to decide which sounds better and why. Or where one component sounds better in one system and its competitor sounds better in another.
When it comes to amplifiers you can for reasonable money get to the stage where improvements are so miniscule that they are swamped by differences in speakers. When you get to that sort of ballpark for amplification I'd say you have world class amplification.
It's bonkers when someone gets anal about their amplification when they have low efficiency slimline ported speakers, or ATC SCM 11's. They are just focusing on the icing on top of the cake, when they should be looking at the sponge and the filling.
There's also to some extent horses for courses with amplification. So that, for example Coincident Frankenstein Prototypes sound better than NVA A80's on medium efficiency Impulse Tau's in a smallish room at generous but not too loud volumes. But wouldn't sound better with Linn Isobariks at loud volumes in a large room.
Some examples of amps I've heard that I'd consider World Class:
Coincident Frankenstein, Korneff clone, Urei 6290, NVA Statement, Nick Gorham 211 SET, Steve57's DIY'd SET.
There may well be plenty of others that I've heard but was not able to isolate the contribution the amplifer was making.
And as to who says that
my list of World Class amplifiers are World Class? Me. Of course.
This is, after all, Hi-fi
Subjectivist forum. It's perfectly fine if the opninions expressed on this forum are subjective. And if your list of World Class amplifiers is different to mine.