Do cheap amps sound different than expensive ones?

There's an ongoing debate between the people who cannot or will not recognize differences in amplifier designs and those that accept those differences. Paul jumps right into the middle of the debate and touches on the divide in our country and fake news too. Have a question you want to ask Paul?

[noelbostrom]

Would love to see a video of you blind testing different pricepoint amps

[jblack]

Price aside, some amps do sound better than others. Just last night I hooked up a pair of AR tower speakers I had set aside to see how they would sound in a room. I had recently acquired a Rotel RB-1092 amp so I thought I'd use it. My first thought was, I remember these speakers sounding better. I decided to try a Carver TFM-15CB I have and then the AR's came alive! Definitely a better sound. More dynamic for sure. I wasn't even planning on doing an AB comparison but I was so underwhelmed by the Rotel, and it wasn't a cheap amp when it was new.

[rig]

I've tried many amps over the years and each one has had it's own character. Even with speakers that were in theory not as revealing the differences were there. Where I differ with Paul and from most people commenting is that from my experience I would recommend spending more on a better amplifier and perhaps a little less on the speakers. I find an incompetent amplifier driving a pair of great speakers generally sounds less satisfying than a better amp driving driving a pair of speakers a little further down in the line.

[tenmillionvolts]

I repaired amplifiers for 11 years. Mostly I ran them on my reasonable test speakers so I got to hear a large range of brands and models. Some sounded a little cleaner/ clearer than others. Some held their clarity a little better at volume (such as class A amps). On the whole, not a great difference to my ears using my own test discs... except for one... Technics "new class A" amps. I could tell a difference immediately. Sometimes I would be connecting one up on the bench and I hadn't even looked at the label yet. The amp would come on and I'd say "wow". I can hear the tops that much clearer. I can hear tiny nuances that just don't seem to come through with most others. I'd then look at the front panel, see the Technics new class A label and say "ahh, right". They were not the most expensive amps but boy could I hear the difference over many of the much more expensive ones I fixed. No wonder they still go for good money when you can find one. Anyone else like that series?

[dennisapplegate]

Thanks again Paul, the voice of reason in the audiophile world

[buttonman]

Also sometimes a cheaper amp can sound better because it is a better match for a certain speaker. As a matter of fact, matching an amplifier with speakers should be the goal. I have an expensive Hegel amplifier that 80% of the time mops the floor with my Rotel integrated. But my Rotel with one particular set of expensive speakers I own blows my Hegel out of the water.

[linandy]

Of course amps sound different. All things being the same except the amp its easy to hear. Especially between my vintage from the 70s and my new digital one. Huge difference.

[LOTPOR]

Most people probably will not tell the difference from a 1k amp to a 10k amp, and if they could is the extra cash worth the extra improvement . No, not unless you have money to burn, or a hardened enthusiast

[scarmenl]

It is possible but rare. The difference in the quality of the circuit boards, the quality of the parts that get put on those boards, the method of attaching those parts to those boards and the list goes on. I have listened to amps from a couple of hundred to many hundreds of thousands. Yes, there are differences but I have found the farther you go up the chain you run into the law of diminishing returns. It's not really a law but it does show a good point.

[markstewart]

Some great points Paul you've got such a nice way of explaining things, I must thank for all the education over the last few years since I started getting your emails and watching your videos.

[bruceandt]

I have an old Kenwood KR-V8070.
The specs after researching claim 120 watts per channel into two channel. I looked under the hood.
It has a transformer that would appear to be sufficient. Two 7500 microfarads capacitors.
The amp goes from +68 to -20db.
I run this amp on Energy RC 30 tower speakers. I’ve only ever had the amp up to +18 and never into the minus.
I watch so many reviews on the quality of a WATT! Please forgive my ignorance.

[Merlin-wokj]

There are bad matches with amps and speakers, but it's more to do with cheaper amps not being able to handle lower impedance loads etc.. Technically you can't "hear" and amp, your only hearing your speakers which the amp sends power... I think you could argue this forever but the last person that would give an honest answer or take a live blind test would be the guy selling amplifiers...

[hushpuppykl]

Having started out with cheaper amps and moving up, in general, when you pay more you get better sound quality. But there are affordable amps that sound very satisfying.

You got to differentiate ... ‘Satisfying’ vs ‘Great Sounding’ too.

But at times a great sounding amp may not have the sort of sound signature that we like. Some people like it neutral. Some hate the etched highs. Some like some bass.

There are quite a few factors that come into play.

One of the British speaker manufacturer’s forum says they are all the same. All amps are supposed to be just a wire with gain. As long as they measure flat, they are the same. No point spending on expensive boutique brand amps.

Yeah right ...

They even say, tubes suck. The brand owner himself says he’s produced a good product and why is it wasted on tube systems that are relatively full of distortion etc.

Yeah right ...

[lloyd.]

I have tried my av amp in my Hifi set up and they certainly sound different!

[humanitech]

Simple answer should be that People should simply listen and try and compare things for themselves before they invest . Only use reviews as an initial reference. Mind you if people are lucky enough that they can't hear the difference then that's great for them...as they will save a fortune and a life time of buying selling and dreaming or upgrading until satisfied .

[BigVcc]

Not sure if you reply to comments but thank you for the new fuses for my pwd. I was worried it wasnt going to turn on amymore. It worked perfect. Would upgraded fuses make any differences in my pwd dac, or the originals are plenty good. Thanks!

[peterpixo]

wow, I did not expect this one to go philosophical :)

[Canadian_Eh_I]

Your microphone is clipping again! Thanks for the great videos. :)

[khunigan]

Over the years I believe 1 thing in regards to sound. "Trust your ears".

[stevefick]

Good old "Optivisor" Been using them for 36 years!