The definitive guide to buying amplifiers

A hi-fi system is a vehicle for exploring music. The better the system, the further and wider that
vehicle will take you. Although selecting hi-fi components may seem a daunting task, a little
knowledge and preparation will go a long way towards realizing your dream system - and
staying within your budget.

The informed shopper knows that choosing the right components (usually separates with more
substance inside than all-in-one functionality), matching those components to each other, and
setting them up carefully are more important than spending lots of money. But what about the
uninformed (or misinformed) shopper, who’s about to buy a crappy bundle-offer 7 piece home-
theatre system that the salesmen at Samsung will convince him or her to take with his new TV;
or fall for Bose marketing something twenty-five years too late and bring it home for the same
money that could buy them gold, in audio terms. Just as a Land Cruiser is better suited to the
feudal warlord and a hatchback to the city dweller, a hi-fi system ideal for a small apartment
would be inadequate in a large home. The hi-fi system must not only match your musical taste,
but also suit your room and listening needs.

Begin by matching the speaker size to your listening area. Large, full-range loudspeakers don’t
work well in small rooms. Not only are large loudspeakers physically dominating, they tend to
overload the room with bass energy. For the same money, you could buy a superb mini-monitor
whose build cost was put into making the upper bass, midrange, and treble superlative. You win
both ways with the minimonitor. Your room won’t be overloaded by bass, and the speaker will
likely have much better soundstaging and tonal purity. Also, minimonitors, with their limited
low-frequency extension, are less likely to annoy your parents.

You can thus listen to music louder without bothering anyone. Further, placement is much easier
in small rooms. Conversely, a minimonitor won’t fill up a large room. The sense of power,
dynamic drive, deep-bass extension and feeling of physical impact so satisfying in some music
just doesn’t happen with minimonitors. If you’ve got the room and the budget, a full-range,
floorstanding loudspeaker is the best choice. But remember, a five-way floorstander with five
average quality drivers will be no match for a minimonitor with only two superb ones.

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Mass-market mid-fi magazines have been telling their readers for years to spend most of a hi-fi
budget on the loudspeakers because they ultimately produce the sound. This thinking also
suggests that all amplifiers and digital sources must sound alike. So why waste money on
expensive amplifiers, digital to analogue converters (DACs) and disc players? The high-end
listener thinks differently about music reproduction.

A fundamental tenet of high-end audio holds that if the signal isn’t good at the beginning of the
reproduction chain, nothing downstream can ever improve it. In fact, the signal will only be
degraded by any product it flows through. High-end audio equipment simply minimizes that
degradation. Although the loudspeakers significantly influence the overall sound, high-quality
source components (turntable, CD player, digital server), good analogue electronics
(preamplifier, power- and integrated amplifiers or home-theatre receivers), and good cables are
essential to realizing a true high-end system.

One could liken a source to the lens on a camera. It is at the first stage of image capture. If the
lens isn’t clear and sharp, the image being captured will already have suffered on its way into the
camera, which is like the amplifier, where all those details passed on from the lens are processed
and articulated, much as the amp uses its processing power to resolve an amplified image of the
signal it receives from the source. The speakers then, are like the developer who finally
immortalizes the image. If the picture had degraded seriously along this path, the printer could
only do so much with his equipment and skills to salvage the original image.

Again, the key to putting so much of the budget into loudspeakers is extremely careful matching
of the amplifier’s power output power to the loudspeaker’s sensitivity. Many audiophiles
improve their systems over time by replacing one component at a time. The trick to getting the
most improvement for one’s money is to replace the weakest component in the system. A muddy
preamp won’t let you hear how good your music server is, for example. And a very clean and
transparent preamp used with a grainy and hard digital source will let you hear only how bad the
source is. The system should be of similar quality throughout. If there’s a quality mismatch,
however, it should be in favour of high-quality source components.

Choosing an appropriate amplifier power-output range for your loudspeakers is essential to

getting the best sound for your money. If the amplifier is underpowered for your needs, you’ll
never hear the system at its full potential. The sound will be constricted, fatiguing, lack
dynamics, and the music will have a sense of strain on climaxes. If you spend too much of your
budget on a bigger amplifier than you need, you may be shortchanging other components. The
amount of power needed varies greatly depending on loudspeaker sensitivity, loudspeaker
impedance, room size, acoustics, and how loudly the system will be played.

Loudspeaker sensitivity is by far the biggest factor in choosing an appropriate power output. This
specifies how high a sound-pressure level (SPL) the loudspeaker will produce when driven by a
certain power input. A common sensitivity specification will read: 88dB SPL, 1W/1m. This
means that the loudspeaker will produce an SPL of 88 decibels (dB) with one watt of input
power when measured at a distance of one meter. Although 88dB is a moderate listening volume,
a closer look at how power relates to listening level reveals that we need much more than one
watt for music playback. Each 3dB increase in sound-pressure level requires a doubling of
amplifier output power. Thus, our loudspeaker with a sensitivity of 88dB at 1W would produce
91dB with 2W, 94dB with 4W, 97dB with 8W, and so on. For this loudspeaker to produce
musical peaks of 109dB, we would need an amplifier with 128W of output power. Now say we
had a loudspeaker rated at 91dB at 1W/1m (only 3dB more sensitive than the first loudspeaker).
It’s easy to see that with the more sensitive transducer we would need only half the amplifier
power (64W) to produce the same volume of 109dB SPL. A loudspeaker with a sensitivity of
94dB would need just 32W to produce the same volume. The higher-sensitivity speaker simply
converts more of the amplifier’s power into sound. But ultra sensitive speakers also have the
tendency to be noisy and forward-sounding, especially in the lower reaches. This is why budget
high-sensitivity speakers like those that Klipsch makes, with their hissy horn tweeters, are not
recommended by audiophiles but raved about rhapsodically by the good folks at Crutchfield and
other such mass retailers, who cite high-sensitivity as the best reason to go for them.

The lower the loudspeaker’s impedance, the less the resistance to current flow from the
amplifier, and the harder the amplifier must work to deliver current to the loudspeaker. If the
impedance is halved (say, from 8 ohms to 4 ohms as it is in some speakers), the amplifier is
asked to deliver double the current to the loudspeaker (all other factors being equal). If the
amplifier isn’t up to the job, the musical result is strain or even distortion on musical peaks, weak
bass, loss of dynamics, hardening of timbre, and a collapsing soundstage. In short, we can hear
the amplifier give up as it runs out of steam. Conversely, amplifiers that can continue increasing
their output power as the impedance drops generally have very deep, extended, and powerful
bass, virtually unrestrained dynamics, a sense of ease and grace during musical peaks, and the
ability to maintain correct timbre and soundstaging, even during loud passages. If you have
relatively high-impedance loudspeakers with no severe impedance dips, you’re much less likely
to encounter sonic problems, even with modest power amplifiers; the loudspeaker simply
demands less current from the engine.

Amplifiers with high current capability (indicated by their ability to increase output power into
low impedances) are often large and expensive. Their current capability comes from massive
power transformers, huge power supplies, and lots of output transistors - all of which are
expensive items. And tube watts always cost a lot more than transistor (solid-state) watts.
Keep in mind, however, that not all systems require large power amplifiers. If you have sensitive
loudspeakers with fairly high impedance, the loudspeaker’s current demands are vastly lower
(luckily most speakers are rated at 8 ohms). Consequently, smaller amplifiers work just fine.
Single-ended triode amplifiers with as little as 3Wpc and very limited ability to deliver current
can sound highly musical when driving a load-appropriate transducer.

When comparing amplifier power ratings, make sure the specified power is continuous or RMS
rather than peak. Some manufacturers will claim a power output of 200W, for example, but not
specify whether that power output is available only during transient musical events such as drum
beats, or if the amplifier can deliver that power continuously.

Another way manufacturers exaggerate power ratings is by not specifying the power bandwidth.
This term describes the frequency range over which a power amplifier can deliver its power. A
power amplifier delivering 200W at 1kHz is far less powerful than one that can deliver 200W
over the full audio bandwidth of 20Hz–20kHz. You’ll often see mass-market audio/video
receivers with power-output ratings specified only at 1kHz, or from 50Hz to 20kHz. Further,
stereo power amplifiers can deliver more power with only one channel driven - look for the
words both channels driven. The maximum power output should also be specified at a certain
distortion level. You can see the potential for misleading power amplifier output claims. The
abuses were so bad at one time that the trade bodies in developed countries stepped in to regulate
power claims. The mandate for power ratings requires that the power rating be continuous (not
peak), that the load impedance and bandwidth are specified, and that the Total Harmonic
Distortion (THD) be given at full power and measured over the audio bandwidth.

You may see a power specification that reads: 50Wpc continuous (or RMS) power into 8 ohms,
both channels driven, 20Hz–20kHz, with less than 0.1% THD. A power specification that tick
marks all these conditions is called an FTC power rating. Some manufacturers no longer adhere
to the FTC-mandated power ratings, figuring that the issue has blown over and is no longer
enforced. You see fudged power ratings on mass-market audio/video receivers that must now
power five or seven loudspeakers rather than two.

As such, preamplifiers and power amplifiers have only modestly improved in quality over the
last 10 years. The reason is the limitation of development of even more advanced active devices
that can be utilized for superior audio products. In fact, most active devices normally used in
audio have been discontinued, and poor quality or expensive equivalents have been introduced to
replace them instead. ICs have evolved, but not in any revolutionary way. Today, a well
designed solid-state amplifier will be all but perfect from a performance and listening
perspective. It will have power to spare, it will have nearly a zero-ohm output impedance and a
bandwidth far beyond any rational requirement for good sound.

The protection circuits will not colour the output signal when playing speech or music into any
rational loudspeaker, and the maximum possible output current will be far beyond the needs of
any rational music! This extreme performance will be called upon only from time-to-time when
the audio signal is extremely difficult. The science of solid-state amplifiers, on the other hand,
has grown enormously over the last several decades. Such an amplifier is expensive though,
because delivering this level of performance requires expensive components - big heat sinks to
keep it cool, huge power transformers to deliver the current and voltage, as well as massive
energy storage capability in the main power supply.

The common belief is that tube amplifiers are typically more tuneful, warm and liquid, even
luminous, romantic (lush) and given to euphony, whilst solid-state amplifiers tend to be more
accurate, fast, gutsy and less noisy with better pitch definition and speed. Over the years many
tube amps have become more and more like solid-state amps in terms of all the things mentioned
above, whilst solid-state amps have taken on many of the qualities usually associated with tubes.
This has been done quite deliberately on the part of designers as the performance of their amps
has improved in many important ways. Against all odds, it was done with vacuum tubes, a far
more difficult job than doing it with transistors, and only a small handful of creative and talented
designers have been able to pull it off. Other designers have become so enthralled with the
unique and inviting sonic signature of vacuum-tube amps that they have taken a uniquely
different path for great sound. This is evidenced by the many remarkable designs that have very
low output power, individual frequency responses and distortion profiles that depend on each
speaker they’re used with.

What began about ten years ago as a growing interest in the simple intrinsic nature of tube amps
has evolved into an almost unbelievably passionate movement to extract the highest possible
realism using vacuum-tube topology. We find that in order to evoke the absolute sound from
their tube designs, designers are forced to let go of long-held and cherished ideas about what an
amplifier should do. We find that we are no longer interested in facsimile reproduction; rather we
find reproduction that sounds enchanting and real, is far more interesting and serves our passions
far better. In other words, we listen for something that could have been real somewhere in time
and space, even if in the moment it’s not in our living room. Great tube amps, against all odds,
can deliver music with a majesty and sweetness that is truly difficult to believe.

A good integrated amplifier is usually a better choice these days, than ordinary separates. By
separates I mean a preamp/power amp setup, which would necessitate the purchase of an extra
set of interconnects and power cord, not to mention the curse (and inherent risk of losing musical
density in transition from one device to yet another) of adding another component. The result
could very well be the addition of noise rather than the desired effect of snapping images into
sharper focus and peeling away the obscuring layers between the performers and yourself.

Companies like NAD, Cambridge Audio and Arcam have been producing quality budget solid-
state integrated(s) ever since they made hi-fi appreciation an accessible thing, a couple of
decades ago. They have the passion, experience, budget and rather importantly, the weight of
high expectations to compel them towards serious R&D; and invariably come out with great
products. With reputations built on strong reliability; and the ability to offer great products at
reasonable prices, they are the Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz of the budget solid-state
integrated amp world. Similarly Jolida, Van Alstine and Rogue Audio make some of the best
budget tube integrated and separate amplifiers. Vincent Audio from Germany is well known for
its hybrid budget designs that feature a tube-based preamp stage coupled with a solid-state power
amp stage (in an integrated amp) – a combination that often delivers the virtues of both tubes and
transistors. Rogue also plays this game well. Their Sphinx model is probably the best integrated-
amplifier Rs. 150,000 can buy today, aside from NAD’s excellent C375BEE at Rs. 120,000.
Higher-end companies like Classe, Electrocompaniet and Hegel are often thought to be the
Bentley, Aston Martin and Maseratis of the solid-state integrated world; whereas VTL, Conrad-
Johnson and Audio Research are those things, if not better, in tube trim. Lamm Audio makes
some of the best (and very bespoke) low-power, high resolution tube amps (Russian-born
Vladmir Lamm is the Horacio Pagani of the tube amp world); whereas Soulution, MBL and BA
Labo consistently represent the absolute high end of solid-state amplification and are closer in
that respect to Bugatti.

If you must have a 5 or 7-channel receiver that does it all (and is a mish-mash of everything
you’ve learnt to need on a single $20 power supply), Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha make some
fine mid-priced models, as do Toyota and Honda, Nissan and Mazda, whereas Marantz and
Onkyo’s higher-end AV sibling Integra are like a bit like Acura, Infiniti and Lexus. Denon has
become a victim of its once-popular house-sound (something the competition has come a long
way from) and is a bit of a Jaguar now, i.e. a dinosaur. Pioneer’s implementation of efficient and
cool-running, eco-hugging Class D amplification (which isn’t a bad thing because it’s called
Class D) in its AV receivers leaves weight and swagger to be desired. Despite refinements in
recent years to Class D or switching amplifier technology as shown by the likes of Wyred4Sound
who make fantastic switching amps for both stereo and home-theatre applications.

{Class D was a much hated word in audiophile circles when it first reared its head some twenty
years ago. It works its magic of affording ample watts by turning its power on and off gazillions
of times a second - making cool-running, staggeringly capable amps of things the size of dainty
matchboxes - as the power supply gets to be OFF and then ON, half the time. This recurring gap
in the amp’s delivery, as it switches on and off with equal frequency doesn’t quite figure in the
real world as the tiny gap (half the bloody time really, in technical terms) in the musical
continuum may not be audible to our ears. But the brain is a far more sensitive and less-forgiving
listening device, with hitherto unlimited processing power}.

Class A amplifiers, as opposed to their less exalted Class D cousins, run hot - as they are
continuously ON – and floor listeners with their buttery ceaselessness and flow. Most good
amplifiers and receivers are Class AB. The newest generation of Class D designs can sound
brilliant, but not the ones Pioneer has executed; and proudly introduced as its Ice amps. If you
must buy Pioneer make sure it’s an Elite series receiver. And if you must buy Sony ensure it’s
from their once-hallowed ES range. Please never buy their separates, or from any of the other
AV receiver experts for that matter. Outlaw Audio, NAD and Emotiva make some of the best
budget AV separates today that are like hardy Toyota-engined Jeeps. Then there are companies
like Anthem and Wyred4Sound that do separates like few others and are truly the Merc AMG
and BMW M division of their chosen arena. And the absolute high-end of separate power
amplifiers for home-theatre, is represented by Parasound, Bryston, Cary and the like. Those guys
are the Porsche and Ferrari. McIntosh has replaced the classic blue VU meters with LEDs on
some of their separates, which may seem tantamount to neutering their own image, but they’re
still Lamborghini when it comes to sound, in this league.

Just remember, two-channel (stereo) is capable of projecting a complete musical soundstage to a

pair of human ears. Two channels of good are far better, for anyone, than five or seven channels
of bad. There’s less that can go wrong with a damn good budget integrated and some sweet
singing minimonitors, than a poorly hooked up dream system. An amplifier is like the heart that
pushes music out, through speakers, into a room. It better be up to the job. Phew!