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Thread: If you had a grand......

  1. #61
    Bigman80 Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by jandl100 View Post
    Ah, well, yes. My Firebottle AIR is one of the best amps I have heard and I would certainly recommend one. Alan is a very nice guy to deal with, as well.

    My point was that, with the benefit of quite extensive experience of buying amps, price has very little to do with how much I enjoyed any particular amp.

    The AIR cost me, used, £450. Money well spent. Very pleased with it still.
    The max I've spent on an amp is £4k - MF F18. It was OK, nothing very special. It could get a good grip on the ML CLS2z stats I had at the time, so that was handy.
    I bought an Amptastic Mini-T for £50 new. Fantastic sound - the first TA2020 class D I had heard, blew me away.
    A pair of Jadis JA80 monos cost me about £3k, I think (long time ago). They were pretty good. A Lowther Club Jazz 6L6 valve amp cost me £300 not that long ago - fantastic, quite possibly the best valve amp I have heard. I wish I had kept the darn thing! (One of the very rare exceptions that I regret selling). Easily surpassed the Jadis, imo. At 1/10th the price. Didn't have as much power, though.
    I've had some great amps at around the £1k mark, and some real duds that got moved on pronto.

    etc etc ramble ramble ramble.

    The point is, for me looking back I see very little correlation of enjoyment against amp cost.
    Great amps high and low.
    Poor (for me) amps, high and low.

    The point I was attempting to make is that if you have the OP's £1k to spend, don't ignore something interesting at £300!
    You're a man who's had a lot of experience so that bit of info is very telling.

    Money doesn't equate to quality. I totally agree

  2. #62
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

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    I'm Geoff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jandl100 View Post
    My point was that, with the benefit of quite extensive experience of buying amps, price has very little to do with how much I enjoyed any particular amp.
    The best amp I've heard recently is the Creek Destiny 2. It adds and subtracts nothing. It does not sound like an amp, as it seems to have no sound. It simply lets all the music through unblemished! Shame Creek don't still make it. Comparatively, it wasn't expensive either.

  3. #63
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

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    I'm Dennis.

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    There is a quasi linear correlation between money and quality, with statistical distribution around that line, but of course very expensive stuff which does not sound good stands out as jewellery rip-offs.

    What we want is the anomolously good for little money.

    I built several Lowther amps, and they were better than most others using the same valve configurations.

  4. #64
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

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    I'm gone.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pharos View Post
    I built several Lowther amps, and they were better than most others using the same valve configurations.
    Sorry, Dennis, understandable confusion.
    I didn't mean a Lowther amp, I meant one of these ... http://www.lowther.com.hk/Jazz%206L6%20Amp.htm
    Mine had valve adapters and I used a pair of Brimar 6BG6 power valves. Marvellous.
    .

  5. #65
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

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    I'm Geoff.

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    Very nice. I like the look of that.

  6. #66
    Join Date: Apr 2015

    Location: Central Virginia

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    I'm Russell.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pharos View Post
    There is a quasi linear correlation between money and quality, with statistical distribution around that line, but of course very expensive stuff which does not sound good stands out as jewellery rip-offs.

    What we want is the anomolously good for little money.

    I built several Lowther amps, and they were better than most others using the same valve configurations.
    I agree With Dennis, amps don’t have to be excessively expensive to be good, but good transformers cost money, matching components cost money, good power filtration cost money. An honest designer should be able to build a better amp if he is allowed a bigger budget.

    Russell

  7. #67
    Join Date: Apr 2009

    Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex

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    I'm Dave.

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    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    Starting a couple of years ago, I had something similar. A sensation of a hissing whistle in my head all the time. I'd put it down to some medication I take, but in the last couple of months the sensation of noise has worn off and I'm still on the meds. Haven't figured this out.
    Some medication does produce Tinnitus symptoms. I took a heavy duty Diuretic called Frusemide, for a while and that gave me terrible Tinnitus plus having to rush to the loo in the two hours following the dose. Tinnitus stopped within a day of stopping the Frusemide.

    Side effects do, sometimes, wear off or become less of a problem, after a time.

  8. #68
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

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    I'm Martin.

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    Quote Originally Posted by alphaGT View Post
    I agree With Dennis, amps don’t have to be excessively expensive to be good, but good transformers cost money, matching components cost money, good power filtration cost money. An honest designer should be able to build a better amp if he is allowed a bigger budget.

    Russell
    In a nut shell, yes. There is probably a limit to what can be done regardless of budget. I suppose you could get silly and up the power and size indefinitely. But there has to be a ceiling on the cost of sound quality. I wonder what it is?
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  9. #69
    Join Date: Apr 2015

    Location: Central Virginia

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    I'm Russell.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
    In a nut shell, yes. There is probably a limit to what can be done regardless of budget. I suppose you could get silly and up the power and size indefinitely. But there has to be a ceiling on the cost of sound quality. I wonder what it is?
    I’m sure the laws of diminishing returns comes into play here. At some point doubling your budget will only yield a 1% increase. And doubling that budget will yield another .1%. All subjectivity aside.

    Russell

  10. #70
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

    Posts: 1,861
    I'm Dennis.

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    Well I've just gone from home designed BBC/Rogers mid/woof with a ESS Heil, to a pair of ADAM Betas, £1500 to £25k worth.
    Yes it is quite a bit better, so do I aspire to the Beolab 90s at £65k?

    The diminishing returns, as Russell says, not only apply to the system, but the source may not have been made to high enough standards to merit a better replay system.

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