OK -

After careful consideration I'll accept the hypothesis that I've simply not tested a high-end enough amp to hear the distinctive and obvious difference in sound. So I guess, once some other things are done I should do that. Obviously I will need to wait until I can devote a couple days at least to be fair and thorough.

Also, I will need to know what amp I should test, although I assume the eAR has your nod

And I will need to know what sort of issues pop out of typical solid state amps that are solved by high-end designs. Touchy feely stuff like liquid sounds and punchy whatever won't work. In particular I will need to know exactly what sort of test signal(s) will produce the expected problems in my baseline amps and what I can expect to see in measured results - for example what sort of signal will result in which sort of distortion. Distortion IS what we're talking about, in the broad sense. Also what sort of test load should be used to observe these improvements. Any other apparatus notes will be appreciated.

Thanks!


Charlie (upgrading test bench as we speak!)