In Reply to: Re: Since I couldn't be there... Mini-Midwest Audiofest posted by bmar on April 02, 2002 at 16:58:27:
In my opinion, the speaker is what makes the biggest difference in the system. It is the simplest device, but also the one that has the most chance of error because it translates an electrical signal into a mechanical one and then into an acoustic one. But there are many features of an amplifier that are important to me, such as quality of craftsmanship, the way it behaves near clipping, its durability, and even its looks.One thing that always catches my attention is where the volume knob is set. That's kind of stupid - it's a simple voltage divider and a couple of one cent resistors could set the divider to any level I wish. But I always notice whether the designer set the system so that full volume is just under or over clipping, as opposed to systems that enter clipping where the volume knobs are set at half of their movement scale. Just a little thing, but I hate it when you are into clipping before the knob has gone halfway through its movement.
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