Quote Originally Posted by Ajani
That's a really good point actually.

Though I don't tend to hear huge differences in sound in amps; power and ability to drive diificult loads are essential when trying to match amp with speakers.... I've heard 50 watt amps drive efficient loudspeakers to ridiculously loud levels in a small room, but for inefficient speakers in a much larger room I'd want nothing less than 200 watts...
If there was ever a misused audio adjective it's got to be "huge". One guy's "huge" is another guy's "insignificant".

Despite having Magneplanars -- and easy load as mentioned by E-Stat -- I easily heard the differences among the seven or eight different amps I've heard in my system in the last 4 years, and the five or six preamps for that matter. In fact, I'm convinced I heard difference among the four or so different tubes I've heard in my current preamp.

Were any of these differences "huge"? Well, let's just say they were "significant" -- at least to me

Other differences:
  • I've heard about five different CDPs or DACs in my system and I'd say the the differences were "subtle".
  • I can't say heard any differences among the interconnects or even speaker cables I've used. Then again I haven't had tried Vallhala cables, for instance.
  • Some people say they can hear difference between iTunes and Foobar2000: sorry, no-can-hear, but that might be computer and configuration dependant.