Comparing a Yamaha s301bl to a rega elicit mk5 - a/b on some paradigm 800fs and they sound the exact same. Looking at the specs it makes sense - I don’t know why I’d ever use the full wattage of even the Yamaha without getting hearing damage and the THD being 0.019% vs 0.004% makes no functional difference. Are high end amps the new snake oil? What exactly are you getting for 10x the price here (besides the rega having less features and the rega brand name?)
Amp quality is Snakeoil? Well I guess my story might support either side of that argument.
I’ve got four very different amps, Fosi Audio BT10A ($50 class D), Nobsound 6P1 (all tube point-to-point wired single-ended-triode no global feedback, with upgraded caps class A, $386), ACA mono blocks (Nelson Pass designed common-source MOSFET single-end class A, $ 672 a kit), Hypex Nilai 500 Stereo DIY, (Hypex’s state of the art brand new class D design, $1279 as a kit).
I have passed a blind A/B between the Nobsound and the Fosi Audio (barely and at lass than 100% consistently). However, I definitely prefer listening to the Nobsound over the Fosi, by a lot.
The Nobsound and the ACA sound very similar. The ACA was more pleasant to listen to until I did the cap upgrade on the Nobsound and then I tended to prefer listening to it over the ACA. I doubt I could pass a blind A/B test between them, but the preference is a real thing that persisted over months of time.
The Hypex is the most recent purchase. And again the sound is not obviously different than either the Nobsound or the ACA, but my listening preference is even greater for it. I tended to get antsy listening before I got the Hypex and listening sessions rarely lasted over an hour ever, but now I’m listening much more often and for much longer periods, so there’s something about the Hypex sound that’s far more seductive and satisfying. I simply don’t listen to either the ACA or Nobsound anymore even though all it takes is the flip of a switch.
Considering the greatest contrast, at first blush the Fosi and the Hypex don’t obviously sound all that different. And, I would frankly be quite surprised if any casual listener could pass a A/B test comparing them in my system. But the fact is that I really just can’t stand listening to the Fosi for much more than maybe 30 minutes at a time and only occasionally, whereas now I listen to the Hypex every day typically for 2-3 hours, and it’s hard to tear myself away. The Hypex is just far more engaging out of all four of my amps.