Do all high end amps loose the 'fun' sound in the bass/lower mids?

Have to admid I only had the chance once to listen to semi active speakers the 'Cabasse pasific 3 sa' witch was pretty amazing

but it came with a serouis price tag

The Event Opals are remarkable value for money. For £2100 you get some of the finest sounding speakers around together with 640 watts of high quality amplification built in.

I thought that they might be suitable for BigColz because he already owns a Cyrus pre-amplifier and DAC which would work perfectly with the Opals.

Bloody fugly those event opels tho. Wouldn't make it past hwmbo in our house 

They're a bit scary looking.

I like them but can see why most people don't.

Oddly enough, the criticism of 'reducing' the fun factor could probably be aimed at good active speakers. Although my experience with them is small they (good actives) probably exert more control over the drivers than even very expensive and powerful arc welders/amplifiers do over even good passive speakers.

It is probably wrong to criticise something for being accurate but many like a bit of cabinet colouration/boom or/and inadequte amplifier control. It makes bad recordings or lower bit rates more listenable and I for one dont just listen to audiophile stuff. Though I will always choose as neutral as possible within the my budgetary or the topological constraints.

regards

Haha cheers boys! 

Roby - Thanks for your thoughts.. I'd LOVE to hear your hifi!!.. I've been to belguim the last 3 April's running to a festival called 'groezrock' But don't think i'm going to be able to budget it this year.. If I change my mind i may come knocking though!!

Not really looked into active, i've heard some people love them and i'm sure they're good but I really want to keep the main stuff seperate for future upgrades etc.. I bought my streamer and now want just a good (or suitable) pre amp (as i don't need the DAC) i think.. Or if i hear an amp i fall in love with switch up the whole lot.. Speakers are first thing to try to change though. The room i listened to the m6i in was long and thin so may be why it sounded a bit thin.. So many damn variables I may have to do a million auditions like roby before i make my mind up I bet you're glad you did! 

i spent £1500 on a Rocksan Kandy 2 amp and cd player 

I was using Tannoy F3 floorstanding  speakers and to my ears they sounded good.  everything Was there I wanted. But I read to many magazine reviews and Hi fi experts for my own good.

I Splashed out again. Thinking all though I love and still have  my Tannoys. My speakers are my weekest issue

So i Forked  out for a pair of Monitor audio R1silvers.   bought  speaker stands , filled the stands with cat litter £3 a bag in asda. Got very excited pluging them in Bi wired with Van damme Blue studio speaker cable  Atlas connector between the amp and CD player. What did i get. A very smooth that was a very nice But  smooth and as the op says unexciting mine was  verging on boring.  

So I got out my Nad C320 plugged the rocksan CD player into it via the Atlas Equators. Got rid of the Bi wire.  Put unbranded clear heavy guage speaker cable in line turned it all on. Put a larry carlton CD on and wow  knocked of my feet. Put a BSO orchestra playing phillip glass  again  fantastic. Then some Milt jackson. very pleased indeed. The Nad 2X30 the rocksan 2x125   The Nad is louder and the sound stage is much bigger .  The sound is far from boring. With volume at Twenty two is  to loud on the Nad to hold a conversation    The Speakers love it .  So whats going on. Dose not sound good for my Rockan dose it?  which when the Tannoys are plugged in admitedly  not anywhere near the quality end of  Tannoys Range. The Rocksan dose sound better than  good.. I see what the op means  by his question. 

I must disagreed I demoed with my dealer the Roksan (not Rocksan !) Kandy k2 comapre to the  Roksan Caspian with the Proac 140 MK2 (which I am going to buy next month) the Kandy has a lots of power and is very natural and neutral but can be very aggressive when the music requires it,in contrary the Caspian his "high end" big  brother the sound was too smooth , gentle and boring . I heard before the beast amp NAD 375BEE and all I heard is  bass and bass and bass .. Is it the right way to listen to  music ? 

most entry level amps do have a button called 'loudness' which does put the eq up a notch or two..

Some would argue that the 'excitement or fun' you describe is actually the cheaper, usually lower powered amplifier distorting.

It is true that on occasions, load tolerant and more powerful amplification can seem to sound more stifled, less fluid. - It is likely to be better control and grip on the drive units if the amplifier has been well designed.

I think it would be wrong though to generalise, all products, as we know, are not made equal.

If you are only ever going to use the first 5 or 10 watts (usually loud) then a high power amplifier will not do much more for you but the amplifiers dynamic headroom will have to be sufficient to supply volts for peak signals as well as high demand sustained ones which can put surprising strain on the power supply, depending on the quality of the source signal. Any amplifier failing here, usually (but not always) cheaper ones which have falsely economised where you can't see, will not measure up, quite literally.

If, on the other hand, you'd like to let rip on occasions, there's no substitute for power but  a speaker that is 3db more efficient than an other one means you can achieve the same loudness with an amplifier of half the power all other things being equal. - It is perhaps also worth knowing that some transistor amplifiers distort more during the first one, two or three watts and that speakers usually have far higher distortion (and colouration) than any other components of your system. I dont know much about turntables so can't comment there.

Most speakers use 4ohm bass/mid drivers these days so the 4 ohm rating of amplifiers are arguably more relevant and are usually what you get in watts.

The 'fun' aspect of music reproduction, should, ideally, not come from the amplifier or even the source component but the recording. Well designed hifi should in an ideal world get out of the way. However, this can sound 'cold' 'clinical' or perhaps 'boring' to certain people if the recording is flawed (but will show good ones in all their carefully crafted glory).

I can understand that some folks like coloration, distortion etc in order to not necesseraly always get the truth and nothing but the truth. The price you pay is that you probably never will get to appreciate a supreme work as intended by the artist and recording engineers if you decide to go down that way.

I guess thats a trade-off some are willing to make but as these supreme recordings are probably in a minority and not everybody exclusively listens to chesky/linn or other audiophile recordings ... perhaps not always such a bad trade-off.

regards

This is a really helpful and informed post that will help many people , brilliant 

Thankyou for appreciating what I was trying to get across.. I've done the same sort of thing changed amps and tried different speakers etc.. I've tried countless combinations of high end gear and def not happy with the sound 100% Chsmging to Electro was the best thing I did and the naim streamer is fantastic as are the ProAcs. With acoustic and perfectly mixed and mastered music it sounds very good although the way these amps are tuned or even if they are 'more accurate' it just ruins most the music I listen too.. I have a Cambridge audio 540a + c (which i imagine is similar to the NAD) in my living room and had since I was 17 and still love it too peices!! I must say if I did listen to audiophile/classic/jazz/dire straights sort of stuff 90% of the time I'd keep it and maybe get a sub.. Electrocompaniet amps are the best high amps I've heard for musical flow by far and if you want higher end HiFi I'd suggest to try them.. 

For me I just don't think it will work.. My hone is punk rock with some beautifully recorded and some DIY but I think this brings its own flavour and coolness that makes it so special and high end just takes away the emotion and glue that makes you listen at it rather that flow with it.. Also b not hip hop/electronic/ dub/regaee etc are a mixed bunch and an amp around £2-300 will be as 'deep into the mix' as I'd want to go as you start to sacrifice musical flow which for me is disastrous IMO! I respect guys that want to take on this quest like Cno and Electro and thatnk them for they're help along my jeorney. I've learnt a hell of a lot and I bought all my gear at trade, ex dem or second hand so I think I worked out over my whole time ill break even or loose £100 max and knew this when I started incase it wasn't for me.. 

I will be selling all my gear and buying a Sonos connect x 2, 2 bay NAS, iPad mini (as remote), Apple TV and put the rest towards paying off my latest purchase! Something I've wanted since I was 15! 1989 VW Golf Rallye! My house will be alive with music and full of fluidity and emotion, flexibility and user friendly interface which for me is just what I want!

i wish everyone the best on their jeorney and would say listen with your ears and you heart not to the people in the shop, reviews or the price tag! It's what's best for YOU at the end of the day and remember its all about the music

cheers 

As long as you enjoy the music nothing else matters

Good luck and enjoy yourself

Cheers buddy! If I did go back to high end it would def be similar setup to yours! Thanks for the advise along the way   

that kind of sound I get with my last system,enjoy since  new year and never turned on the first two systems Don't know how long I will enjoy

for big gusty sound in the big room I would look at jbl synthesis series speakers and bryston amps