I need advice from an audiophile. Which amp would you choose based on specs.
I'm both a Control 4 and a Sonance dealer. The amps will be used for house wide systems. Some installs with C4 audio, others Sonos.


8-130
[Link: sonance.com]



TS-PAM
[Link: control4.com]

From a pure audiophile perspective the Triad/C4 amp wold crush the DSP sonance amplifier.

a true audiophile would never want any DSP between his preamp and speakers.

And if you go by specs, the triad wins as well...

thats not to say the Sonance isnt a great amp. that DSP circuit is phenomenal and can correct a multitude of poor placements and difficult rooms.

Uhhhh... house wide?
That usually means less than the best speakers, placed in such a way that there's no decent imaging from speakers. In rooms where people can't sit in the sweet spot or they move around as they listen.

The amps might present great audio imaging, but will the room arrangement, speaker models and speaker placement will do justice to the amps?

That also usually means more than one speaker on an amp channel.

Is the quality of the amp really that important when all factors are considered?

I have a few housewide installs with James SA speakers. Those houses are the best sounding DA Systems I have ever heard. The kitchen has 4 SA speakers and a sub. So no, DA doesn’t have to sound bad, the client just has to have the budget for it. A few years ago I did a house with all KEF CI200qrs powered by audio control amps. It was the best of both worlds.

I’m excited to try the new triad amp, I still think Audio control makes the best multichannel amp out. Would be nice to hear how they compare!

From an audiophile perspective? And audiophile would use neither. Hell on paper an iPads audio probably looks good. Both these amps are good for their purpose. Buts let's not bring audiophile into this. An audiophile would spend more on isolation pads and a fancy power cable than the cost of these amps.

I've been on project with Krell amps and speakers as house audio. The gym sounded amazing... lol. I was on another project with McIntosh amps for house audio.

First and most important question, what are you using for speakers? Sonance DSP amps work well with Sonance speakers. Control4/Triad amps work well with Triad speakers...

This is interesting timing. I had a project with three DSP-130’s powering a variety of Sonance speakers. The Sonance amps had multiple failures and issues, and I replaced with Triad amplification. Three of my guys, and the homeowner, all think it sounds much better now.

One doesnt have to spend frivolously to be considered an audiophile. In fact, I've often found that the folks that spend the most arent doing so because they can actually hear the improvement between the $100 cable and the $1000 cable....

Its certainly possible to be an audiophile and want the best sound they can get, within their budget, for the situation they are dealing with.

Not to derail this thread to much, but what kind of issues are you seeing with the 8-130's.

You then my friend are not a true audiophile. You are smart! I'm just saying those type of amps are not what I consider audiophile grade. Just good decent amps.

Can we assume from what you said and what you left out that Sonance DSP amplifiers don't work well with Triad speakers, and/or Control4/Triad amps don't work well with Sonance speakers?

There was this:

These are systems. The characteristics of the amps and speakers and even wire interact with one another so that indeed sticking with one brand may give much better results than mixing. I was just wondering if you were saying that by omission.

Far better to spend for speakers than amplifiers.

Yes, Ernie. You can assume anything you want in this world.

I have not the faintest clue why you would think that either of these amps would not work with either of these speakers and sound just fine to 95% (another assumption on facts, this could be 50% or 99%) of the people on this planet. I am guessing by the tone of your assumption I need to note the fact that deaf people could not tell the difference either speaker or amp combo.

Here is an interesting article on components. This is specifically towards home theater though...

[Link: audioholics.com]

I have been a member for years- the differences between amps is often hard to hear when they're run at far less than balls to the wall. That said, I know my Parasound sounds better than the Denon AVR I was using before- that just never did what this amp does, although the P5 preamp made a difference, too. I'm using a Yamaha WXC-50 MusicCast as my preamp and it still sounds great.

As far as calling myself an Audiopile, I don't care about that- I have a good idea of the sound I like and that's what matters. I don't think my AV equipment makes me a he-man, Dalai Lama or anything else. In fact, I'm sick of the BS in this industry.

Interesting that you linked to this article when Triad speakers were mentioned as a good choice since the writer was one of the mucky-mucks at Triad.

As long as the speakers don't present a load to the amp that makes it puke, most amplifiers will be fine. If it can weld, even better.