Bruno Strikes Again. Purifi 1ET7040SA VTV Amplifier.

[Chris]

I had the chance to audition the brand new Purifi amp module in a VTV Amplifier. Please subscribe and thanks for watching.

[leonski]

The Bruno I met, years ago did NOT have a 'british' accent. He also (not a big deal) didn't have such facial hair, either.

and not covered in the interview? He's a big fan of 'hot' food. I met him at THEShow in Newport Beach CA and he wanted to get out for

some local hot food, which to me, presumably meant he wanted some local Mexican food, of which So Cal has A BUNCH...... I Invited him down

do my house in San Diego CO, but it's 2hours round trip unless you get hosed by traffic, in which case it can get a LOT worse....My wife is an

EXCELLENT Mexican Cook and I figured some Chili Colorado would have fixed him right up......but was not to be.

I'm going to look for the Photo I took of Bruno and COMPARE........

COULD BE?    Eye color same and similar hairline.    My photo is from about 8 years past.....

[audiobill]

Let us remember that the ultimate goal of digital is to become analog…,

[leonski]

Of course, 'D' amps are not 'digital'.......

[audiobill]

Of course.

[Boomzilla]

The early D amps I heard didn't impress. The newer ones definitely do. How good can they get? I'm eager to find out.

[mauriceminor]

Dec 31, 2021 11:15:09 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

The early D amps I heard didn't impress. The newer ones definitely do. How good can they get? I'm eager to find out.

Seigfreid Linkwitz on the class D ATI amplifier:
The AT528NC, Class D, ( Hypex NCore technology ), 8 X 200 watts, power amplifiers are essential to my ASP system's perfection.
They have extremely low distortion even at low power levels where much of the music detail is happening.
Yet the amplifiers also have enormous output current capacity to keep the woofers under full control 

[bkdc]

Audibly as good as class A with many benefits. Total transparency with lack of distortion at both low and high frequencies. Perfectly flat frequency response to 30kHz, well above the limits of superhuman hearing. I've given up on heavy amplifiers with massive heat sinks. Class D is here. I see no reason for class A to exist except as a space heater in the winter, nostalgia and to contribute to global warming (if you believe in that). I hope Bruno Putzeys is making a lot of money from nCore and Purifi amplifiers because he deserves every penny he gets.

[405x5]

Class A and D will forever coexist but one will NEVER replace the other (and shouldn’t).

[KeithL]

I disagree...

The goal of audio reproduction is to reproduce an audio signal...

All that matters is the end result...

It may be that, at a certain time in history, a certain technology does this the best.

Or that, thanks to the current level of technology, a certain technology does an equally good job more easily or cheaply than another one.

But, in the end, all that matters is that end result.

An amplifier is essentially a black box.

A small signal goes in... and a bigger signal... hopefully otherwise identical to the original... comes out the other end.

If you're too concerned with what's inside the box then you're probably "a technology collector" rather than "an audiophile" or even "a dedicated music listener"...

Feb 4, 2022 9:51:40 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Class A and D will forever coexist but one will NEVER replace the other (and shouldn’t).

[marcl]

Feb 4, 2022 11:09:57 GMT -5 KeithL said:

I disagree...

The goal of audio reproduction is to reproduce an audio signal...

All that matters is the end result...

It may be that, at a certain time in history, a certain technology does this the best.

Or that, thanks to the current level of technology, a certain technology does an equally good job more easily or cheaply than another one.

But, in the end, all that matters is that end result.

An amplifier is essentially a black box.

A small signal goes in... and a bigger signal... hopefully otherwise identical to the original... comes out the other end.

If you're too concerned with what's inside the box then you're probably "a technology collector" rather than "an audiophile" or even "a dedicated music listener"...

Feb 4, 2022 9:51:40 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Class A and D will forever coexist but one will NEVER replace the other (and shouldn’t).

I Postulate:  No one designs a preamp, DAC, amp or speaker with the goal of nonlinear response.  No one designs them with a goal of specific and quantifiable distortion.  But somehow, many people believe that the designs of many of these components intentionally include these nonlinearities ... or, that the designs include characteristics that can't be quantified and yet result in "better" sound.

[KeithL]

I'd like to agree with you... but I'm not sure I can do so...

Very few modern companies, or individual designers, will admit that their design goal is a particular coloration or distortion.

Yet, at the same time, many companies still have "a house sound", and there are often minor but audible differences between similar products.

And, even more obviously, certain technologies and types of designs have quite unique and audible "sonic signatures".

I would point to tube amplifiers, vinyl albums, and non-oversampling R2R DACs, as products whose sole unique "product differentiator" is a specific "sonic signature" (audible coloration or distortion).

I don't think I've ever met someone, at least not recently, who purchased an amplifier without knowing if it was tube or solid state, "because it just sounded good" or "because it had the best measurements".

And I cannot recall the last time I met someone who purchased a preamp "because, when they set the gain to 1.0, and switched it in and out, they heard absolutely no difference".

(Based on the original definition of a high fidelity preamp - which is "a straight wire with gain".)

You just aren't going to find several companies who make "high-end preamps" who will say "our preamps are all so good they sound exactly the same - so pick the one with the features, casework, and knobs you like".

Virtually everyone insists that theirs sounds different or better...

And, in many cases, this leads to designs that do in fact sound audibly different.

(You can only argue that yours sounds better if it sounds at least a little bit different than the other guy's.)

And, yes, here at Emotiva we do at least ATTEMPT to deliver truly neutral sound.. although we'll admit that we may not always be 100.0% successful.

Feb 4, 2022 11:18:34 GMT -5 marcl said:

Feb 4, 2022 11:09:57 GMT -5 KeithL said:

I disagree...

The goal of audio reproduction is to reproduce an audio signal...

All that matters is the end result...

It may be that, at a certain time in history, a certain technology does this the best.

Or that, thanks to the current level of technology, a certain technology does an equally good job more easily or cheaply than another one.

But, in the end, all that matters is that end result.

An amplifier is essentially a black box.

A small signal goes in... and a bigger signal... hopefully otherwise identical to the original... comes out the other end.

If you're too concerned with what's inside the box then you're probably "a technology collector" rather than "an audiophile" or even "a dedicated music listener"...

I Postulate:  No one designs a preamp, DAC, amp or speaker with the goal of nonlinear response.  No one designs them with a goal of specific and quantifiable distortion.  But somehow, many people believe that the designs of many of these components intentionally include these nonlinearities ... or, that the designs include characteristics that can't be quantified and yet result in "better" sound.

[marcl]

Feb 4, 2022 14:05:20 GMT -5 KeithL said:

I'd like to agree with you... but I'm not sure I can do so...

Very few modern companies, or individual designers, will admit that their design goal is a particular coloration or distortion.

Yet, at the same time, many companies still have "a house sound", and there are often minor but audible differences between similar products.

And, even more obviously, certain technologies and types of designs have quite unique and audible "sonic signatures".

I would point to tube amplifiers, vinyl albums, and non-oversampling R2R DACs, as products whose sole unique "product differentiator" is a specific "sonic signature" (audible coloration or distortion).

I don't think I've ever met someone, at least not recently, who purchased an amplifier without knowing if it was tube or solid state, "because it just sounded good" or "because it had the best measurements".

And I cannot recall the last time I met someone who purchased a preamp "because, when they set the gain to 1.0, and switched it in and out, they heard absolutely no difference".

(Based on the original definition of a high fidelity preamp - which is "a straight wire with gain".)

You just aren't going to find several companies who make "high-end preamps" who will say "our preamps are all so good they sound exactly the same - so pick the one with the features, casework, and knobs you like".

Virtually everyone insists that theirs sounds different or better...

And, in many cases, this leads to designs that do in fact sound audibly different.

(You can only argue that yours sounds better if it sounds at least a little bit different than the other guy's.)

And, yes, here at Emotiva we do at least ATTEMPT to deliver truly neutral sound.. although we'll admit that we may not always be 100.0% successful.

Feb 4, 2022 11:18:34 GMT -5 marcl said:

I Postulate:  No one designs a preamp, DAC, amp or speaker with the goal of nonlinear response.  No one designs them with a goal of specific and quantifiable distortion.  But somehow, many people believe that the designs of many of these components intentionally include these nonlinearities ... or, that the designs include characteristics that can't be quantified and yet result in "better" sound.

I appreciate that Emotiva attempts the neutral sound.   As for "You can only argue that yours sounds better if it sounds at least a little bit different than the other guy's." .... and if it costs more 

[405x5]

Feb 4, 2022 11:09:57 GMT -5 KeithL said:

I disagree...

The goal of audio reproduction is to reproduce an audio signal...

All that matters is the end result...

It may be that, at a certain time in history, a certain technology does this the best.

Or that, thanks to the current level of technology, a certain technology does an equally good job more easily or cheaply than another one.

But, in the end, all that matters is that end result.

An amplifier is essentially a black box.

A small signal goes in... and a bigger signal... hopefully otherwise identical to the original... comes out the other end.

If you're too concerned with what's inside the box then you're probably "a technology collector" rather than "an audiophile" or even "a dedicated music listener"...

Feb 4, 2022 9:51:40 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Class A and D will forever coexist but one will NEVER replace the other (and shouldn’t).

OOPS 😬 (not what I meant)
A and D currently (in the here and now) coexist in typical home theater installations ie D plate amps and main multichannel USUALLY AB.
Of course over time that could change but we have only to look at today’s marketplace to realize that D running over the field is quite a ways off.

[405x5]

Feb 4, 2022 7:12:43 GMT -5 bkdc said:

“I see no reason for class A to exist except as a space heater in the winter, nostalgia and to contribute to global warming (if you believe in that).”

Not a chance of this

[audiobill]

Many also consider aesthetics, build quality, provenance, reliability, resale,support and overall pride of ownership when choosing components.

For some, components are more than appliances.

[405x5]

Feb 4, 2022 15:25:45 GMT -5 audiobill said:

Many also consider aesthetics, build quality, provenance, reliability, resale,support and overall pride of ownership when choosing components.

For some, components are more than appliances.

Sure!

I’m on board with every item you mentioned except one…”resale”.
I buy the amp. (like the car) and I “drive” it until it has a MILLION miles on it, or I turn the key 🔑 and nothin happens (whichever comes first.)
Now I did sell my last 2 used amplifiers and did very well with them both but that was just a consequence of what I was doing and not the intention.

[bkdc]

Feb 4, 2022 15:25:45 GMT -5 audiobill said:

For some, components are more than appliances.

Well that’s for sure. It can be a back-breaking heavy space heater. These are tools that accomplish a certain task but there are no more polarized and strong opinions than from a group of audiophiles.

Seriously, there is nothing more fallible and inconcrete than our memory in relation to psychoacoustics.

As Bruno Putzeys has said before (I paraphrase), the change in sound characteristics and differences in distortion between modern solid state amplifiers is nothing compared to the distortion created by any high end speaker. The speaker creates distortion orders of magnitude greater than any amplifier driven within its specs. And yet people spend many dollars and much time obsessing over which amplifier is preferred.

I say just move your speaker 6 inches to the left. . Or better yet, use the DIRAC room correction. ^_^. And I like saving on my electric bill. But there’s something very alluring about a massive amplifier that weighs a hundred pounds! It’s like old school V12 power. And welll.. that might be sexier than a Tesla S Plaid.

[housetech]

Many of the best selling audio amps, preamps & integrated amps have a "signature sound". I don't see an issue if one knows that before purchase.
The reason I say it can be a good thing is to match or compensate for the speakers one chooses. No speaker is perfect, no room is perfect. Then add the fact our hearing changes with age.
I've had/have equipment that's cool and some are warm to match speakers and I like the ability to do so. I like my different genres to sound differently. I want video to sound different than music. I listen to cans because they sound different than in the room.
I'm a music lover, not a scientist or Audio engineer who's record an artist. If the music sounds good, clean & doesn't fatigue my listening, I'm happy. Remember sound signature is NOT distortion but a roll off or roll up of frequency. (not saying dips & peaks)
All my equipment (past & present) sounds slightly different, no problem.

I had class A furnace amps (heat is wasted energy, heat kills) and find today's A/B to be excellent.
I agree with Boom about class D- didn't like it, now I hear improvement in the highs. I'm still not sold for music, but could consider Class D for surround sound video play back.

 Thinking back- I had JBL L100 and AR 3a at the same time (polar opposites) and liked them both.

[leonski]

Feb 4, 2022 17:02:51 GMT -5 housetech said:

Many of the best selling audio amps, preamps & integrated amps have a "signature sound". I don't see an issue if one knows that before purchase.
The reason I say it can be a good thing is to match or compensate for the speakers one chooses. No speaker is perfect, no room is perfect. Then add the fact our hearing changes with age.
I've had/have equipment that's cool and some are warm to match speakers and I like the ability to do so. I like my different genres to sound differently. I want video to sound different than music. I listen to cans because they sound different than in the room.
I'm a music lover, not a scientist or Audio engineer who's record an artist. If the music sounds good, clean & doesn't fatigue my listening, I'm happy. Remember sound signature is NOT distortion but a roll off or roll up of frequency. (not saying dips & peaks)
All my equipment (past & present) sounds slightly different, no problem.

I had class A furnace amps (heat is wasted energy, heat kills) and find today's A/B to be excellent.
I agree with Boom about class D- didn't like it, now I hear improvement in the highs. I'm still not sold for music, but could consider Class D for surround sound video play back.

 Thinking back- I had JBL L100 and AR 3a at the same time (polar opposites) and liked them both.

Keep in mind, house, that from plug to speaker, a preamp, A/B amp, speaker is probably no more than 5% efficient.    The rest, as you note, is heat.      
You can tilt it a LITTLE by, for example, using a very low power amp with a HIGH sensitivity speaker.    A 5 a side amp, even tube, is not going to heat the room THAT much....

The AR3a was an aspirational speaker for me and I owned JBL 4311 clones.....Made by RSL, a Southern California Boutique dealer......The model 3600, as was the 3300 were both very well regarded....