Electronic Amplifiers

Digital processing has gotten good, but unfortunately sound output is never going to be a flawless thing. With electronic amplifiers, you're always going to run into compromises. For example, a very high fidelity electronic amplifier with very precise speakers may give you extremely accurate audio reproduction, but it will also give you a cold tinny sound. Warmer audio amplifiers that emphasize pleasant tones over unpleasant ones will degrade your audio fidelity so you won't be hearing the same signal as the original recording. Things get even more complicated when you use an audio amplifier between your PC and your stereo. With every level of complexity, with every change in format, and with every connection, there is a potential for distortion. Getting high end audio amplification all the way through the whole series of connections is not easy to say the least.

This is why you can never look at audio amplifiers in isolation. Your audio amplifier is just one part of your entire sound system. Let's take a simple case. Imagine that you are a guitarist playing in a rock band. If you go for an extremely accurate audio amplifier such as a keyboard amp, plug it into your guitar and your distortion pedal, you get a sound that you will probably find unpleasant. This is because, when you are playing electric guitar, accuracy isn't what you want. Taking a distortion pedal and reproducing the sound it makes too accurately gives you harsh square waves, resulting in an unpleasant tone. If you use a tube amp instead preferably a small guitar amplifier you end up with a much warmer, sweeter sound. Technically, you would be using one of the less accurate sorts of electronic amplifiers, but it would still give you a better tone.

With electronic amplifiers as with anything electronics it is all a matter of knowing what results you want. While some people swear by certain electronic amplifiers, in reality there is no model that is the absolute best. The right electronic amplifier for a classical music enthusiast who listens to his sound on small speakers in a fairly small room is not the same amp that would best serve a rock fan who likes to blast his music for his friends at parties. Granted, good electronic amplifiers work pretty well under almost any circumstance, but you still have to do your research. Test out your electric amp with the equipment you're going to be using it with. Plug in the speakers you're going to be using, turn on the music you want to listen to, and try to set it up in a room of similar size. Granted, not all stories are equipped to test their electronic amplifiers under those conditions, but if you can find one that is you'll have more success finding exactly what you want.