Massdrop x THX AAA 789

Well, allow me to call you names then. You are a DUMBASS MORON with your assertion that Massdrop is being misleading. The "<1% THD" power figures are quoted in the context of power numbers before clipping. Usually 1% is where the knee of the distortion curve starts to exponentially rise with power. In other words, it's reasonable to say that the amp is rated 6W into 16 ohms and 0.8 watts into 300 ohms, etc. since that is where clipping starts.

The later numbers with the 0.00000s that Massdrop included are for power levels (1mW and 100mW) more typical of normal usage / volume levels.

 

hint: here on SBAF "R" = resistance to knowing your audience before you spout off as Rando expecting us to "follow your links just because" you say so.
oh and yah. moron what he said.

 

Again, you are a MORONIC DUMBASS. Power ratings are arrived at by driving the amp to or near clipping, that is to a certain level of distortion. Whether that be 5%, 1% or 0.5%, there is no predetermined level that all manufacturers have agreed to, so if they want, they can fudge the power ratings. I believe in the USA, the FTC says it's 1% distortion for 1kHz tone. That is crank the amp up with 1kHz sine until it hits 1% THD or near that, and that's the rated power.

The 0.0006% on the Benchmark HPA cutsheet likely refers to distortion at typical usage levels. (Full load <> full power). If it really is 0.00006% THD at 6W into 16 ohms, then likely the power rating (<1% THD) would be MUCH higher than 6W into 16 ohms.

PLEASE DO NOT SPEW MISINFORMATION HERE. STFU IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WTF YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

 

And no, you don't get to edit your post to erase all trace of your stupidity unless you first apologize for your ignorance and spewing of misinformation. I plan on restoring your original posts.

 

First of all, you made some assertion of a resistor in series with the headphone's output. There is no such resistor because the Zout of the Massdrop THXAAA amp is 0.05, unless the implementation actually used a super small resistor which I doubt.

A cheap pot will subjectively lower sound quality, have channel tracking issues, and add to noise floor or THD+N, but it should not increase THD by itself. The amount of increased noise will depend upon the type of pot, 10k, 50k, 100k. However, it's important to note that a stepper, which consists of two resistors for a given attenuation (or a zillion of them in series like with the DACT) will also increase noise accordingly. What a stepper does is provide more precision.

Taking the channel tracking and precision steps advantages away, and assuming same resistance, at most a great stepper will probably amount to 3-6db better noise. We are NOT talking -90 to -120db differences here.

Finally, are you really that dumb? Massdrop actually provided a more comprehensive set of measurements than Benchmark did. Massdrop provided THD numbers at 1mW, 100mW, and rated power. Benchmark is pulling off mystery crap like "under full load" which is not the same as "under full or rated power".

You can be a BM fanboi all you want, but PLEASE STOP SELECTIVELY INTERPRETING REALITY IN BM'S FAVOR!

Yes, misinformation generally makes me go apeshit.

 

FWIW, I happen to run horn loudspeakers (ORIS / Lowthers + woofers) which are biamped. The woofers are 93db 1W/1m. The horns are 115db. Really, they are. It's pretty insane. I can't hear the difference between 0.01% and 0.001%.

 

This is a damn good amp for the price. I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more attention.

 

I would send it out if not for some planned changes (gain settings) which might affect the sound. Will do a comparo to the latest Jotenheim, which does sound different from the early production Jotunheim. There were rumors about this earlly on, but I can definitely attest to sonic changes that were in line with @brencho and @Bill-P observations a while back. Will use external DAC. I'm not a huge fan of the built-in multi-bit card, unless that too has been secretly upgraded like seemingly everything else in their lineup.

Early impressions are that both amps are good at about the same level. Jot is actually a bit warmer! Perhaps just a tick warmer than Magni 3 even. THX AAA has a tick more clarity, a tick deeper stage, and leaner (I'd say neutral) tonality. It likely comes down to synergies with headphones and DACs. I will investigate further.