[mcullinan]

I think your right. I think everyones opinion would differ on which is THE reference amp above all others.  Everyones ears are different and some have a lot of goo in them.
Mike

[consttraveler]

TomS:

I did not mention it in my earlier contribution (?  ) to this thread, but I was listening to the Wyred amp through my Emerald Physics CS-2's.  It is truly a sweet combination. 

Dave

[dekkersj]

What is a "reference" amp?  Is there a perfect amp out there to which all other amps are compared.  If there is please let me know which one it is.

A reference amp is an amp without any distortion which can be heard by human beings. It is not necessary to make an amp better and better for sounding reasons. Of coarse the electronics must be well designed and do their jobs under heavy loads.

So, in fact there are a large number of reference amps out there  That's the good news and the bad news is that almost nobody agrees with it...

Regards,
Jacco

[TomS]

I interpreted from his request and those named in OP that to him "reference" meant amps most would say have very good street cred - DNA, Pass, CJ, BAT, Ayre, Theta, Audio Research, ... the personal lists of choices go on as Mike said.  Not really meaning the "one and only" that all would be referenced to.  Yes, we do that in labs with benchmark gear/traceable standards for measurements, but I don't think it applies here.  So perhaps a question might be, are there D/T's that truly hold their own with the big hitters?

[Wind Chaser]

I compared a DIY Paradise Charlize to the highly acclaimed EV Carina SET.  In spite of the 14X difference in cost, the Charlize wasn't the least bit embarrassed or out classed.  Not long thereafter the owner of the Carina parted company.

[jbtrio]

  Well ,I have a Spectron Musician III SE and think it is of reference quality.
 ro7939 if you didn't try it with a good tube pre-amp you missed out. The Spectron will show any weakness in your upstream components ,it is that transparent. The amp is very powerful with finesse and smoothness even at very high volume.The amp is just coasting along begging you to try and unsettle it.Your ears will give out well before the amp does.
 Feed it a good source and you will be rewarded.

[Double Ugly]

  Well ,I have a Spectron Musician III SE and think it is of reference quality.
 ro7939 if you didn't try it with a good tube pre-amp you missed out. The Spectron will show any weakness in your upstream components ,it is that transparent. The amp is very powerful with finesse and smoothness even at very high volume.The amp is just coasting along begging you to try and unsettle it.Your ears will give out well before the amp does.
 Feed it a good source and you will be rewarded.

IMHO, it's "reference quality" even without a tube pre-, or any pre- at all for that matter.

I know Simon (Spectron front man) prefers a good tube preamp (BAT, specifically), but personally I'm taken with the amp's honesty and prefer to leave the signal unmolested.

To my ears, in my system, according to my tastes & preferences, YMMV, etc., etc..

[NewBuyer]

The current active speakers I'm working on will use four channels of Hypex amplification.   The system should consume about 8-9W at idle and not much more under use.   In standby mode it should be around 5mA.    Since there isn't a passive crossover, no energy is wasted in resistor/inductor losses.    Also... since you gain more effective use of power with an active setup this should be roughly equivalent to 400W monoblocks driving each speaker.    The nightlight we use in the hallway and my kid's bedrooms dissipates about 8W.

That is orders of magnitude more efficient than even Class A/B amplifier designs and gives orders of magnitude more headroom in the loudspeaker design when compared to a passive crossover.    The tweeter is about 102dB/1W/1M @ 1.2K-3K and the horn gain starts to fall-off.   That translates to only needing mWatts of power put into the driver under normal use.   

Kevin, this is very exciting news. Can you please say: Will your new active speakers require an external power-filtering solution to sound their best, or will their own internal power supplies be robust enough to self-reject any AC noise?

[Kevin Haskins]

The current active speakers I'm working on will use four channels of Hypex amplification.   The system should consume about 8-9W at idle and not much more under use.   In standby mode it should be around 5mA.    Since there isn't a passive crossover, no energy is wasted in resistor/inductor losses.    Also... since you gain more effective use of power with an active setup this should be roughly equivalent to 400W monoblocks driving each speaker.    The nightlight we use in the hallway and my kid's bedrooms dissipates about 8W.

That is orders of magnitude more efficient than even Class A/B amplifier designs and gives orders of magnitude more headroom in the loudspeaker design when compared to a passive crossover.    The tweeter is about 102dB/1W/1M @ 1.2K-3K and the horn gain starts to fall-off.   That translates to only needing mWatts of power put into the driver under normal use.   

Kevin, this is very exciting news. Can you please say: Will your new active speakers require an external power-filtering solution to sound their best, or will their own internal power supplies be robust enough to self-reject any AC noise?

Oh boy... your asking me to step in it!   

It depends on your Dogma.     

[NewBuyer]

Kevin, this is very exciting news. Can you please say: Will your new active speakers require an external power-filtering solution to sound their best, or will their own internal power supplies be robust enough to self-reject any AC noise?

Oh boy... your asking me to step in it!   

It depends on your Dogma.     

I understand.

So please, could you offer your dogma on the matter, regarding your upcoming new active speakers? Should they perform up to your standards without power filtration, so long as the AC noise is not terrible? Will they have any built-in capability at all, to handle a "reasonable" amount of incoming AC noise? Please say yes!