[gijoe]

Thanks for that! Yes, but good power is still sometimes hard to find. My home speakers are active-crossover with ATI AT524NC class-d amps and they are fantastic. You'd have to get Pass Alephs or something like that to do better. So, I think with the Hypex class-d modules, class-d has gotten as good as or better than class a/b. That being said, there are some real high-end bargains out there in 20-year-old class A and A/B amps. But if class-d is just as good and cheaper and less power required, then hey... why not!

I had a MiniDSP on my home speaker for 6 months. I got rid of it in favor of the ASP because I couldn't stand the treble grain that the DSP added. Just looking at the audio section after the D/A and you could see why it sounded so shrill. I've heard good things about the Helix dsp.3s, so maybe I'll go DSP if it's in the league of Ayre, Chord, PS Audio.

Try not to get caught up in the snake oil. Good amps are not difficult to find. Sure, there are crappy amps out there, but the majority of the good brands (Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, etc.) all make very good amps that will sound every bit as good as the luxury amps like Brax.

DSPs will be very important, FAR more important than the difference between a Kenwood Ecelon amp and a Brax amp.

 

[gijoe]

Sorry but kenwood, alpine and pioneer do not make anything comparable to brax, that’s just not accurate at all, I know we disagree on various things, but if you genuinely believe what you just wrote then you know nothing about amplifier topology

Tell him he can buy a 500 dollar receiver and replace his ati hypex amplifiers as all amps sound the same as well

We certainly disagree plenty. My overall point is that luxury amps aren’t necessarily any better sounding in a car. If you sit in your car, in the garage, with the door closed, and listen to music, sure maybe a Brax will out perform a nice Alpine amp, but on the road at 50mph that extra detail (if there is any to begin with) is gone. If OP has the money, why not spend it on a Brax, or Genesis amp, but I would put the budget towards good speakers, a flexible DSP, and proper sound deadening long before spending money on luxury amps. If the money is there to do all of that then go for it!