# Amps....Car Audio vs Headphones



## rc10mike (Mar 27, 2008)

It seems to me, that the general consensus in the car audio world is that all amps sound the same. Fine, thats cool. I cant honestly say Ive heard a real difference....oh well.


On the other hand. In the headphone/headfi world, the general accepted opinion is that amps DO make a big difference. I learned this after spending some time reading/researching over at headfi. They use terms like "warm" or "bright", even with headphone amps costing thousands of dollars. Its accepted as an actual attribute to said amps and never argued against.


So who is right and who is wrong?


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## vrdublu (Apr 13, 2009)

I don't think the consensus here at diyma is that "all amps sound the same", I think the reality is that all amps can be made to sound the same with enough processing. Everyone has an opinion about everything on the internet, the hard part is weeding through the biased opinions and ********, so that you can get down to the facts and proven science. In the end, wrong and right play very little difference in what matters to you?


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## TOOSTUBBORN2FAIL (Jan 31, 2011)

A better question is do the amps that sound different measure different? 

And if they dont, are the tests truly blind and fair?


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## rc10mike (Mar 27, 2008)

They also say over at headfi that a $400 headphone cable can make cans sound brighter, so IDK...


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## vrdublu (Apr 13, 2009)

rc10mike said:


> They also say over at headfi that a $400 headphone cable can make cans sound brighter, so IDK...


Apparently copper makes them sound warmer as well.


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## RNBRAD (Oct 30, 2012)

In a double blind, no one can tell the difference. When people see a change, or believe a change, then they will experience the difference. If they believe its a better change, their experience will be good and vice versa.


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## therapture (Jan 31, 2013)

There was a real test done on speaker wire, using some high end ****, and some truly low end **** (coat hanger wire). 

Nobody could tell the difference.

Anyone that thinks a $400 headphone cable is going to be drastically different than a $10 one...well, I got some cheap waterfront property for sale located only 10 miles from the gulf.


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## Bryce418 (Jan 10, 2013)

AndroidCarAud said:


> Hey,
> Speakers let lots of people listen, whether they want to or not; headphones keep the sonic fun to one person.


too true, people around me listen to good music at high volume, whether they like it or not!


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## JohnVella (Sep 2, 2013)

AndroidCarAud said:


> Hey,
> Speakers let lots of people listen, whether they want to or not; headphones keep the sonic fun to one person.


Yes, i agree with you


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## captainscarlett (Mar 15, 2011)

1) I disagree that all amps sound the same. I always found my 3 Alpine amps to be a bit light on bass, whether they were hooked up to the sub or speakers. My JL Audio and Pioneer amps were warmer and fuller (driving my Morel's) than the Alpines. 

2) Having run a headphone website, and seems though I'm down to my last 35+ pairs of headphones and only 7 headphone amps, cables, respective technology, amps all make a difference, to the sound. How could it be otherwise?


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## Spyke (Apr 20, 2012)

I have an old jensen that I love the sound of.(One of the blue anodized ones). I don't really care for my alpine which is weak on bass and a bit bright. My rockfords sound good and flat with maybe a touch too much midrange. I agree, amps do sound different.


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

rc10mike said:


> They also say over at headfi that a $400 headphone cable can make cans sound brighter, so IDK...


They are wrong.

This has been proven many times by DBT.

I believe amps are sonically different... That being said, you are simply plugging headphones directly into an amp. No EQ, no processing. Nothing. 

Car audio is an entirely different beast. Also consider the fact that a car is not completely silent... especially at freeway speeds.


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## captainscarlett (Mar 15, 2011)

JVD240 said:


> They are wrong.
> 
> This has been proven many times by DBT.
> 
> ...


Neither is listening to headphones on a bus or walking down the street or trying to listen when the trouble and strife (wife) is giving me ear-ache


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## jdsoldger (Feb 14, 2012)

Do amps sound different? Yes. The reason is all in the design. While you can do the math and come up with "perfect"amplifiers and such, this just isn't the case in the real world. There will always be trade off to make a design work. Sometimes it is cheaper componants, less linear output devices, a simpler less optimal design to meet a price point. Different oppions on how an amp should sound. That said, most of these differences are small ( unless we are talking super cheap ultra low price point stuff where the designs are comprimised to begin with) and can only be picked up in double blind testing. 

I have personnaly gotten to do some double blind testing. It was between two vintage home audio receivers. One had new electrolitic capacitors to replace the old ones, the other was factory original. Both receivers were hooked up to a relay switching test thing, level matched using an SPL meeter and then we were aloud to flip between them using a remote switch. The difference was subtle but there. We were not told until after which was which. It too me 5 minutes with material I was intimatly familiar with before I was sure there was a difference. We were given little score cards to rank various things (i forget exactly what) those were collected and tallied after the test by the person running it. The final result was almost every one chose the recapped one to sound better with more detail. The thing was almost everyone agreed that if it hadnt been an instantly switched blind AB we would not be able to hear the difference. It was too subtle.

So yes, amps sound different. How, why and what will vary and in a noisy car environment where you are using DSP and tons of other things there are way more important fish to fry (sound deadening, driver selection and placement, tuning ect.) Than how an amp sounds.

If anyone is interested I could build a small relay switcher and we could do some blind AB testing if there is a group near NJ that is interested.


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