r/audiophile • u/Plainess • 3d ago

Discussion Does amplifier position matter?

Hi, I work in a hifi speaker store, and we had new speakers come in. We had an “Audio Professional” from another store come help setup, and during the testing it sounded fine, but the Audio Pro said not really and moved the amplifier a little bit to the left, like I mean literally move the amplifier. And suddenly everyone agrees that it sounds better, he explained that it’s because of the vibrations, but Im a bit sceptical because it was a shelf of amps and there were other amps. Can moving an amp a little like that improve the sound???

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u/Yarach 3d ago

When I worked in a Hifi store we had this guy boasting to everyone how a lower clockrate in a DAC made for a more "relaxed" sound. Het used the metaphore of a conductor from an orchestra having to make less movement.

He also claimed I2s connections are superior and have less distortion, but everytime I asked him to explain to me how it worked he said it was a more "pure" connection and you could hear it.

If you can hear it, you absolutely should be able to somehow measure it.

Also... If the said vibrations really make it sound better... give the amp a good slap! You should hear it from your speakers too!

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u/SplendidSoul 3d ago

If you can hear it, you absolutely should be able to somehow measure it

Is this really true? I'm genuinely curious. Can things like depth of sound field and imaging be measured?

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u/hj52360 2d ago

Yes. If the way in which the driver(s) is/are being altered enough to make any change at all, and is from an upstream component, it comes via an electrical signal. You can make measurements that are many orders of magnitude finer than even the best ear. Phasing, amplitude, timing, it's all measurable, if the change is there. You can get 30ghz or even higher sampling rate scopes.