Maybe, but here's the deal:
There's a certain amount of “zero-sum game” involved. You can have lower
distortion, but you have to trade off for it. Maybe you need a more complicated
circuit, maybe you need more negative feedback, or both.
A subjectivist viewpoint might be that distortion numbers don't matter anyway.
Probably this is true, but only up to a point. Somewhere above 1%, distortion gets
pretty tiresome. That amplifier may find itself in the closet next to the one with .
0000001% – it doesn't sound that good over the long haul.
Complexity and feedback come with their own baggage, and it's a fact that many
audiophiles will spend more money on amplifiers with higher distortion. Why is
that? My own opinion is that our ears seem to be able to discern something about
the process of amplification.
Perhaps amplifier that works hard to remove errors sounds different than one that
doesn't have to. The more simple and linear amplifier sounds more relaxed, and it
makes me more relaxed when I listen to it. Maybe I'll even fall asleep....
Where was I? Oh, I remember-
Maybe you just need gain devices that distort less in the first place.
These new parts give us more leverage when we are making the trade-offs
between low and high distortion, simplicity and complexity, feedback and no
feedback. With the proper choices, this makes for better amplifiers.
Better sounding amplifiers.
Read the brochure if you don't believe me:
“The J2 has a sound which is warm and relaxed, combining precision and detail
without sterility. With a pair of sensibly efficient loudspeakers, it will give you a
toe-tapping experience that other solid state amplifiers do not.”
Now everybody trying to sell you an amplifier will say something like that.
Fortunately, if you are reading this owner's manual, you've already bought the
product.
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