How much amplifier power do you really need?

[RebelMan]

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Architecturally speaking, the Expert Pros are identical and so they should sound the same for a given SPL that does not breach the capabilities the weakest amplifier, the D140 in this case.  I say "should sound" because people have varying opinions about what they hear.  But what they hear has no baring on what is, the Expert Pros are in fact the same.

You can argue until you're blue in the face that two different amplifiers should sound the same because they have the same specifications, design, etc., but what people actually hear is what matters.  This is not an academic exercise to "spot the difference" between amplifiers, it's about a subjective experience.

Speaking as someone who has heard pretty much the whole of the Devialet Expert/Pro range, in my own room with no pressure or advice from people you dismiss as "jokers", I've chosen the one that gives me the best sound quality.  I feel no urge to talk condescendingly about your choice so perhaps you'd show me (and others) the same courtesy.

I trust what you think you hear makes a difference to you, regardless of whether it is true or not.  But have you ever been part of a blind testing group?  Most people that have been are often blown away by what they "thought" they were hearing.  I could elaborate with a recent example I was a party to (DAC Shootout) but that might take this discussion off topic.  Suffice it to say your ears can tell lies.

Also, haven't you found the near universal remarks by the "industry experts" that start off by saying one Devialet model sounds  virtually indistinguishable from another only to later change footing in the prose because they don't want to make the company look bad, a little too coincidental?  That's because they really aren't coincidental.  Just saying.