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Damn, I was hopin someone would start tearin stuff up in here and get deep into theoretical/factual conversation.....I guess this thread is just going to die....

I don't think transparency really has a numeric value per se. It's simply a term used to explain a lack of anything added to the original source signal by anything in the signal path between the original medium (say, the CD) and your ears. signal processing, amplification, etc.. all of it adds some coloration, distortion, etc to the signal.. the less it adds, the more transparent the sound will be.. or the closer to how it was meant to sound with no alteration by external factors.

things like bass boost, equalization, and even the way transistors amplify the signal add color or harmonics to the original signal, so the signal is altered in some way.. be it audible or not.

this is why I like the KISS approach to audio systems.. the less the better.
the fewer things you need to add to a system, the closer to the original signal you'll get at the other end of the line.

Think of headroom like potential energy as opposed to the kinetik energy being used to actually produce the sound you hear.
an amplifier has a finite amount of power it can produce depending on the signal itself, duration, and so forth. That amount of power by and large is determined by the amplifier's power supply. The better the power supply portion of the amp design, the better it's going to be able to respond to peak transient bursts of demand, even at it's limits for RMS power production.. so at full volume, it's still got enough juice not to clip or sound "flat" because of compression of that dynamic range and power as the power supply nears it's limits.
Most amp power supplies, in good amps, can produce as much as three times the amp's RMS power rating.. that's the reserve power that helps define the amp's headroom.
Again though, not an easy thing to assign a quantitative value to, because you're talking about a lot of variables with audio amplification.

Interesting info. Reading about transparency sparked a question. You mentioned that the least amount of circuitry yields the least amount of coloration of sound. Completely understandable.

Could this imply then, that is may be better to use an active crossover and an amp with no built-in crossover whatsoever, given that the active crossover and amp are just as transparent as each other? To me it seems that a built-in crossover inside an amp is just more circuitry right?

However, this could backfire because an active crossover is that much more circuitry for the signal to pass through before it even gets to the amp, however, keep in mind that I am asking about two active units that are both in theory as close to transparent as physically possible......I hope this is a clear enough question, and also worthy of an answer......

active is a better way to go yes.. if the amp crossovers are internal or external is your call though, but I agree having the redundancy of two crossovers in line doesn't help anything.
It's done more as a selling feature these days, and not for an improvement in purist quality.
One reason I like my old Orions.. nothing added to them unless it's external.

wow this is some good stuff and i have learned alot!! yall are some very smart guys. i like this kinda stuff love car audio central you learn so much from people that know so much!! you thought you knew then you learn you were wrong. thanks guys.

GlassWolf wrote:active is a better way to go yes.. if the amp crossovers are internal or external is your call though, but I agree having the redundancy of two crossovers in line doesn't help anything.
It's done more as a selling feature these days, and not for an improvement in purist quality.
One reason I like my old Orions.. nothing added to them unless it's external.

I would love to score two 2500D's man. I missed out when Ikesound had the refurbs for a while, it's too bad. I am not even going to install that MA amp. Since I am using Elevation and Cadence for everything else, why use shit for the sub power? I will sell them locally, everyone here loves bling.....then I will invest in something like Arc or Zapco, something worth investment.....

if you go with current models, look at Arc closely. good stuff, and the engineer from Zapco's formet C2K line works for Arc now, so you're getting a lot of the same brains going into those amps.