Anyone heard AES/Cary Sixpac monos?

Thanks, Troutki.

You can check out my system at Nicholas Renter's System

If I may quote myself:

As for the AES hardware (AE-3 DJH and Sixpacs), I was nervous about transitioning to tubes. Would the tube rush drive me crazy? Could I live with the weak, flabby bass? What am I going to do with only 50 Watts? Well, let me assure you, the AES hardware quickly dispelled all of my fears. I can literally crank the volume (with no source active) and hear absolutely nothing from the speakers. No rush. No hum. No noise. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Sometimes when the spacing between tracks on a CD is a little longer than usual, I wonder if my system has shut itself off.

The low end is absolutely wonderful. Now I'm not saying that the AES hardware equals the "slam" of the Rotel powerhouse, but there is something there that is more satisfying. I've been trying to think of a way to articulate it in words, but I haven't found them yet. The low end seems to be “more appropriate”. You don’t feel it in the chest, but with all of the wonderful qualities the AES hardware brings to the table, you really don’t care.

The dynamics of the pre-amp / amps surprised me as well. Why my previous solid state components sounded compressed is beyond me (especially with a 200 Watt per channel beast driving monitor speakers). I thought that previous incarnations of my system were revealing all that the source had to offer. The AES hardware presented detail and nuance buried within many of the CDs and LPs that I've listened to for 20 years (or more). What was obscure is now accessible.

It did take longer than the stated 100 hours to break in the AES hardware (about 240 hours - but, hey...who's counting?). This may be attributed to the Jensen capacitors I had upgraded when I place the order for the Sixpacs.

The only reservations I have about the AES hardware is purely superficial: I don't care for the myriad of fonts and font sizes on the faceplates, the blue LED on the AE-3 DJH should be replaced with a red LED as on the Sixpacs, the speaker binding posts need to be upgraded, and since the bias pot is hyper-sensitive, a large knob should be included. I’ve been e-mailing the techies at AES, and all of my concerns can be easily remedied.

I'm using B&W Nautilus 805s + a REL Strata III (crossed over at 42Hz I believe). My frame of reference comes from using a Rotel RMB-1095 with this speaker setup.

When I put in Nine Inch Nails "Pretty Hate Machine" and let the db's fly, I'm not disappointed in the least. I can hear (and feel) the double-kick work articulated on Tool's "Lateralis" release, but it's expressed differently than with the solid state beast.

I'm glad you brought up the Rogue Magnum M-120's. Troutki has a pair and we were just talking about doing a shootout sometime.

Are the SixPacs good with large scale classical music? That's an interesting question. Let me ask you a question to help clarify the root of your inquiry:

What aspects of large scale classical music are you most interested in?

The low end is phenominal for a 50 Watt tube amp. The imaging is supurb. The detail is presented in an appropriate (albeit very revealing way). Dynamic is an appropriate adjective in both the large scale and small scale sense of the word.

These are characteristics that I enjoy in all music, so it would be difficult for me to weight any of those qualities for a particular genre.

Once my new table / tonearm / cartridge break in and I have an opportunity to tweak my analog setup, I hope to have some unbiased people over for a listen (then subsequently post their impressions - both good and bad - of this system).

Personally, I'm *very* pleased with this setup.