Spencer has said it all. I wholeheartedly agree. |
I was quite fascinated with what Trcnetmsncom had to say about his perception of a high end flaw in the MA-2s. Tom's likening this flaw to the high end rendering of the Martin Logan CLS 2Z made clear to me what he meant, because I auditioned those speakers a long time ago and I disliked them right from the beginning just because of that. I have the latest version of the Ma-2s, haven't rolled the 6SN7s so far and I just don't hear what Tom hears on my particular speakers, the big Sound Labs. Not that I doubt the sophistication of his hearing, nor his experience with live music. I share that with him, being a regular concert goer and intimately familiar with the sound of both violin and piano and just cannot find the flaw he mentions in my particular setup, which he obviously heard on several occasions on different rigs. This may well be a hearing impairment on my part, because I am advanced in age, however my wife, who plays the violin also cannot find anything wrong with the Sound Lab's/ MA-2 rendering of her instrument. We listened again extensively to Hilary Hahn's exceptional rendering of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas and could not find this particular shortcoming.
We then tried piano on LP: Martha Argerich's rendering of Liszt's b-minor sonata, an early DG 2530193, again the highs were clear, crisp, without a trace of harshness or brightness. So this is puzzling. The big Sound Labs are not an easy load, but obviously pair very well with Ralph's bigger amps. Possibly we have just struck it lucky with this combination and would have been equally unhappy, trying the MA-2s with the Avalons. No lack of "denseness" either, with our stators to our taste and ears.
Thank you Tom. I found your contributions both important and thought as well as "hear" provoking. Obviously we strive for the same thing, the best balance of all "sonic virtues" as you put it so well, with "no area severely lacking". Obviously your benchmark is your experience of the live event as it is mine. We may have different tastes and rigs, but it feels good not be alone in this. |
Hello Tom,
HH sure does. I am glad you agree. Thank you for your additional information. I'll go an researching. I suspect, my Wavac phono pre kindly glosses over the shortcomings you mentioned, without being euphonic though, as was the case with the old Jadis gear I once owned, because today I had the occasion to try out a Boulder 2008 phono pre amp and heard exactly what you did, fiddling wildly with the VTA of my cart with no avail. But then it may be the cable between cart and Boulder not yet broken in. We'll see, but you may very well have a point, because the Sound Labs should be no less revealing than the Avalons from what I have heard. We'll see, respective hear, after all this is a work in progress.
Cheers,
Detlof |
Lewm,
Thank you! That is very interesting. In fact I wanted to research the same, but then was too busy to do so. By the way, it was the cable breaking in not the Atmas after all, when I began to seem to hear the same "thinness" through the Sound Labs, which Trcnetmscom had described hearing through the Avalons with them. Wanted to report that anyway.
Cheers, |
Hi Pubul57
My MP-1 Mk. III developed a problem due to shipping, which absolutely without Ralph's fault is not yet resolved. I had occasion to borrow a WAVAC which to my ears mated perfectly with my MA-2 Mk. IIIs driving my U-1PX Sound Labs. I was so enthralled with this combination that I later bought one used here on Audiogon, tube rolled the Ruskies for Mullards and am happy. Once my problem with the MP-1 is solved, I'll compare and sell one of the two preamps.
Hi Tom,
I've followed your advice digging out all sorts of jazzy software I could find on CD, LP and Steve Nugent's "SPOILER", a wonderful USB-DAC by the way, clobbers Zanden and the dcs-stack, and could -perhaps would(: not - hear what you did. As I noted above, at first I thought I had it pinpointed, but then it turned out it was an IC, starting to break in causing that anorexia in sound, which thanks to the Audio gods soon gained sufficient weight again to be out of danger... |
Lightning protection was my concern as well. I am using Running Springs with Stealth Dream 20amp power cords on a dedicated line. No degradation of sound I found |
Hi Honest1,
Too early to say, I'm afraid. Thanks to their huge power reserves they wouldn't clip where the Atmas did, also it seemed to me, that on the piano LP I listend to, they rendered the decay of notes better than the Atmas, but I'm not sure at all. I was so taken in by the music, that I did not want to do direct comparisons. I'll do that later and keep you posted by mail.
Cheers, |
Emailists,
The Atmas take FN4 Fusetrons. I am not aware that there are premium versions for these beasts on the market. |
Honest1,
all I can say at the moment, that both amps are true to the music. Speaking of the Atmas, the amps give you a sort of middle of the hall placement with most classical recordings and a midrange which is impeccable, adding nothing, taking nothing away. However, if things get really loud, they do clip on the Sound Labs. The VTL's with their 600 pentode watts don't, they move you closer to the stage, are more powerful in the lower bass regions, something you don't miss though with the Atmas, because their blend between mid , highs and lows is almost perfect. Listening to the VTLs is like changing your seat more to the front, closer to the music, which is represented most realistically. I still have to find something to fault them. But getting that close, also in a real concert can have its drawbacks, you tend to concentrate on details, instead of taking in the entire "gestalt" of the music, which the Atmas achieve beautifully.
In listening to jazz-combos, the VTL throws the happening right into your room, with absolutely uncanny realism and rocks teady players in excellent three dimenionality. The Atmas are a tad more polite, also again here a little more laid back, but in their way just as musically convincing.
Both amps are excellent achievements I would say, at least to my ears. |
