I've carefully read and re-read your posts regarding your experience with the IO. Not sure, but doesn't bass need a bit of room to fully spread out? If your up close to the speakers as in a desktop setup, it might sound like less bass than if you are further away. The upper mids and highs might be grabbing your attention more than the bass, perhaps?
The reviews from alpha-audio.net state this about both the E40 and the Io:
Keces E40: What immediately strikes you is the exceptional low-end that this amplifier sends through our speaker. We have seldom heard so much power and control from such a small box. The Rega Brio is the closest but the Keces E40 goes far beyond… Bizarre. A lot of modern monitors can use a kick in the butt, but of course it’s important to keep an eye on them. With our little Cabasse Surf mini-monitors it was sometimes too much of a good thing.
Rega IO: Coincidentally, we ourselves have a fine, modest amplifier in our listening room! It’s the Keces E40 (599 euros) which, as its name suggests, has 40 watts in class A / B on board and also performs a bit above its level. It even delivers some decent watts in pure class A. And it offers, besides a phono stage, also a USB dac. So there are more similarities than differences between both amplifiers. But in terms of sound we notice some nuances here and there. The io has a more powerful bass and is a bit more playful than the Keces. The Keces is a bit more balanced to our feeling but a bit less transparent. Choices, choices, choices.
I know how most of us feel about reviews, alpha audio says the Keces e40 goes beyond the Brio but says the IO has more bass than the Keces but suggests it's less than the Brio? Kind of doesn't make sense.
The Keces has some kick like no other amp I've tried under a grand has but it's also smooth. I think the IO adds a bit to the upper mids and treble which if not balanced with the lower mids and bass will stand out to much so all you'll focus on is the brightness/clarity at the expense of bass (SoundArtisit SA-200A did that, way too bright in my system).
Are you jumping the gun selling off the equipment too soon because you are frustrated? I might have jumped on the Triangles but I have the Zetas which have a titanium tweeter. Not sure about the softdome.
As to the amp, I am very tempted. It may give a bit more aire on the upper mids and treble but if the energy is too much, it might overshadow the lows. The Keces doesn't have quite the aire of the Emotiva A400z which was way more powerful than the BasX A100 but I liked the high frequency extenstion, but overall it didn't sound like a higher end product. The lows were a bit less, less defined and overall the SS was very 2 dimensional.
Maybe your jumping the gun. Give it time for your brain to adjust too. Unless you just hate your system, keeping it intact will allow you focus on what you like or need and when you do get something else, the comparisons will be more useful when you swap equipment in and out.
Something to think about as I know how frustrating one can get from experience regarding audio.
The reviews from alpha-audio.net state this about both the E40 and the Io:
Keces E40: What immediately strikes you is the exceptional low-end that this amplifier sends through our speaker. We have seldom heard so much power and control from such a small box. The Rega Brio is the closest but the Keces E40 goes far beyond… Bizarre. A lot of modern monitors can use a kick in the butt, but of course it’s important to keep an eye on them. With our little Cabasse Surf mini-monitors it was sometimes too much of a good thing.
Rega IO: Coincidentally, we ourselves have a fine, modest amplifier in our listening room! It’s the Keces E40 (599 euros) which, as its name suggests, has 40 watts in class A / B on board and also performs a bit above its level. It even delivers some decent watts in pure class A. And it offers, besides a phono stage, also a USB dac. So there are more similarities than differences between both amplifiers. But in terms of sound we notice some nuances here and there. The io has a more powerful bass and is a bit more playful than the Keces. The Keces is a bit more balanced to our feeling but a bit less transparent. Choices, choices, choices.
I know how most of us feel about reviews, alpha audio says the Keces e40 goes beyond the Brio but says the IO has more bass than the Keces but suggests it's less than the Brio? Kind of doesn't make sense.
The Keces has some kick like no other amp I've tried under a grand has but it's also smooth. I think the IO adds a bit to the upper mids and treble which if not balanced with the lower mids and bass will stand out to much so all you'll focus on is the brightness/clarity at the expense of bass (SoundArtisit SA-200A did that, way too bright in my system).
Are you jumping the gun selling off the equipment too soon because you are frustrated? I might have jumped on the Triangles but I have the Zetas which have a titanium tweeter. Not sure about the softdome.
As to the amp, I am very tempted. It may give a bit more aire on the upper mids and treble but if the energy is too much, it might overshadow the lows. The Keces doesn't have quite the aire of the Emotiva A400z which was way more powerful than the BasX A100 but I liked the high frequency extenstion, but overall it didn't sound like a higher end product. The lows were a bit less, less defined and overall the SS was very 2 dimensional.
Maybe your jumping the gun. Give it time for your brain to adjust too. Unless you just hate your system, keeping it intact will allow you focus on what you like or need and when you do get something else, the comparisons will be more useful when you swap equipment in and out.
Something to think about as I know how frustrating one can get from experience regarding audio.
