I did see that, about a week ago as I was going down this rabbit hole. I really appreciate it, thanks for sharing. I subscribe to Stereophile. I've been rattling around in this rabbit hole for about three weeks, and keep thinking I just need to pull the trigger on the Buckeye and stop sweating the whole thing.
And then my stupid brain starts thinking about the (maybe) superior musicality of the MF 250.5, and I get stuck/paralyzed. And then I think, "would I really and truly hear a difference??" And I'm stuck.
Buckeye Amps musicality? Not measurements, musicality....
Hey Everyone.... question, I am contemplating the Buckeye Amps 9040 Purifi monoblocks. I am, at the same time, considering the Musical Fidelity M6x 250.5 (5 channel) all of this in an effort to run my LCR up front. (Arendal 1723 THX Monitors) - everything I read from Dylan at Buckeye and hear from his interviews in YouTube videos all surrounds measurements. Let's assume that every amp, in particular these two options, measure incredibly well. I get that.
But I also get that amp measurements are only a piece of how an amp ACTUALLY SOUNDS in the real world with my room and my speakers. Which is why its a red flag that Buckeye hides behind measurements as the end-all-be-all of buying an amplifier. If measurements were the absolute end of the discussion, there wouldn't have been a Class A or A/B amp sold in the last 5 years. I get that the Purifi stuff measures well, incredibly well, but to never say anything in public forums or in public interviews about how your amps actually sound or how musical they are compounds and continues the notion that while Class D measures insanely well, they sound cold, brittle, analytical, bright, shout'y and too forward. Class D or no Class D, it boils down to the amp designers' actual implementation of the technology in how it sounds, e.g. the input stage, the output stage, the signal path, etc.
So what I'm looking for I suppose is owners of exceptional Class A/B amps (like Musical Fidelity, Parasound, Rotel et al) who have made that leap of faith to the Purifi Buckeye either 7040 or 9040 modules and how your experience has been..... ?? Thanks immensely!
Showing 3 responses by audiotruth
@mapman I mean, yeah, maybe a little. I just know there's so much more to an amp than measurements, so to never say a single word about the input stage, or the potential sound quality differences in SMPS compared to LPS, it just concerns me. In Class A, sometimes the crappy measuring ones sound spectacular. Not super crappy, but you see what I mean. I wish the Buckeye amp company owners and amp designers of the world would say something, anything other than "our amps measure the best on the planet." |
@samureyex - @ericrhodes1 mostly agree. I find him maybe not lacking in knowledge so much as having a really poor bedside manner. If you contact Dylan directly, he makes you feel "less than" or you’re asking a inconsequential/unimportant question. I sent him an email once asking he had any plans to offer different op-amps, sort of like Apollon and Nord do..... his response was a VERY dismissive, "that would make utterly no difference in sound quality." Really? OK, maybe, maybe not. But I’m not a dumbass for merely asking. And maybe give me some tangible reason that op amp rolling "makes zero difference in sound." |