Never thought I'd say this but the Big Amps may go the way of the Do Do sooner than later! Just got my new Totem Forest Signatures and am also having my Krell amp upgraded so I decided to get some hours on them using my BlueSound Powernode 2 (60w/ch digital amp) fed by my Vault 2 wirelessly! Man O Man...simply beautiful sound and effortlessly checks off all the high end boxes. Can't stop listening..so damn pure and right sounding. No interconnects, dinky stock power cords and a 3.8lb digital integrated amp! FYI, I've owned almost all the big dog gear mentioned and far more. Can't deny the change is coming and for me it indicates some exciting things are in store for the next generation of audiophiles. |
And all I'm saying is that I've owned $20k amps that couldn't do what my $799 Powernode 2 does so effortlessly! Something fundamentally right is going on and it can no longer be ignored...at least not by me. Short of being in front of a live orchestra I have never heard reproduced music deliver the subtlety, low level detail and both micro and macro dynamics at low to medium levels like what I'm hearing now. I've owned the reference combos from Levinson, Krell, ARC, Macintosh, BAT ETC...! Knowing what is possible now for a budding audiophile to achieve for under $10k (complete system) it makes me sick at the amount of money myself and others have poured out to the big audio companies in hopes of achieving the excitement of realistic music playback at home. I feel a bit violated actually;( |
So what are those amps you love?
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Look, I was a curmudgeon myself....as i said, I owned the Class A and AB $20K amps and preamps and the Wilson speakers and the Dyn C4's and the B&W 802D2's etc...! What I am hearing coming out of a $799 BlueSound integrated and Vault 2 feeding my Totem Forest Signatures is crazy good by any measure. In fact, it effortlessly trounces anything I've owned before....maddening actually! 3lb integrated and 40lb speakers absolutely melt my heart and entrance me like nothing I've heard anywhere...period. |
I grew up with vinyl and I can say that Hi Rez ripped CD's through my BlueSound rig delivers that vinyl magic without it's fatal flaws. My ripped CD's now sound like great vinyl when before, played through my $12k SACD/CD PLAYER sounded good but lacking in that vinyl dynamic vitality.
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So my BlueSound Powenode 2 ($799) and Vault 2 ($1299) won't hold there value? As if we buy for value...what are we Amish? Anyway, based on that premise $2K worth of stuff declines 75% lets say so we are left with $500 worth of gear. My Krell Cipher cost $12K and the highest resale I found was $4500 if mint with all original packaging and less than 2 years old. Most of the big name gear I have sold over the years wound up in the same ball park. Value? Really? High end audio? The value comes from the cost to performance ratio only I'm afraid....no one day trades in audio gear. |
I'm 55, so I've had a front row seat to the birth of high end audio and it's many transformations. Old tech is not necessarily better or worse than any other tech, rather, it's performance is dependent on it's execution. Once in awhile we are given a glimpse of what is possible. Digital amplification can and will supplant old technology because it can eliminate the inherent flaws in it's design. Limitations can be removed by simplifying the reproduction chain, adding full digital control of the source material without damaging the signal! Preamplification can be reduced to software...that's absolutely inspired and purist in design. The future is here and the potential is boundless...conventional tech is comparable to the Victrola! |
Ok, ok, ok...so I hooked up my upgraded Krell Vanguard and compared to the BlueSound Powernode 2 it sounds....drumroll please.....more weighty, organic and smoother with increased presence. I can also turn it up louder and the it doesn't get harsh. That said, I still think that Class D has great potential. |
True....we all have different expectations and biases!
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Breaking in my Totem Forest Signatures playing "Slipping Away" by the Stones from Stripped Album. My BlueSound Vault 2 is feeding my Krell Vanguard Digital via a new MIT Magnum Digital Coax cable....sound like a wet dream, where tube guy impregnated SS GIRL a bouncing baby Dream was born!! |
Uberwaltz, I have an iPad with current iOS and BlueSound app. The Vault will update itself periodically as needed. I have a Signal Cable Digital Reference power cord with Furutech C7 termination on its way...what the Hell, figure it can't help! I also run my Vanguard and Vault through a Transparent ISO DUO power outlet.
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Came across the most amazing power cord I've ever experienced and I paid nothing for it! Beat my $4k plus cords I have on hand....anyone wanna know what it is?
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Jet Hewtech PE SHIELDED
Hirakawa-FP 3 by 16gauge AWG
from Japan. White vinyl jacket with silver terminations and what looks like a ferrite magnet near inlet IEC. My dealer gave it to me to use with my Krell Vanguard Integrated but I never tried it till a couple days ago. They used to come with the High End Sony Plasma tv's...he said it was a good power cord (understatement). Anyway, it outperforms my MIT Oracle ACII Zcord ($4500), MIT Magnum ACII Z cord ($2300) Audioquest NRG 5 ($800)and Transparent Powerlink MM2 ($2100)!!! By outperform I mean it is practically perfect in every way so that it allows complete transparency, maximum dynamics, holographic imaging, natural tone with an organic sense of texture that creates 3D roundedness like great tube gear:). Simply astonishing.
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