WC, your description of the amps was informative, concise and to the point. There was less repetition in the comments than the previous videos. The flow of speech was also very solid.
My 2 cents.
My 2 cents.
My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
So I have been in a long journey looking to find the best amplifiers for my martin logan montis. As you know, the match between an amplifier and speakers has to be a good "marriage" and needs to be blend exquisitely. Right now, I think I might have found the best sounding amplifier for martin logan. I have gone through approximately 34-36 amplifiers in the past 12 months. Some of these are:
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
Showing 33 responses by dasign
WC, I agree with other post members that you should use the better PCs for your interconnect/speaker cable tests. As you experienced yourself, PC make a positive difference sound wise. If I was in the market to purchase a new interconnect cable, I would make sure that the rest of my system is tweaked correctly (PCs, speaker cables, amp matched to speakers, preamp matched to amp, etc.). I think your test should replicate a real audiophile life situation. |
I personally do not believe in blind testing since there could be too many caveats regarding the testing procedure. See the following links explaining these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaosSiupd-8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG6LS9VDZlg Once Jay fine tunes his Mephisto, he will pick the Mephisto as the best amp 10 out of 10 times, especially if he picks tracks he is familiar with. |
Jay, I like your thinking process. The Maggie’s are the best speaker for the long run. I did mention it on your YouTube channel (Daniel Babeux). I could certainly live with the ML if space, like you mentioned, was an issue. They sure have nice controlled bass. Once you install your subs on the Maggie’s, you will cure what was lacking in the bass department VS the ML. I think these speakers are going to rock your socks off. They provide such a huge soundstage and cannot imagine how they will sound, with nice/fast subs like the 2 brands you indicated previously. |
Jay, I've been following this thread for a while now, as well as your YT Channel with great interest. I was pleasantly surprised when you compared DAC direct VS DAC through a preamp. The preamp VS no preamp dilemna was resolved for me, once I heard the audio quality improvement on your video. My front end equipment consists of the following: Arris TM722G Cable Modem/Ethernet/Asus RT-N66U/Ethernet/Sonore OpticalModule/Ethernet Fiber/Sonore OpticalRendu/USB/Benchmark DAC3HGC. The fiber network before the DAC3 HGC was critical in reducing background noise/veil. I listen mainly music either through my home network and Tidal via Roon. Since I've owned every iteration of the Benchmark DAC's which I really liked, I decided to jump on the preamp bandwagon and purchased the Benhmark LA4 preamp. My listening preference is fidelity to the source with no coloration coming from the gear. If the recording sucks or is great, I want to hear it. I've had the LA4 for a week now, and all I can confirm that inserting a preamp between my DAC and my monoblocks, greatly improved the sound quality of my system. Just for that, I thank you sir! The soundstage has exploded and musicality has increased in quality, like if a veil was lifted. The music is tonally richer and organic, like 'more meat on the bones' effect, while keeping a noiseless/black background with the insertion of the LA4 preamp. So the net effect on my system was an increase in 'thereness' if that word exists. I'm not saying that the LA4 is better than the MBL, D'Agostino or Audio Research preamps. Just saying that in my situation, with current gear I own, the LA4 has helped increasing the joy of listening to music. |
WC, since you just purchased the Alexx, I bet that your next move is to get either the Boulder 2150 monoblocks or to purchase Gryphon monoblocks. You are playing in the big leagues with the Alexx and these bad boy speakers need to be punished with a ‘lot’ of watts! You already have the respective preamps to create a match made in heaven! |
Jay, just finished reading your Harmon news release link about the new ML-50 monoblocks. Looks interesting, but these amps should have better looking handles for a $50K pricing...They are look too much in your face IMHO. I think that Harmon wanted to give the ML-50 a similar esthetical look as the previous ML-23.5 amp. They should have kept the handles in black for the ML-50...I also understand that this is a very subjective topic, but this is my 2 cents 😉. |
I’ve had 2 similar experiences using a preamp with 2 different DACs. My previous front end was composed of a Benchmark DAC3 HGC feeding directly Classé Audio CAM 600 Monoblocks which sounded reasonably good. I was always on the line regarding the use of a preamplifier, since logic indicates that a simpler audio path should sound better. I understand that a separate preamplifier should have better circuitry than the preamplifier section of a ‘midrange’ priced DAC. Following the rave reviews of the Benchmark LA4 Line amplifier, and since it was reasonably priced, I decided to purchase one. Wow, what a difference in sound this LA4 made. Less edginess, natural timbre on acoustic instruments and expanded soundstage. Last November, I replaced the Benchmark DAC with a Denafrips Terminator Plus and Denafrips Hermes DDC. Now we are talking! Again, expanded soundstage, walls of my dedicated listening room have disappeared, veil lifted, noise is reduced, bass is tighter, mid/high frequencies sounding even more natural and cohesive very like a camera in focus. The Benchmark DAC includes a preamp section which needs to be set in Home Theater mode, if used with a preamplifier. Not totally sure what is going on from an internal circuit structure, but the DAC has a fixed analog output voltage and the DAC volume control is disabled. The Denafrips DAC has no preamplifier section. It’s output feeds the Benchmark preamp directly. In both cases, using a preamplifier made a significant improvement in sound quality. So totally in agreement with Jay’s findings. |
Jay,
I hear you. I recently replaced all of my interconnects and speaker cables. Sounded much more natural and extended at frequency extremes. It was a nice improvement over my previous cables. A month later, I replaced all of my power cords. My bass was now fully extended and sounding natural. I made A/B testing to make sure that my new power cords sounded better, which they did initially and sold all of my old power cords. A few weeks later, it started playing into my mind. I am now feeling that I have a slight loss of slam/dynamics VS my previous power cables. Is it my memory playing some tricks on me, or is it the new power cords who have now broken in and sound softer than my previous cables? Who knows... |
Jay, for your Alexx aftermarket footers, I strongly suggest the IsoAcoustics Gaia footers. Michael Fremer tried these on his Alexx and had very positive comments on them: https://www.stereophile.com/content/analog-corner-303-accessorize-your-ride I tried spikes on my Apogee Duetta Signature, then moved to Steve Blinn design footers, which were an improvement over the spikes. About 2 weeks ago, I purchased the IsoAcoustics Gaia footers out of curiosity. I was blown away...better bass, increase in resolution, better soundstage, etc. Pretty sure that you will love them. |
Jay - As a follow-up to chayro's excellent question, do you think that with your present gear and new dedicated sound room, some of the equipment you rated then, would merit a different rating today? You gear as evolved greatly (Alexx speakers, top-notch preamp/amp combos, stands, top-notch interconnects/speaker cables, etc...) Just curious... |
Jay, I would suggest that you try the Transparent Opus. You know how the Audioquest sound. Since the purpose of Jay’s Audiolab is to try new stuff, it seems logical to try the Transparent Opus, especially if they could be re-terminated back to their stock version for resale, if you do not like them. It would be a mind bugger not knowing if the Opus is the holy grail of PC... |
Jay, you kinda confirm that the Momentum fitted the bill regarding those three questions. However, you also indicated that depending on your mood, you may pick the Boulder’s or the Mephisto for the dynamics/details. I think that you start looking into the d’Agostino Relentless! Probably they would fill up all of your requirements 😉. |
Jay, here is my opinion regarding your amp question. If it is so difficult for you to pick one of them, I would ask myself the following questions: 1) Which amps have the best fit with the Wilson's? 2) Which amps are the best for long listening sessions? 3) Which amps will be the easiest sell, if I need to depart from them? I think you have your answer now :-) |
Video 1: + Presentation 1 SS, - Presentation 2 Tube Video 2: + Presentation 1 SS, - Presentation 2 Tube Video 3: + Presentation 2 SS, - Presentation 1 Tube I basically compared all presentation to my audio system playing the same track at same audio levels using a decibel meter. Presentation that I liked most got the + rating.
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@viber6 Thank you for the compliments. I must admit that if I did not use my audio system with Tidal to compare tracks, I could have been fooled by some of the presentations. The first time I listened to video 1, I did not use to Tidal and initially thought that I was listening to the VAC setup, since the voice of Chantal Chamberland track 'I put a spell on you' was really present. Once I compared tracks with my SS gear at same acoustic levels, I realized that the presence in the voice/huge soundstage in presentation 1, was part of the mixing decision process and concluded that I was listening to the Gryphon setup, since very close to my gear. On video 2, I really favored presentation 1 (Gryphon) since it basically sounded like my gear. Very dynamic guitar strings on presentation 1, when compared to presentation 2. On video 3, I had to playback the tracks at least 3 times before concluding it was also SS. I tought the soundstage/voice in presentation 2 (Gryphon) was closer to my SS gear than presentation 1. |
Tried every SR fuses in my system. Red, Black, Blue and Orange. While I was somewhat skeptical about the benefits of audiophile fuses, my opinion has changed as soon as I tried them. The Orange are the best offering by SR. It just opens up the soundstage, gets rids of some harshness, better reproduction of dynamics, etc. I have them in my DAC, linear PS and power amps. A no brainer for me. Very similar upgrade to upgrading a mid-level interconnect cable to a top-of-line interconnect. |
I’ve had the same experience with the Furutech GTX-D NCF(R) receptacles. They are a must in any high-end audio system. I’ve installed them on my 3 dedicated 20A/10A gauge power lines. They will lower the noise floor, providing low-level musical details which were previously buried in the noise floor. However, as indranilsen mentioned, they will take a few hundred hours of burn-in before they sound their best. |
Viber61 Noise floor is related to Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) measurement. It has nothing to do with hiss on a recording. SNR is a the ratio between the desired information or the power of a signal (music) and the undesired signal or the power of the background noise, which in this case is the noise floor. According to Furutech's web site, the use of the Furutech GTX-D NCF(R) receptacle, eliminates static, interconvert thermal, mechanical and electrical energy and damps vibrations. All of these effects will decrease the background noise, thus increasing your SNR. This is what I experienced using these receptacles. Now hearing lower level details (better soundstage/imaging) which were not present prior to the Furutech installation. I agree that we cannot hear the noise floor, however we can have better low-level music resolution, once the noise floor is reduced. |