Brhatten:
magazines have overhead, employees etc. They can’t afford to tell it like it is.
I suspect if I had a YouTube channel and was 100% real about my findings, manufacturers would have a problem with it.
At the same time, I’d love to open up about how I’ve been scammed through my journey as far as purchases are concerned. I’d love to say this dealer did this to me or that to me etc but you all know I can’t.
Thats the one thing I’ve not been transparent about here. I’ve paid for stuff and never got a refund or anything delivered to me. Maybe one day I will roll out of bed and share such experiences with you all. Who knows. |
And this is the drama I want to avoid... |
You are pretty much thinking how I am thinking.... it’s pretty sad to have people who totally take advantage of others but there’s an idiot out there everyday who does what you and I did. |
I wish I could but lawyers are sharks and i could be the one getting even more screwed just for saying more.
Just remember, if you pay anyone via check or wire transfer, you are at risk of losing that money even if you tell the cops.
Hiring a lawyer is the only way to legally hurt the person doing you wrong but if hiring this lawyer is going to cost you more than the money you’re trying to recuperate, then why do it?
Granted, you can always retaliate by hiring a hitman lol but when you have a family, you have more to think about.
Having lawyer friends help big time for situations like this. Moral of the story? Stop paying people with checks or wire transfer even if they have a business! Try to build a relationship with them first by doing a few transactions so you can build trust.
Deep inside, I’m pretty mad at myself but it’s my own fault. If I were single, didn’t have a kid, etc then I’d be acting different than I am right now.
yes, paying for something and not getting it is theft. The issue is that you need a lawyer that can call the thief and put him in front of a judge. That will cost you $ and it won’t guarantee that you will see your money. |
I have yet to hear these new Krell amps. |
Many have said this to me about the last video. Also, you all who loved the sound of the last video should REALIZE that you also have an appreciation for a sweet-tube like amplifier if this is the case. See, this is why I think there is a place for both types of power amps and neither is better than the other in my opinion. If you like to hear the dynamics and neutrality then I understand why you choose a gryphon or soulution but this doesn’t mean that those who love constellation, dag, luxman are selecting inferior Amplifiers. To me, that is an absurd comment.
It is just a different delivery of the music, but I personally don't want to hear all the blemishes that some old recordings have even if that is the truth of the music.
There is a certain level of magic that sweet amps have that draw you in and makes you unable to get off your seat. Some days I am enamored with the Gryphon and then the next day I fall in love with the Dag too because it does something cool to the music that makes it attractive to me. |
@goodsource:
I'll be able to give a definite answer once i remove the footers this Saturday which will mark day 21. I will know what they added or took away with certainty.
Some of you have said to move the footers closer to the feet of the amplifier and i am planning try that but i am not waiting another 21 days.... Either sink or swim.
I am telling you guys, the insane imaging of the boulders is what got my shocked when i first heard them and that has pretty much vanished.
Let's wait and see what happens this weekend. |
Update on my cables:
The nordost Odín speaker cables have settled. There is no brightness that I can pick up anymore. The shunyata nr alpha powercords were an excellent choice for my block audios. They added more slam while taming down the highs just a bit which was perfect.
i was informed today that the Lampizator pacific is near finished so I expect to have it when I come back from axpona.
i am also playing with the idea of bringing a rockport speaker at some point. I’ve heard the following from different sources:
they are too bright
they don’t image at all
they don’t sound coherent.
That said, reviews praise rockports. They claim they are some of the best speakers.
If you are asking why rockports? Well I have the opportunity to buy a pair of Rockport Altair v2 locally. I’ve heard them in a room that I am not familiar with and that isn’t really appropriate. He has the boulder 2060 and a dcs Rossini dac driving them. I don’t really know how to categorize their sound. I need more time listening to them to really judge them.
Will that speaker best my Neolith? Hmmm
not quite sure but it is one hell of a shootout
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One thing is having an opinion and another is attacking someone personally. Let’s not get both things confused. They are far different. It’s one thing to say to someone:
"I personally feel that you are in debt because you work a low paying job"
Another thing is to say:
"You are broke because you are lazy as hell and don’t want to work"
They are both TOTALLY different. I’ve been a victim of both here. I will respect opinions but never an attack or fabricated story about me. That is where I will come out and engage hard with you.
You can tell me you don't like the magnepan or the Logans or the new cables for x , y reason and that you prefer what we did a few videos ago etc and that is fine. I am, WE ARE, all learning as we move forward. |
Thank you mrdecibel. As far as you not posting here in a while,you can’t let others opinions affect yours. If I had been affected by what others said, I wouldn’t have the neoltihs, the lampizator, block audios etc.
I would be stuck with the same gear that the vast majority buys.
I know that some of you haven’t posted in a while which is fine if that’s because you just got busy with work and family etc. We all go through those cycles throughout the year.
Anyhow, I will be bringing a new power amplifier in a week or so. It is not an expensive amp and it should be very interesting for most of you because it retails for less than 10k. It is not an amp that has been in the market very long either so stay tuned. |
Mrdecibel,
i dont think it is possible to have it all in a speaker. I’ve had quite a few speakers and some did things better than others but lacked something else. There’s no such thing as the perfect speaker and this is WHY you can’t have it all.
For instance: I loved Wilson audios dynamics and slam. I love the neoltihs huge soundstage. I love the mids from the personas.
With that said, they all had weaknesses. |
All,
i like having everyone's input (although some tend to have more than that). I don't want for people to take things personal or getting hurt when this is really just about following what someone else is doing (in this case me).
Am i going to say my speakers are the best? hell no. i haven't heard yours or everything else that is out there. Lastly, even if i had listened to everything out there, it will be my opinion (as it could be yours as well) that a certain product is better than another based on my ownership of these products.
Do i want to buy a speaker that can come into my room and sound better than the Neolith for half the money so i can pocket the rest? HELL YEA i do. I just don't think that it will be an easy thing to do.
I will be bringing more items that are more affordable in the near future because i do sense that some of you get a little distant when i explore with expensive stuff.
Lastly, i am sure you have all noticed that i am right now playing with speakers even though this is supposed to be an amplifier journey. However, as i have stated in the past, there are no other amps that call my name right now and the ones that are in my bucket list have not come at a decent deal for me to bring them. This is why, for right now, i have not continued with more amps, but i do have one coming in a week or so that is affordable and that should be interesting.
So far, these are the amps that stand out for me and that i have owned:
In no particular order:
Block Audio SE
Luxman 900u (monos)
Musical Fidelity Titan
Simaudio 860A
Jeff Rowland 925
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Round 2:
im back to playing the persona 3f and well the soundstage is still collapsed. It has amazing detail and clarity but it is one dimensional unlike the electrostatics which are the most 3D presentation I’ve heard.
I also got some feedback from someone who owns the persona bookshelves and he said he spent 4 hours with the 9h personas and yes they added more body and bass but the highs and mids are the same. He said if I don’t like the 3f that I shouldn’t go to the 9h because it won’t be much different In terms of mids, highs and soundstage size.
Am I spoiled rotten with panels now ? Lol
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Transparent said no more than 200 hours.. |
Hi guys,
axpona is coming around the corner. I’ll be there a week from today. If anyone wants to meet me and connect , shoot me a pm for my info. This should allow for us to build more trust and put a face to the person(s) who we chat with on here on a daily basis.
Look forward to meeting you ! |
lol.. yes sirrrr...
A few things i can say i have learned so far:
-Huge speakers wrap you in sound, BUT they might not have the best pin point focus of their smaller siblings.
-Smaller speakers tend to have a little better separation and pin point accuracy but they lack the monster wall of sound.
- the room AND YOUR TASTE in sound will determine what floats your boat. Nothing is really wrong with whatever you select.
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Anybody ever hear the Sonus Faber Stradivari? |
The issue here guys is WHAT is the life event supposed to sound like? How do you know if electrostatics or horns or beryllium gets you the closest ? It’s hard to tell. I’ve heard some say that panels get you the closest to natural sound and those woofer/tweeter set ups add flair to the sound. So how does one know WHAT is the standard from so many technologies? Hard thing to do...
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Ok so a couple of you guys asked me to post a combination of components that I felt were magical so here is a system that I had and I felt was amazing to say the least:
revel salon 2
simaudio 860a
lumin s1
audio research ref10
wireworld silver 7 cables throughout
the combo above was INCREDIBLE. I am willing to bet that 90% of you would agree if you heard it. You wouldn’t even have to worry about mix and matching as I’ve done that for you.
there is a huge soundstage, detail, bass, imaging and smoothness with those components. If anyone wants a system that sounds kick ass and doesn’t want to go through what I do, put together the above and you will be blown away.
Another reason why my combination above works is because I have owned the revel salon 2 twice and they never had bass that satisfied me until I introduced the ref10 in the mix and that was game changer. The simaudio has high gain which allows for the power hungry salon 2s to not fall apart when playing at low volumes. The lumin s1 is a good budget dac for the money and there’s nothing wrong with it. Wireworld Silver 7 cables add the extra “air” to the high frequencies that make the salon speakers sound even better without any fatigue. Proven combo above. You should be able to buy all of the above for about $40k on the used market. Keep in mind, that is LESS MONEY than I have in my Martin Logan Neoliths so yes that is a great combo for the money.
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The only component that I want to be neutral are speakers. I don’t like neutral amps or else I’d still have the boulder 2060.
Pure neutrality can be terrible on certain components. Some of us like to listen to music from back in the day that wasn’t exactly recorded correctly. It’s important to have components that make bad recordings tolerable at times and that’s where your front end components can help.
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Alex:
although I am not doubting you because I’ve never of this speaker, trying to make a huge investment like this with a brand that has zero traction here in America is like buying an expensive great painting from an unknown artist. You’ll never be able to recuperate most of your investment.
I’d love to buy all these strange brands but you might as well have an appointment with your local “bulk trash truck” from your city because that’s what you’ll need to do to part ways with anything strange to the American audiophile. Is it sad? Yes it is sad but that’s just the reality. If you are planning to be in this game for the long haul and not have to drain your retirement money, you must buy wisely especially when it comes to speakers of the caliber we are talking about here. |
Ok guys,
im at the airport getting ready to board. I will be in Chicago later tonight and plan to be at the show first thing tomorrow morning.
My wife will be joining me tomorrow and will be filming interesting rooms. I know some of you have been wanting to meet me so stay tuned here on my thread as I plan to pick a room or place where to meet each one of you. I’ve also been thinking of doing some Q&A in person and perhaps recording it and eventually posting it all.
If you are attending the show and would like to meet me, please stay tuned here since this is where I’ll post what I have in mind. |
That would be Lou ferrigno who charges to take pics with him lol. I’m an average joe who knows a thing or two about a couple of amplifiers. :) |
Ok guys,
im in the hotel and only 2 miles away from the show. I look forward to tomorrow but that said, I am planning on going out tonight and have good food and intoxicate myself a little with some alcohol :)
I plan to visit the gt audio room. Is there any other speaker I should listen to ? |
I want to say it was a pleasure to meet Paul (psnyder19) today at axpona. Great humble man and a pleasure to speak to. |
Best speakers I’ve heard so far:
focal grande utopia evo
Sonus Faber Aida 2
i am shocked by how good these Sonus saber Aida 2 are. |
Ok so I went to hear the GT audioworks 3.1 speaker with the matching subs and it was special. Very coherent, zero fatigue, smooth as butter, big sound. I was very impressed by them. To those of you who doubted that the speakers with the matching subs would sound coherent, REST ASSURED that they don’t have this issue. They sound as if it was all coming from a full range speaker. Very nice speakers without a doubt.
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I am going to go out on a limb and say there is probably MORE people in the sweet amp camp than the neutral/dynamic camp. |
Snafujg
i concur that the focal grande utopias are just spectacular. I mean, they just slaughtered anything I heard including the magico m6 WITH SUBS. I’ve got a whole new found respect for focal and what they are able to do. Their utopia line is NO JOKE. What’s even more impressive is that they were in a crappy space and they STILL delivered. The guy who did the demo was awesome to play all kinds of music through them and everything was impressive. Yes 225k is a lot of money but they certainly sounded like 225k. So far that is the BEST speaker I’ve heard in my life PERIOD.
oh and just for kicks, they were streaming tidal... meanwhile the rest of the big top speaker manufacturers were using ultra expensive turntables...
block audio chose a bad room and speakers. I will give them a pass since this is their first time in the United States. They need to get their game together next time. I hope you saw the sheer size and construction of the monoblocks. |
I’m going to hear more speakers today. Let’s see what reactions I’ll post. For the money, I think the gt audioworks 3.1 are a steal. I heard them with and without subs and they were great. I plan to listen to a lot more.
you are correct about elevator music. They are sooo afraid of playing a mix of music.
So far, the Wilson Alexx and relentless Monos were the worst price/performance I’ve heard. Sluggish, slow, veiled, no emotion. I went in that room twice and I felt like the music never came out and hugged me.
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Hi ,
I am glad you went with what I recommended. Makes me happy I can help out. |
13a with constellation amps and preamp smokes the other 2. |
Ok guys,
umm I’m here now and the best system I’ve heard for the money which totally blew me away Is in room 404.
Martin Logan 13a with constellation preamp and amp. WOW. I’m shocked how good that system sounds. I’m speechless.
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Sanders 10e: better sounding than muraudio sp1 to me. Good highs, could use more oomph on the lows. More dynamic sounding than magnepan 3.7i plus more “bite” on the highs. Magnepan 3.7i were just a tad relaxed on the highs.
By they way, I asked in all 3 rooms to play something different such as dire straits “you and your friend “ and the answer was “they don’t have it” so you are essentially stuck with what they play. My comments above are based on what was playing.
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Muraudio sp1- not a tall sounding speaker. No music above your ears. Mids sound muffled to me. They look very cool though.
Magnepan 3.7i - taller images, nice wide sound but lacks dynamics. Things sound as if you had the “night listening mode” turned on so that there are no dynamic swings. |
4425,
i understand your point and I will be reviewing the Jeff Rowland 535 next week. Stay tuned for my impressions of this “affordable amp”
anyhow guys, there was a lot to see and I’m glad I went to the show. I got to meet a few of you which was amazing to say the least. I was also glad to give you my input on components that you wanted my input on. Make no mistake that this type of event allows you to gauge things better as well as to identify the “snake oil” in the industry.
I also like seeing small manufacturers like gt audio, sanders, etc make huge efforts to compete against the big dogs and really bring it to them. Sanders and GT audio were great to say the least. Steve from GT audio was an incredible host that really went out of his way. He played a tremendous amount of music that Included a great record from Michael Jackson on vinyl.
It is SO COOL to interact with these small manufacturers because they try much harder to please you and to talk to you one on one. It feels as if they do whatever they can to earn your business and that is very especial.
To me the worst price/performance ratio room was the Wilson audio Alexx and agostino relentless monos. Zero soul, nothing jumped at you. It was as if they just plugged stuff in and they expected magic to occur. I went 4 different times in this room and it just didn’t keep me there. Horrible music selection on their part as well and it was just a bunch of dudes wearing suits hanging around the gear like they belonged to the secret service. You didn’t dare to walk to them and say “can you please change that funeral music and play something different?”
Steve from GT audioworks played mainstream stuff as well and I said it out loud in his room which was full of people: “thank you Steve for not playing funeral music and playing more mainstream stuff” and what do you think the entire room did when I said that? They all busted out laughing with my comment because they know I’m being honest and keeping it real.
Look I get it, manufacturers want to play their playlists but how about they do that for 2 days out of 3 ? Why not let day 3 of the show be the day where they can ask you to bring your own music to play it? Wouldn’t that be cool if they had the event schedule broken out with DAY 3 being called “ bring your own music day” or something like that ? Don’t you think people would be excited to return on day 3?
Another pain point is WHY are some of these people in the rooms so stuck up on themselves? Why are they so full of themselves? How do you pretend to sell product if you have zero social skills? I get it, most of these products are built by nerds who aren’t exactly social butterflies but then why NOT hire a social butterfly to go on these trips and who knows the gear?
All in all, great show which has made me reevaluate my own system and that is a great thing.
i thank Steve and the entire staff who treated me and everyone in the room incredibly well. Incredible group of people with “soul” and knowledge.
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@audiotroy
i respectfully disagree with your assessment of the gt audio room, persona, and muraudio.
First off, the persona room was empty the 2 times I went in it. I was the only person inside listening on both occasions. Subpar electronics and just didn’t not have any sort of wow factor. Keep in mind, I own that same speaker and have it in my home so I guess you could say I have credibility in my assessment of such.
Secondly, the muraudio room had a cool looking speaker with an interesting look and design but they continued to play music that was just acoustic music. I requested for them to play something with vocals and they played “California dreams” by Diana Krall. I felt like the mids and highs were warm and lacked more definition. Maybe it was the components?
Lastly, and again I mean no disrespect, The persona paradigm can’t come close to the sound of the GT audioworks 3.1. I’m TELLING YOU, as a current paradigm persona owner that they DONT. Yes, I’m bashing something I currently own and I am 100% fine with it because I don’t put food on the table with this stuff. I promised everyone HERE who follows MY THREAD that I’d be real and transparent so here I go:
THE PARADIGM PERSONAS DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING FROM GT AUDIO.
yes, I’m pretty much saying my personas are INFERIOR in sound quality and I’m admitting that they would get their @ss handed to them all they long. Can’t even compare them. There’s no reading in between the lines here. I’m putting out in front street for everyone to read here.
Enough said
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Jeff Rowland 535 amps in bridge mode will take the front stage of my living room this weekend along with the lampizator pacific.
Let’s see how pure class d amps do with a tube based dac/preamp. |
Omg That was so funny lol. I’ve thought about the crate thing in the past too!
briano:
thank you for following this “saga” as you call it. I look forward to your comments from the show. Please share them here.
I encourage EVERYONE who was at the show to give their thoughts on what they liked and what was disappointing.
it would be interesting to see what everyone’s perception is from all the different systems.
I forgot to mention that there was one speaker that caught my attention: T+A solitaire (40th anniversary). It had an electrostatic panel for the highs, four 8 inch drivers for the lows and 8 midrange drivers. Did anyone hear this? I think it did a lot right for me.
One additional thought: so far 3 of us have agreed that the focal grande utopia Evo was insane and just incredible. I loved how it just played everything with so much “enthusiasm” and never got fatiguing to me. It sounded enormous and FAST PACED.
Riaa: I concur with your previous statement in regards to Salk speakers.
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I concur 200% with you greyhound.
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Just picked up wireworld platinum 8 speaker cables which are fully broken in.
Shoot out of these vs my nordost Odin 1 will come soon. Stay tuned |
I agree klh. I went back to hear them and told Steve That the new amp was just far better. Far more 3D, more musicality.
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i don't know if it has been the most resolving because the Focal Stella was also very resolving, but the Alexx just puts things on a microscope and you can't get away with mismatches or gear here. Things that could have sounded good on the daw and alexia 2 might not sound good here.
This speaker does not allow for "shortcuts" if that makes any sense. |
It won't last for 3 weeks. Who said I was keeping anything??
I report my findings but does that mean I have to own it ? Don't forget I own gryphon and Momentum already.. |
That’s fine klh. I totally get your point of view. I liked both set ups. |
Revel Salon 2 speaker is a great speaker. When you match things properly, that speaker is amazing. I honestly can’t think of anyone who can say that this speaker is not a good speaker. If I were to downsize and was looking for a speaker under 10k, the revel salon 2 would be in the running. It just really gives you so much for the money. Only criticism is you need a good power amp for them. I can also tell you that you won’t need subs with the salon if your front end is up to par. Yes, having owned the montis and salons 2, I can say with certainty that the salon is a better speaker than the montis but not better than the 15a renaissance.
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I will say I did like those blue horns as well. It is just a different type of sound. Horns, panels and tweeter/woofer speakers couldn’t be more different. It is too difficult to compare.
That said, I don’t know why but I have heard MBL on two occasions and I haven’t been floored. I don’t know if it is the sound or the way things are presented but they don’t seem to grab me. |
