@kren....
All good :)
All good :)
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 50 responses by jays_audio_lab
I have two 30a and two 20a outlets. That said, I might have to turn the 30a into 20a outlets because I get buzzing sound. I think that buzzing sound I hear occasionally is due to the 30a outlets. I am no electrician but let's see what my findings are. As far as Wilson being the only thing I keep forever, I have owned 3 pairs of Wilsons so they don't stay here forever either. Once I am locked in and interested in something, I begin to aim and then sell whatever it might be replacing as long as it is part of my future plans. For now, the DAW have served me extremely well and don't have a reason to sell them until something else comes in that I feel I like more. |
Soooo what did I tell everyone in here about the Logan set up? Do I have good ears or what ? i TOLD YOU ALL that this room was KILLER and it was not a ton of money either. It was OUTSTANDING and it made me want to revisit my set up. It was just incredible how good it was for the money and to be a top 3 room is a testament to system synergy. I have been doing this constant grind for years now so hopefully some of you who don't believe in what i know SHOULD begin to believe. https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/audio-shows/axpona-2019-best-of-show-r791/ |
All- i am going to regain control of this thread. I’ve messaged viber privately just now expressing my feelings/thoughts and wishes. That said, I want for everyone to be respectful and stay focused with what we are all trying to do here. No more bashing or being disrespectful to anyone. The goal of this thread is to read my thoughts, feelings on all sorts of gear and you take that information and either apply it to your current set up or disregard it (which is fine) Everyone should be able to come in here, read while sipping on a drink, give proper input while staying on topic and enjoy. Thanks everyone |
Im heading out to dinner with the wife but upon my return, on I will be unpacking the fully balanced, Lampizator pacific with 242 KR tubes. I’m nervous because I have so much hope riding on this Dac (not to mention money). I am sending the nordost Odin 1 speaker cables to get reterminated with spades because Rowland amps don’t take banana plugs so they will be gone for about a week or two. In the meantime I will be evaluating the wireworld platinum 8 speaker cable. It is going to be super busy over the next couple of weeks :) |
Hi, yes I am staying with them. I loved that 13a constellation room and unless someone was serious about buying the Neolith from at a price that made sense, I don’t think I will part ways with them. They are special speakers in many ways and you just don’t see them at shows all the time or in people’s homes. The show taught me a couple of tricks which are expensive but they might pay huge dividends. I’m just right now in talks with different parties about my next purchase and my current amplifier set up. As you all might know, I love my block audio amps and I have to think hard and deep as to whether I want to replace them with something potentially more expensive or to just stick with what I have. At this level, any move I make to try something that I think might be better or different means it will be big money. We could be talking about amps that are close the 100k price point. This is why I need to sit, think, analyze and then decide to stay put or move forward. As far as the Roland 535, I’ve spent 3 days with it and I have my preliminary impressions. I will say that it is indeed something that is a big price/performance ratio. Stay tuned. |
Great guesses everyone. Stay tuned! Ron17, i also have a slight tinnitus in my right ear from listening to headphones too loud at the gym, but i don't do that anymore.I also noticed that alcohol makes it worse at times. However, i am fortunate enough to still hear pretty well and detect things quickly when something is not sounding right. Constellation Centaur 2 monos? Gryphon Mephisto? Dag M400s? we will see, but right now nothing is concrete. |
Thank you all. A lot is going to be taking place: the lampizator, the Rowland 535, the wireworld platinum 8 speaker cables, the Virgo 3 preamp. Constellation was always in my radar but it became a target the minute I heard it with Logans. Took me 6 days after coming back from the show to strike a deal. I might review the cheaper constellation for you all too. Gryphon is still on my radar but it’s a very controlled line so it’s not easy. Let’s get back on this bus people and ride again, cheers ! |
Alright men, the lampi and blocks have been playing music for 2 hours. I am now on the couch with a Red Bull in my hand and I’m going to embark on a 2 hour listening session. As I Type this, I already hear as if the wall behind the speakers has been removed. The sound is the deepest I’ve heard by far. Stay tuned, I’ll update in about 30 min. HERE WE GO. |
Hi guys, so the deal is done and I will be taking delivery of the almighty constellation centaur 2 monoblocks ($80k) plus the matching constellation Virgo 3 preamp ($32k) next week. I have also found a new home for my block audios. Guess what? The person who bought my block audios also owns the Rowland 925s so I’m super excited to hear his impressions of both amps. I’ll be sure to keep in touch with him so I can get the inside scoop ! |
Ok, here are my initial impressions of the lampizator with kr242 tubes and fully balanced outputs: (only 3 hours of playtime on this dac) 1. Amazing delicacy in the music. Things sound romantic and inviting 2. Insane amount of detail retrieval. I heard an incredible amount of detail that was absent with the ref10 3. Soundstage is narrower than the ref10 but there’s more focus and a sense of space behind the speakers. 4. Less oomph in the lower registers than with the ref10. Right now, those are my thoughts with only 3 hours of playtime. We will see what happens to the sound of these tubes with more playtime. I can certainly say that it is winning the battle vs the ref10 for me. Tonight is also the last time I get to play with the block audio Monos. I will miss them dearly and in my book, they are still the best amps I’ve owned. That said, the show must go on. If any of you ever get a chance to get these amps, DO NOT hesitate by any means. They’ve trumped any amplifier I’ve had here and that is A LOT of amplifiers. |
I haven’t really done a real a/b comparison because I sent the nordost to get terminated with spades. I was sick and tired of running into amps that don’t take banana plugs such as the Rowlands, momentum integrated. Once it comes back, I’m going to have the dealer burn them in for another 100 hours. At this point they will have about 400 hours total. |
My Neoliths are alive and well. If I sell them, you all would know just like I did with the block audios. Right now, there isn’t any desire to replace. I don’t want to buy speakers without hearing them first and being blown away. In addition to that, selling a pair of Neoliths is not going to be something that will be easy due to the size and obviously the price. There are a lot of buyers looking to eat filet mignon and wanting to pay beef jerky prices. I will say that I did have someone offer me ridiculous money for them and I ended up telling him that I rather use them as outdoor speakers by the pool area and play Mickey Mouse songs before I sell them for what he offered. The only woofer,tweeter speaker id contemplate is the sonus faber aida v2 but the prices are ridiculous for them. I don’t mind trying a woofer/tweeter speaker again but I need to be really impressed. I’m not about to pack the Neoliths and spend a good 5 hours doing so just to gamble on any other speaker. |
Day 1 of Lampizator pacific fully balanced going into the Rowland 535: 1. Less muscularity than with block audios 2. Excellent detail with black backgrounds 3. Great separation 4. Narrower soundstage when compared to the Ref10 with block audios 5. Intimate sound with great sparkle even at low volumes 6. Longer decays than with ref10 The dac has about 5 hours of use by now. The Rowland 535 is fully broken in since it is a few months old. Right now, things do not sound as engaging as with my previous combination. It has clarity and detail in spades but it misses to lock me in my seat. It is a weird phenomenon but My instinct says to give the dac far more time. Could it be the KR 242 tubes ? The class d sound from the rowland? We shall see what happens over time. |
Ladies and gentlemen, as I sit here waiting for some help to get the Monos off my truck, I decided to plug in the preamp into the Rowland 535 and the oppo 205 as a source and it is just incredible sounding. I really feel like the smoothness is very LUXMAN like but with a bit better focus. Wow. It’s incredible what I hear through this preamp. More to come ! |
My initial impressions of a single Rowland 535 is quite good actually. However, please note that this is a subjective hobby. I find kinks in the armor as far as the sound quality of the 535. It’s no doubt a special amp for the money. It’s actually an insane bang for the buck. That said, we have to put both feet on the ground and realize that to compare a 80k pair of Monos to a 535 rowland is not fair. The outcome is quite predictable. The tremendous power reserves of the block audios resulted in soundstages extremely big and deep. This is something that a single 535 can’t capture. Don’t get me wrong, it throws a nice soundstage which would easily satisfy most of you. That said, doing a real a/b tells the real story and that’s how I’m able to talk about it at length. This amp is an excellent bang for the buck. Easily competing with the simaudios, parasounds, Krell, Mark Levinsons, Brystons, etc. Once you move up the ladder to the likes of the momentum, soulution, block audio, constellation, dartzeel, Rowland 925s then you’re talking about an entire different ball game. What do I find about class d that differs than class a? It’s actually not that hard to explain it. Let me give you an analogy: ever notice how a machine can administer medication to you when you’re in the hospital? It can shoot insulin, pain killers, etc right through the IV line connected to you based on how it is programmed by doctors. Ok, but do you see how this machine doesn’t know if you are uncomfortable on the bed? Or if you are thirsty? Or if you are hungry, etc ? That’s only something that a nurse can do right? To provide you with care and attention that pretty much helps your mood. Well, that’s the difference between class d and class a. Class a has that “care or affection or touch” that penetrates your emotions. Class d is more “artificial “ although it’s come a long way. It does the job extremely well BUT it is not designed to “comfort you”. It lacks the palpability, emotion and soothing feeling that class a gives you. That’s the very best way I can put it. |
I left music playing through the amps and preamp: heres a Quick 5 min update: Right now, I’m using all stock powercords on everything and using wireworld platinum 8 xlr and speaker cables. My source is the oppo 205. I find the block audio far more muscular, fuller, more 3d sounding. However, this set up digs deeper and brings forward a bunch of detail not so easily found in my previous set up. Still to come: - begin to introduce nordost PCs and speaker cables in the system - use lampizator as a source AND as a preamp - replace silver xlrs with copper? |
the set up played music all night long and i have been listening today. So far it has an excellent level of smoothness, good bass control that is very even with the rest of the presentation (meaning it does not take over the rest of the frequency range). Things that i can call out thus far: Pros: Imaging is excellent Mids are clear and smooth You can blast the music at 100db without it ever getting in your face Big soundstage Cons: Very transparent which makes old music sound dull and some recordings that sounded good before are now just "ok" I could use a little more detail or "sharpness" if that makes sense? That said, i still need to introduce the nordost odin cables in the system and use a better source than the oppo 205. If you are asking WHY i am using the oppo when i have the lampizator, well because i want to gauge the system's sound with the most basic cables & source and THEN begin to tweak cables and sources and perhaps use the lampizator as a preamp rather than a source. The monos are using their stock cheap powercords and so is the preamp too. I will begin first by adding a nordost pc to the oppo and then i will add a second nordost pc to the preamp. Once that is done, i will top it off with the nordost speaker cables. At this point, i will see what these cables did to the oppo and the entire system and then i will add the lampizator towards the end. i want to gradually see how or what happens each step of the way. |
Nordost Odin 1 PCs are now connected into the oppo and in the preamp: 1. Clarity is remarkable 2. More oomph through the amps 3. Transparency has increased even more which forces you to use even better recordings 4. It will disappoint those of you who don’t own well recorded music, but if you own great music, you’ll need your wife to pry you out of the chair. As as far as the direct connection on the amps (constellation connection) , I have mixed feelings about it. There’s less volume through it too which means you have to push the preamp harder to get the volume louder. Sitting on this level of gear is indeed surreal... now it becomes more like an art where you need to mix colors the way you like them to be. Each ingredient here is top notch but it is also EASY to create an awful meal if you don’t know how to cook. I mean, cables, powercords, usb cables, etc. EVERYTHING is heard here and it forces you to look at every single aspect of your set up. NOTHING can be overlooked here. |
I had a buddy of mine take the 535 home with him since he’s been curious about its sound and he said he played blues, jazz, etc and to him the amp isn’t a bad amp but he finds it a bit artificial sounding. He said he likes how far class d has come but to his ears it’s not there yet. Lovely amp for the money but it is for made for those people looking for a strong amp under the 10k price point. Again, this is just a single stereo amp and not bridged. I did tell him that I was told the amp needs a break in although as I stated earlier, this amp is a few months old so I gotta believe it’s close to being broken in by now. I will revisit the amp in a few days and give more feedback on it. |
hi Ron, Absolutely ! That said, that particular subject is very VERY unknown to me so i'd have to start educating myself before i start to spend any money. I think room treatment is next for me (i've located a company in GA that seems to be reasonable in terms of prices) and then i will do isolation. |
Guido, thanks for the feedback. That said, do you have a class A amplifier you can directly compare to your Rowland pieces? i truly think that our ears get used to all sorts of sounds and since you have been very dedicated to the Rowland brand as far as reviewing, do you think it would be a great idea to bring a contender and do a comparison? remember, my comparisons are A/B here so it is easier to pick up the differences in amplifier technologies. I am sure if we all lived with class d for along time we wouldn’t really know any better as far as what it is not doing or lacking because our hearing gets "dialed in" to the sound that we are exposed to over the long haul. Right now, the feedback i have received from my friend is that the amp still has a "synthetic" sound to it, but remember that this friend also has world class a amplifiers that he compared it to. If a person only drinks diet coke, he/she won’t really know how sweet or bitter it is unless he drinks a different soda. You gotta have something else to compare it to in order to do a solid assessment. If you drive the same 700 hp Corvette zr1, you soon will get used to this hp and very soon you won't know how fast it is right? because again, we get used to things... |
Mrdecibel, i was going to buy a second 535 but after buying the constellation gear I don’t think I’ll buy a second 535. as far as the direct connection, I think this is really dependent on the source. If the source doesn’t have enough juice, I don’t think it will make much of a different using that connection. That said, I’ve not given up on it and will do more serious listening to determine if it is indeed superior to the regular xlr connection. Keoliphant: everything is plugged Into the wall. The p20 is long gone. |
Thank you for the above viber. I will look into your recommendations. Luckily, i refuse to take meds of any kind unless i am dying of excruciating pain. I am thankful that i don't get hooked on any sort of addictive drug or anything like that. The only time i have to take some sort of pain killer is when my back isn't playing nice with me. |