Christine is no longer with me so I cant compare directly.
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 a pass labs xp30 coming in next week. Next shootout will be my boulder 2010 vs pass xp30. The reason why I bought it is because I need to see HOW the xs300s would sound with their own preamp. I don't have a way of gauging how good or bad the boulder 2010 is in terms of synergy with the xs300s. The xp30 will be my foundation in terms of the pass labs house sound and a good starting point. From here , I'll be able to know exactly what other preamps bring or don't bring to the table. |
So as I sit here listening to the xs300s, boulder 2010, focal scala evo and esoteric k1 I can say that NO OTHER AMPLIFIER I've owned morphs as much as this xs300. I mean, they take hours and I mean HOURS of playtime to really shine. It is such a different feeling after 5-6 hours that it almost feels as if someone changed out the amps. From a cold start , they don't really WOW you per say. They would wow the person that's not heard an amp of this tier group but not someone who's used to hearing amps of this caliber. The wow factor comes waaay later which is somewhat odd for me because I don't know why they take so long to start singing. |
Hi guys , Thanks for the input. I think my main pain point is that the level of amplification and preamplification that I have is above my current focals. Some have said to me in person that they feel my focals are the bottle neck at this point and they simply don't allow me to hear the full potential of my front end. I've pretty much strapped twin turbos and a v12 but my current tires are not mickey Thompson's slicks so I'm hauling ass and then my tires break loose when the boost kicks in. Thats pretty much the analogy here. Of course I've questioned if doing a bigger more expensive speaker such as the alexx and downgrade my preamp and amps to something like a luxman 900u amp and preamp would yield better results here. I've heard tons of people comment on mágicos and pretty much end up with the same feeling which is they lack the ability to engage the listener. However , ive been told the magico m series is not the same as the cheaper lines. I can't comment because I haven't heard it. |
I tried biwiring today using Merrill cables on the lows and nordost odin 1 on the highs and mids and there was an improvement without a doubt. I then replaced the jumpers with Wireworld silver jumpers and it still sounded better than using factory copper jumpers the speakers come with. That said, yes the mismatch of Merrill on the lows and Odin on the highs/mids was still superior than using ww jumpers with Odin 1. I feel like there is far better imaging and the separation is greater. It feels as if the speakers got larger too. I guess this was the main change they did on the scala evos which you couldn’t do on tbe previous version. That said, I do believe biwiring is very dependent on the quality of the speakers. Some speakers just don’t improve much and others certainly do. |
I’m not looking to change speakers every six months. I held on to the neoliths for more than a year and the exercise I’m trying to do is to put a Wilson in my new current room to see how it does against my focal. I’m all about doing my own thing in my own space so that I don’t have to formulate conclusions based on magazine reviews but rather my own. I want to be able to see what Wilson does better or worse than focal and since this has always been a touchy subject since there are focal and Wilson lovers all over. I want to not be biased and choose whichever speaker I feel I can connect better with and which one can make my mind transport back in time as I listen to music. Anyhow , the speaker I am bringing in is the Alexia 1. Why? 1. I’ve never had it 2. It cost me right around what I wanted to spend . 3. It is almost the same dimensions as the Scala 4. I would like to try the speaker adjustments to see how well I can dial it in 5. I want to hear Wilson with the crazy front end I have now as opposed to what I had when I owned the sasha 2 I am clear on the fact that the Alexia 1 is an older design and that it is hard as hell to drive but the 600 lbs of metal I have on the floor creating 600 watts of class a into 4 ohms won’t even sweat pushing those speakers. I also don’t feel like the Alexia 2 would be a fair comparison because it is 58k vs 40k that the Scala Evo costs. Sure , the Sasha Daw could have been interesting but I simply wasn’t going to spend 30k on that speaker at this time since it is relatively new. I’ll need to wait until next year for that. |
i admire the passion you all have which is clearly seen by your strong opinions on different components. That said, i want to be clear that i decided to choose wilson because of the reasons i stated above. The size factor is something that i keep in the back of my mind for the time being, but maybe one day i decide to not care and bring a larger speaker here, but i am not prepared to do that right now. I have experience with the Sasha 2, but i've always wanted to hear the Alexia EVEN THOUGH it is old news for many. Long story short, the numbers were right for me, it was a local deal, pain free transaction, and i get to FINALLY compare Wilson vs Focal in my home and with the same gear. Why not do it? how many people here can say they have a Wilson and a Focal Utopia to play with at the same time and under their roof? This will give me greater clarity as to WHICH DNA i prefer from the 2 speakers. Both speakers are dynamic as hell; both are about the same size; one is warmer sounding than the other; both are well respected brands. i am here to have fun EVEN THOUGH at times i might go in a different direction, that is part of the journey. Right now, i am not looking to bring anymore speakers because as of tomorrow i will have the C4 Platinum Dynaudios, Focal Scala Evo and now Wilson Alexia 1. i can't fit anything else in here so that will be it when it comes to speakers until i am able to move something else. Anyhow, there is an opportunity for a Boulder 2060 which i am quite interested in bringing back to see how it sounds with the 2010 preamp. |
This is the beauty of this hobby:. to try new offerings and see what they do or don't do. I'll repeat myself again: the 3.7i is a 6300 dollar speaker.... You can't expect the performance of a 38k speaker. 38k divided by 6300 is 6.03 which means 6 times more expensive so it is like comparing the 15k luxman 900u to a 90k pair of constellation monoblocks.. |
For me, if the system goes back I don't panic. I simply learn from it and play while I tweak here and there. I don't expect the 3.7i to turn into 20.7s regardless of what amps or components I use. I simply want to see how far they can evolve and then figure out my next move. I see it as a learning experience so I can use it going forward. If the 3.7i don't work for me then I'll have notes as to why that is the case and share these with you all in the event that someone wants to buy 3.7i. I'll be able to talk about my personal experience with them and that is what counts. Don't panic, let's ride this out and see where we can take things. |
As good as the 900u is, it is no constellation centaur 2 Monos... And this is coming from me who has been praising the 900u amp all over. Also, the 3.7 would squash a ton of speakers under 20 MSRP. I was actually thinking to myself WHY would anyone buy the following speakers over a magnepan 3.7i: (I’ve pretty much heard or owned these brands) -Focal sopra 2 or any model under -Sonus Faber Olympica 3 -Magico A3 -Magico s1 -Martin Logan 13a or any model under Focal kanta I personally would never own any of the speakers above over the magnepan 3.7i but that’s me. However, some people have space issues but sonically none of the speakers above come close to the magnepan 3.7i other than perhaps better bass. That said....don't be surprised if I shock some people soon enough...only I know what I have up my sleeve... Lastly, why doesn't everyone think like this instead: " damn..I can't believe the drastic difference in sound quality when going from a 37k speaker to a 6300 speaker " ? Now, and for those of you who love Wilsons , what do you think I felt when I went from my neoliths to a Wilson ?? Don't you all think I also was feeling the same you all feel ? Of course I did...I can easily hear the difference when going from a 80k speaker to a 37k speaker. It almost sounded as if I was listening to bookshelf speakers with a subwoofer but over time your hearing gets used to it and you don't notice it... |
Ok guys I’ve uploaded pictures of the Alexia and xp30. Take a look at how close in size both speakers are. Tomorrow I will be having the big shootout around 2pm. I have several friends coming to help to try to dial in each speaker at a time so we can listen critically. For now , all I can say is that the Alexia is no slouch by any means. Monstrous soundstage even in the crappy position where I have them on the pictures so I expect them to be ready to battle tomorrow. I will give a small update with my impressions later tonight. Stay tuned. |
I have a Wilson dealer coming out tomorrow at 10am to set them up. We will see what will happen. I briefly tried the focals again just now and they are terrific speakers hands down. They have an incredible amount of air and detail along with deep super tight bass. I also wanted to say that I suspect the nordost odin 1 speaker cable might not be for this Wilson. It gets the mids and highs to totally burst out of the speaker but the Alexias don't need help in this department. They already do that on their own. Anyhow I will keep playing around tonight and report back. |
Quick impressions of the Alexia : - wide and deep presentation - mids are locked dead center even when speakers are not perfectly positioned - mid bass is all there unlike most speakers - deep muscular bass that makes your chair vibrate when pushed hard - warmer sounding than focal scala evo but still contains detail - extremely dynamic which almost startles you - very "real" sounding when tbe recording calls for it - it can present big issues for those of you without a room with sufficient size which allows you to put them 4-5 feet into the room So this right now is a tough call because on some songs the focal sounds tighter and more controlled and in other songs the Alexia sounds more real and lifelike. Right now I can say it might have to do with the music genre that you listen to. If you want slam and extreme dynamics then Wilson takes it. If you want incredible resolution and tons of detail then focal takes it. Tomorrow my shootout will be with all sorts of music so that no speaker is at an advantage. The goal is to make it as fair as possible. By the way, I have spoken to Wilson audio in regards to the Alexia 1 and all the comments that people are making about it not being a coherent speaker and their response was that most people don't use the right amps with this speaker. This speaker drops to 1.9 ohms at 83 hz so it's not an easy load at all. This is the reason why the Alexia 2 needed to be more efficient because a lot of people refused to buy the right amps for the Alexia 1. If I were to give my input, I don't here anything incoherent with it. More to come. |
Speakers are 6 ft from the front wall, 4 feet from the sides and 11 feet away from my ears. They sound incredible with my front end. Those of you who critized the Alexia 1 for being boomy, incoherent or broken are beyond wrong on many counts. This is the speaker where cheap amps, preamps and cables are not accepted. It’s either you have the front for this speaker or you don’t buy it. If you try crap, they will make sure you feel like they are the worst speaker you’ve heard in your life. There’s no shortcuts with the Alexia 1 period. In short , they are the best speakers I've heard in my room. |
Ok guys , The alexias have been professionally set up today. Take a look at the main picture of my virtual system. They spent about 3 hours today setting up which included moving other stuff around. This is why you don't see the dynaudios anymore. This is going to be an interesting shootout later on today. Stay tuned. |
Ok here we go: Focal scala evo PROS Clarity and detail in spades Tight & agile bottom end Incredible imaging Sounds great even if you’re just streaming music from your phone. Yes it really does ! Not a big issue to position them in the room due to the nice adjustments on the back of the speaker. I recommend tubes or class A for these speakers. Wilson Alexia 1 PROS Huge sound Extremely organic sounding with an amazing level of realism Bass that rivals most subwoofers out there Dynamic has hell with explosiveness Smooth and comfortable at any volume level Instruments are suspended in the air They disappeared completely in my room They are chameleons that sound huge when the song calls for it or can turn into bookshelf speakers if that’s what the music is telling them to do. I recommend you pawn most of your gear and get serious artillery for these. No shortcuts here Focal scala evo CONS: High resolution also means that it can get somewhat edgy when pushed hard If you are a rock fan, you can enjoy them but not at loud levels If you have a tendency to get ear ringing with loud or long listening sessions , this might not be the speaker for you. On the other hand, those of you with "older ears " might love this tweeter due to the extra detail this tweeter delivers. Also, those of you who do a lot of low level listening will totally dig the sparkle this tweeter has. They scale very nicely but not to the same degree as the Alexia. At this level, no speaker will forgive you with piss poor electronics so although this speaker will sound very good with average electronics, you won’t untap its potential until you invest in better electronics. Wilson Alexia CONS: BASS will command your attention but in the wrong room it will be a recipe for disaster This is not the speaker for those of you living in an apartment. It will piss the hell out of your neighbors because the bass will travel through the walls. They need space and are tricky to set up. Don’t pretend to be a damn expert in regards to speaker placement just because you have positioned Logans , yg, magico, b&w etc. If you show up with electronics the likes of bhk, parasound, classe, emotiva, Rotel, etc , you will soon hate these speakers. If you are annoyed by bass or a muscular presentation then stay away. If you stream a lot of tidal, you will actually hear the difference between streaming and playing a cd which you might hate because you will hear the quality of a well recorded cd and how superior it is vs streaming. (The Scala Evo sounded good with both and you couldn’t tell much of a difference between a CD and streaming ) With all this said , I did a lot of listening today and tried both preamps, 2 other sets of speaker cables and had a few people over helping out. No matter what we played , what cable, what preamp, the focal always sounded great and the Alexia just went about its business by showing you what all these changes were doing to your music. It was easier to dissect changes on your front end using the Alexias which I really liked. We also felt that the Alexia was always more engaging or that it just drew you into the music much quicker than the focal did. There was also the feeling that the Scala Evo is like an m60 machine gun by the way it fired so rapidly at you and the Alexia is a 50 caliber machine gun that just blasts harder and for longer distances but it is a big gun that needs to be mounted on a vehicle to be able to shoot it because of its power that can send you flying with its kick. Finally, after taking everything else above in consideration I have decided that the Alexia will be the speaker that I will roll forward with. This means that next year I will need to be patient to see if I can score a pair of ALEXX ? We shall see what the future holds. Tomorrow I will give my impressions of the xp30 vs boulder 2010. For now, I will go back to listening to more music. |
@kren. The neoliths were never in my new room so they wouldn’t be included in my statement above. They are still the best I've owned but would the Alexx change that ? I have come to the realization that I value a big soundstage and smoothness above everything else. Small sound bores me and does nothing for me. I need to be swallowed completely my the presentation in order for me to stay engaged. |
@ricred1 You pretty much nailed it on the head. Changing speakers for something better will certainly improve a lot of aspects, but it can present other challenges that you don't have right now. For instance, with the Alexia 1 you get a larger sound, clear, smooth sound without going over the edge, but you also introduce a level of bass that if your current amps can not control the right way then you will introduce overwhelming bottom end. This is what would force you into looking for amps with other strengths. I don't pretend to know it all, but this is MY PERSONAL experience so far. |
Nope. No Dynaudio for me or splendor. The magnepan will probably be here for a bit longer until I get my "ak47" of an amplifier tomorrow. I want to hear what it can do with the 20.7. Dynaudio is no longer of any interest to me. I used to like it but their new stuff just doesn't grab me. I prefer to buy a fyne audio instead |
For right now I need to stay with Alexia 1 and learn the speaker. It will serve me as a learning tool if I decide to go up the ladder. As far as your comment about the bass, I can understand when you say "call attention" because indeed this can be viewed as you describe it , but when I went back to focal I felt like it didn't have tbe same meat on the bones but rather just more detail and imaging but those traits don't keep me on my seat over long listening sessions. I tried and it didn't so this is also about what speaker characters engage you and translate into long listening sessions. Neither one is right or wrong, but rather which one makes you excited to come home to listen. |
So i had a total of 5 people come over over the last 2 days and each and everyone of them said the same thing which was that they have never ever heard anything sound remotely close in my room or living room to what i have put together now. I am actually beyond shocked myself at how good things sound. I can't put it into words that can describe the great feeling i have with entire system as a whole. The synergy, dynamics, speed, explosiveness, muscularity, clarity, layers of detail, zero fatigue, etc, etc, etc. Me saying that i am happy would be an understatement because i am actually FLOORED with how everything is sounding. With that out of the way, here are my thoughts of the pass labs xp30 vs boulder 2010: Pass labs xp30 PROS: - sounds very lively -rounded high frequencies which allows you to listen to recordings that are not perfect - great punch and meat on the bones when it comes to the lows - awesome mids that reminds you that this is a class a preamp - open soundstage - not analytical or cold. It is very inviting and works hard to make each song as pleasant as possible - excellent bang for the buck Boulder 2010 Pros: - clear like water - Bass control with zero bloat or overhang - amazing separation and imaging - it gives you nothing but the facts - It will reward you by letting you hear each hard earned dollar you spend in your system - dynamics are startling to the point that you almost cringe each time the music has dynamic swings -the best built preamp i have ever owned and i mean miles and miles ahead. It actually makes ARC preamps look and feel like toys in comparison. Pass labs xp30 CONS: (please note that these are based on the comparison i made to the boulder 2010 which is 3 times the price) - sounds congested at times - lacks the speed & dynamics of more expensive preamps - It is not as transparent as the boulder 2010. ( i actually did not hear much of a difference using a cd or streaming tidal through this preamp, but i did notice a difference through the boulder) - it has great bass, but not as controlled or tight as the boulder Boulder 2010 cons: - $$$$$$$ -$$$$$$$$$$$$ - very transparent which means it will put your weak points right in your face - very but very difficult to find on the used market - you will find yourself thinking about buying expensive powercords to see how much better it can sound With all that said, the gap between both preamps is quite obvious through my system. Yesterday i actually had one person tell me that he thinks the boulder 2010 is about 60% of my success here and the xs300s probably the other 40% (he was not counting the speakers) so who knows if this boulder is what is making my alexias sing the way they do now. The only way to find out will be by me buying another preamp at some point and see what the outcome will be. For me, i feel that found the preamp that will continue to go forward with me in this journey and will only be sold if another preamp can come in here and beat it, but other than that i won't move out of it. It took me 2 years to find it so i won't take that chance. What is in my head right now? well, first it is to sell all this stuff i have in my room that i am not using anymore and then begin to look into getting a better streamer to feed a better signal to my esoteric k1. i actually demoed the aurender w20 today and was very impressed. i am also thinking about doing a home demo of the nordost odin 2 speaker cables (i am nuts i know) and potentially their odin 2 powercords. Finally, i want to do isolation devices such as stillpoints or anything like that. we shall see... |
i just got off the phone with Wilson and they pretty much said that they have tried isolation devices under their speakers and that they really did not see a marked improvement over their spikes because their cabinets are already heavy, well built and rigid so the only job needed is for them to stay planted on the floor so they dont shift position by the moving drivers. He said, "if you have to burn money, sure go ahead and call me back, but i dont think it will really make a big change" i also had a conversation about the DAW vs Alexia 1 (i did not tell him what i own) and he said that the Daw is a nice product with a great amount of technology. It was primarily designed for smallish rooms where there is not much room behind the speakers, but it is in no way shape or form a superior to an Alexia 1 with the right room and electronics. The Alexia 1 is only bested by the Alexia 2 (and those above the ladder of course). He said the Alexia wont sound ANY different (other than the bass) to a Sasha if it is in a small room, but if you throw them both into a midsize room, that is where the Alexia will distance itself from the DAW. Interesting comments. This would mean that if i was still in my living room i should have bought the DAW, but in my dedicated room the DAW would have never scaled as good as the Alexia 1. |
The door won't hit the speakers at all when open. I am going to be looking into isolation devices for sure and a music server. Aurender could be it but I'll need to wait for that move. I am not bringing the Merrill back because it is no longer available to me. Man those Wilson alexx are really starting to invade my dreams. I am almost afraid to go listen to them because I know myself when I hear something I am truly impressed by. |
Yes it is big enough. Anyhow, I want you guys to give me your opinion on the following: I have a chance to get the aurender w20 (non se) to connect to my esoteric k1 or I can just get a dcs Vivaldi and forget about the w20 and sell my esoteric which means I won't have a CD player of this caliber. What would you all do ? Go with dcs Vivaldi which streams directly from the internet or just get the w20 aurender and connect it to the esoteric ? Alright let me hear educated opinions! |
i can understand that. I will say ONE THING, i do not believe (i hope i am not wrong) that a microphone can correctly capture the depth from a dipole speaker. I have ordered a shure mic that will plug into my ipad in order to see how much better (if anything) it will be than my phone mic. I will try with this mic to see how it does. here is what i have bought based on several recommendations: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Shure/Motiv-MV88-iOS-Digital-Stereo-Condenser-Microphone-1433776528838.gc?cntry=us&source=4WWRWXGP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1ozp56LS6gIVionICh3cuQFwEAQYASABEgLHVPD_BwE again, i dont know if it will capture more or if the improvement will be marginal. |
So i appreciate the ideas and great intentions here. yes, preamps can be really expensive and there are a ton of options at cheaper prices that can bring one hell of an experience. For instance, the Ref6 and the Christine are amazing preamps under 10k (used market price) that can give a lot of bang for the buck. That said, when you talk boulder 2010, ref10, vac statement, etc you are talking about a whole new level of performance that needs to be matched with the same quality of components. If you buy a preamp of this caliber and the rest of your components are subpar, you are pretty much just putting lipstick on a pig. It won't be pretty no matter how much lipstick you put on it. I might end up going the DCS route... the stars are aligning right now so this will be an interesting shootout. Esoteric k1 vs dcs vivaldi? i should start charging you all for all this first hand look at shootouts that most magazines dont ever do. :) will the dcs vivaldi beat esoteric k1???? |
I have yet to be influenced by anyone when it comes to audio. I believe in doing my own trials which is what this journey is about. I use feedback/comments on items I've never owned to simply see if It strikes my interest but I end up making the final decision on whether something is or isn't all that based on ownership. |