2. amps-preamps
  3. 126624-10101

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!


128x128jays_audio_lab

Showing 50 responses by jays_audio_lab

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Thank you Dave. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Tonight’s video will be the return of the Alexia 2 with audioquest Dragon Powercords and speaker cables.
This will be highly HIGHLY educational for many. You get to hear the best pc and speaker cable audioquest builds today. Keep in mind, it still needs to break in more so use it as a preliminary presentation.
Beryllium tweeters will soon make a return in my room. I’d say in about 14 days, you will see one special SPECIAL speaker. Will it best my Neolith? We shall find out.
The only hint I'll give is that it weighs nearly as much as the Neoliths. Nothing else. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Wilson does not get the tweeters from anyone else anymore. They are now built by them. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
6v wins for me on every speaker or amp I've ever owned. The rest sounded anemic. Lacked body and fullness in my trials. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
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@kps25sc.  

Thanks for the support
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
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@ron17.
thanks for the support ron17. i concur with your assesement above in regards to some being upset about me not picking up what they own so i can give my opinion on it.  That is exactly my feeling and actually many of you have voiced this to me privately. 

@kren:
thank you and please do not stop posting here. Don’t let others make you angry. i have been dealing with such behavior for 4 years.
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Whitecamaross = understanding gear and what each component does.

Greyhound = music

Techno= who knows

This thread? Reviewing and giving my personal opinion on ultra high end as well as cheap (such as McIntosh ma252, 13a, magnepan, etc) gear that some people might want.
What I WILL NOT do is go into an argument of cheap vs expensive especially when I am the one who owns all this equipment. Oh and it ain’t bragging when it is a fact.
If you are the world champ of the heavy weight division and your next component is talking trash about you and constantly keeps saying stuff to get into your head and piss you off etc etc leading into the fight and you walk into the ring and just slaughter your opponent making him look like a punk, I feel like you deserve to grab the mic and talk garbage to him and anyone else who doubted you.
If you would like to see examples of this, please go to you tube and type ufc 253 and watch the main event. That kid Ismael Adesanaya talks trash even to the media but guess what? He backs it up by shutting up doubters and those who talk garbage about him not being worthy of the championship belt. He bashed the hell out of any doubter and yes even the press addressing everyone face to face and I RESPECT that BECAUSE HE BACKS IT UP. When you back up what you claim, I will be the first person who will shut up.
You knock your opponent out with actions and then you can talk all the garbage to him afterwards. 
This is no different than saying "oh people who went to the military are lazy or don't work hard". Try saying that and see how that works out for you. See how many people will begin to post and come out of the woods looking for you. 
The thing is that there are people here such as the greyhounds and technos who get a kick out of getting a reaction from me. Mrdecibel was another person but he actually said he would just tune out of this channel for good  and it appears he has finally done just that.  
This begs the question, why is it cool to get a reaction from me but when I do come out with my punching gloves to knock you all out then all of a sudden I look like the bad guy ? Can anyone explain that ? 

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
I don’t know viber. You might have to get one and test it out for yourself  That way you know what it does.
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Amen 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Oh no you didn't ask him that ...wait for it...
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
To the rest who seem to love to get a kick out of me, i will not go into verbal altercations with you all. I ask to refrain from attacking me directly and i will do the same. I will leave it at that.


Lastly, if you can not hear the difference between a Mcintosh integrated and the Mephisto, that is good. You do not have to spend money on ridiculously priced components. Leave that exercise for Jay. He is the stupid one burning HIS CASH. Just don’t "criticize" his practices because he is buying such equipment and not the more affordable offerings that you own. Pretty simple. I am not mad at the guys who own Ferraris and Lambos because i can not afford one. I accept that i can’t afford a Lamborghini (fact) and let those who can hop in one enjoy theirs. I am the dude that simply watches him/her pull up at the light while i check out his/her gorgeous car and maybe take a few pics with my phone. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
It’s about the gear and not music. 300%. If you want to be enamored with music, thats called Pandora, spotify, tidal and qobuz.
I suspect I can now move on and continue my journey now that I have publicly made it clear that this is about my experience with THE GEAR and NOT the music ?
Do you now understand the thread greyhound?
Music is SECONDARY TO ME. I care to understand the gear FIRST.
To Ron17s point, I am a "car tweaker" who loves to try new wheels, exhaust, turbos, superchargers. I DO NOT spend time taking joy rides on weekends in the car. I am the guy who will be under the car looking at everything and seeing where I can make improvements to it.
Music is part of the tweaking only because I need to hear the components pros and cons. There is no other way for me to understand what happened to the sound unless I listen to some music. I spend 90% understanding the equipment and 10% listening as part of the exercise but not because I am extremely excited to sit there listening all time. I enjoy the occasional listening session until 2am but that is not my mission objective.

My M.O. is to be testing and trying until 2am. It is not to play albums for hours on end. I can do that in my car or at the gym while I do cardio for an hour.
I brought the ma252 for these reasons:
-to give THOSE OF YOU who play with gear that is more modestly priced a feel for what it does with something like the Alexia 2. This is something YOU WILL NEVER SEE DONE EVER. Any Alexia 2 owner wouldn't have a McIntosh ma252 to drive this Speaker but I did it to give you that exposure. Again, to do something that you don't see often

- I also wanted to hear a little bit of tubes with the Alexia because I am contemplating doing something with tubes but needed to answer a few questions to myself and this integrated allowed me to answer a few things. 

- lastly, I don't always have super expensive stuff. Please look back at my videos where you can see I've had different equipment levels. 

I’ve burned too much time explaining myself today. I’m going to go and be productive.

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
One day big Jay will just shut doors here and take my efforts elsewhere. I think moderators will have a hell of a lot less work if I did that because they wouldn’t have to be involved anymore with this.
My next platform will be under control. Stay tuned for more. 2021 will be EPIC.
We are near the end of 2020.
In life in general, you must reinvent yourself in order to keep pushing forward. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Very soon, very very soon...

To those of you who message me directly asking me to not go away from here and to not let "the others" stop me, I know that you all will follow me wherever I decide to go and when I do I will only be just a click away. Don’t worry.
I’m tired of burning energy on pointless conversations. Let me keep doing me and my thing. All else is irrelevant.
You all can build your own new thread and review the gear that you presently own. You all don’t need me here with the Mephistos, focals, momentums and Gryphons of the world. I’m sure you all can come up with better stuff to review for others. I’m not worried.
Those of you who private message me, just sit tight. We will ride forward soon without any inconveniences. 

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Crickets...
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 

$9.99 Amazon Powercords on a $500,000 system:

 

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
@goodsource:

Thank you for your comments
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
I've already heard the critical mass today and last night. I was advised by critical mass that I need to let it break in at least 300 hours because the weight of the amplifier needs to sink completely into the filters and that takes time .
The initial impressions of this stand are positive but I'll let the you all hear for yourselves. It's been almost 2 months of tweaking the mephisto and finally we are about to find out what it will do. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Thanks. 
That song isn't the best recording by the way. If you all play it in your system then you'd know what I'm talking about. That was/is a tease before I begin. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 

-Crystal clear
-Looong decays
- Speed
-Slam

Gryphon Pandora should easily elevate this to another level. More to come 


jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
It’s a teaser...it’s to show the Mephisto on the stand with something playing...
Also, most of you use ipads to listen (yes youtube tells me this) so I don’t think you will capture much from the stand so don’t expect to hear a difference.
For those of you who have a decent set of headphones, you will pick up differences. Stay tuned.
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
I am NOT getting the mephisto off of the stand. It's there and it won't move anymore. Whatever we have before the stand was added is what we have as a "before" the stand. 250 lbs with sharp heatsinks isn't something I'm going to be messing with. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Yes the preamp was in the mix. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
https://youtu.be/i9PivBaeEWQ
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Just wait until you hear the pandora...lol. You’ll find out why things sound the day they do.

As far as bass, wait for pandora...just wait :)
The difference will be easily heard... everything locks in perfectly.
Odin speaker cables are too bright and the powercords aren’t welcomed by the mephisto. They make the bass anemic and add more brightness. This has never been easier for me to gauge. The mephisto makes everything sound off as it should. Bright or lean or rolled off etc. Whatever you put in, that’s what you get. 
As far as bass, the chair vibrates and the room pressurizes if you play a song that is meant to sound that way. It won't add bass to s song that doesn't really have it. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
It's hard to really gauge bass and know exactly what it sounds like unless you're in the room. The mic can't really capture the pounding on your chest or the vibration of the chair while you sit on it. That's why you always have to keep that in mind and also if someone wants more bass or less bass etc then that's understandable but that becomes a matter of taste and not really the way a particular recording is meant to be heard. 
I don't know if I'll ever do subwoofers with speakers because the level of bass i get in here is really excellent but again this needs to be felt IN HERE to really understand what is happening. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 

Let’s shift gears:

I will be releasing my personal tidal playlist this week. Within this playlist, you will find about 73 songs which will provide you with over 5 hours and 40 min worth of music.

This playlist will keep getting updated by me so all you need to do is add it to your favorites. I really hope that dealers and manufacturers also save this playlist so that they can use it next time they are displaying their product at a show.

These songs are handpicked by me and have at least one (if not more ) of the following traits:

  1. Big soundstage with depth and height
  2. Clarity
  3. Deep bass
  4. Intense imaging
  5. Big bold vocals
  6. High resolution

Use this playlist to evaluate your own system too!

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 

You should buy at least HiFi...never the basic version...

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
It's not that the pandora is on the relaxed sound but rather that it evens out the tonality of the Mephisto. It takes the incoming signals and balances out all frequencies. Nothing is too tilted or too relaxed. 
Everything seems spot on. The bass is deep with zero overhang and nothing jumps at you. 

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
@kren:
Thanks man. Greatly appreciate the support. I'll be doing a few videos soon. I think today's video was as public as I could have been. Yes this is the best system I've put together. The entire system is superior to many other systems I've owned. I have exceeded what I have put together in my past and that is really all i can ask for. 
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Hi Viber
I’m actually exhausted because I went to bed at 230am listening to music trying song after song and was simply in disbelief with each song.
It feels as if someone came into my room, ran room correction, put more acoustic panels and bass traps. Everything locked in and since you are a person that likes clarity, all I can say is there is a ton of that here with the muscle and dynamics that I love.
I am actually enjoying everything I play through it and yet I am STILL using the factory powercords on the Gryphon Pandora. I have plans of using upgraded powercords on it down the road but not now. I don’t want to let my curiousity get a hold of me at least during this honeymoon phase I got going on.
Yes I plan to try better PCs on the preamp and on the dac down the road. 
I have dragon powercords on the sidelines ready for the Pandora, but I want to slowly improve things from here.  
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
No interest in magico a5. I’m glad you love you them. Build around them and report back. At the end of the day what counts is YOU liking them.
Makes zero difference what anyone else has to say. I have bested ALL of MY PREVIOUS systems and I am not seeking any validation from anyone.   I’m not comparing my CURRENT entire system to anybody else’s other than my own. I love what I am hearing HERE and that is really what matters TO ME. I’m at the top of MY OWN MOUNTAIN. 
Stay safe!
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Teaser #1:

https://youtu.be/BTxqpFEXAh8
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
I plan to bring my magnepan 20.7 out soon. More to come !
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
Looking at your previous posts suggests you are blown away by the baby magico a5 speaker?
I can certainly say I’ve heard it and it isn’t in the same conversation with a wilson alexia 2. That said, it is about preferences and if you feel the magico a5 is that good, I’m quite happy you didn’t have to spend the dough I spent on my Alexia 2s. You got a "better" speaker FOR YOU and spent waaaaay less money than I did. You WON for your current situation and that is all that matters.
:-)
However, I will say, freely (just like you did here about my Alexia 2s), that the magico a5 sound like a 900 dollar speaker if the Alexia 2 sound to YOU like a 6k speaker.
Preferences...nothing else..nothing more...that is what it comes down to.
Lastly, don’t forget I’ve owned magico s5mk2 and briefly the magico m3 a as well which I hope you don’t categorize as inferior to the magico a5 that you love.
Better said, you hate wilson (on video as you stated) and I don’t love magico but I don’t dislike it either.
The cool thing about what I do is that I could bring a magico m2 at some point and build around it or vivid audio or focal again? Who knows. The sky is the limit.
Thanks for the comment above and wish you make those magico a5 kick @ss !
jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
@goodsource:

The reports I’ve been getting about the antileon evo is aligning with your statement above. It is the "dark" gryphon while the coliseum is not. The mephisto completely departs from the tonality of their siblings by adding more layers, more organic feeling, more immediacy and impact and last but not least, more neutral than the coliseum and I can probably say more than the antileon as well.
The mephisto has given me the feeling of " you’re there , I have arrived, I am here with you jay" and other amps didn’t quite echo that.
I can’t think of an amplifier that I rather have than the mephisto. Will I still bring more amps? Sure I will. I just don’t know if something else will check as many boxes as the mephisto.
The boulder 2160 has been on my radar as well as the baby gryphon essence. Outside of those amps, I can’t say there is anything else that makes me extremely curious but this doesn’t mean that there isn’t something else worth me trying.
The last video I shot impressed me even when listening to it on my phone.
The massive amounts of positive comments, texts, emails I have received in regards to the last video is unlike anything else.
Of course, if you pay attention to my videos you’ll see there are always 1 or 2 people who do thumbs down and that needs no explanation as to who that might be.
As of right now I have 59 thumbs up and 3 thumbs down lol. Hmmm how interesting right ?
The great thing with YouTube is that you can control the negative comments plus you can see who is leaving negative comments and easily figure out who they are etc. 
That said, I don't know where to go from here when it comes to amps. 

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 

So the last video I posted about the best power amplifier I’ve owned has been the best performing video I’ve had this year. YouTube has said to me that it has performed unlike any other video I’ve released in 2021. No wonder WHY YouTubers create controversial video all the time such as " the fastest car I’ve owned" , " I pushed my tv off the balcony" etc etc. People want drama or controversy. Hmm... 🤔

jays_audio_lab's avatar
jays_audio_lab OP
5,381 posts
 
The reality here is that the MORE NEUTRAL a component is, THE LESS DESIRED it tends to be by the general audiences.
A couple of examples:
Boulder: it is extremely transparent stuff that has incredible construction and resolution.

Gryphon Mephisto: Neutral. It punished me with Nordost odin and it told me exactly what a dac direct and a preamp do or don’t do.

That said, how many people really chase boulder? How many chase the mephisto? NOT MANY. WHY? Well it’s not chump change. Also, these Components have a reputation of sounding "bad" or "too ruthless’ etc etc.
So then WHAT THE HELL DO WE ALL WANT AS AUDIOPHILES? The REAL PRESENTATION? or a "cute" sounding presentation that let’s you sit there for hours and that doesn’t allow you to criticize bad recordings??
That is a question that only EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU can answer.
It is YOUR SYSTEM, YOUR FLAVOR, YOUR DOUGH.
Lastly, I have noticed that many have strong opinions on components that they haven’t been in front of or at the very least heard at a show. There is a difference between having an "idea" and being "certain" how a component sounds based on reading 4-5 forums.
Nobody can be certain of how a component sounds if all you have done is read what "others" have posted on forums.
I read several forums and It never ceases to amaze me HOW MANY NARRATIVES exist by people who haven’t been exposed to any of the gear they comment on. I want to be clear by saying "exposed" rather than "owned" because the fact is that they haven’t even been to a show to hear the components they "supposedly" know so well. These are the things that lead to more confusion than anything else.
When you read comments on ANY component, do your homework first and use comments as general preliminary feedback. Don't make buying decisions based on what people say on forums (yep you can also include me in that). 
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Hi all, 

Here is my personal playlist:

Enjoy !!

 

 

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@viber6

Man, i feel like you are cherry-picking now... just buy tidal man.. it is cheap.. Download it to your computer and you will be up and running in less than 5 minutes. Do you realize all the work i would have to do if i were to embark on what you are requesting above? It is 73 songs as of today... You are asking that i go through each song individually and find the exact second where to pay attention..Come on man...

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I find it hysterical how some people have the audacity to come here and bark orders for me to buy what they want. Lol. Isn't that lovely eh? 
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He doesn’t have one. He just loves to create fiction and recently started to flood with comments on my YouTube channel under a new username.
Guys, it is EASY to figure it out on youtube who writes the stupid nonsense...it is EASY TO SEE...and I get to remove the comments all day long... Every day.....
Hate is a real thing...misery always wants company...
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Lol...that’s exactly my point Ron17.
I also don’t need to prove anything to anyone especially the dude that gives thumbs down on all my videos. I will continue to do my thing and work on beating my own system and nothing else. I’m not going to compare my system to anybody else’s and that’s why I will say it here once again:
If you found a speaker, amp, or preamp or dac or whatever it is AND you paid a fraction of what I have invested in my own system then MORE POWER TO YOU.
Be happy you didn’t spend what I had to spend and that you did something better than I did.
Don’t forget to tell your story here as to how you did it. WE WOULD ALL LOVE TO KNOW IT so we can duplicate it. Oh and while you're at it, build a youtube channel and show us too. Why not ? It is all fun...

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I finally got around to installing the furutech outlets today and from a raw state, they are OUTSTANDING. Wow. 

More dynamics, feels as if the music has more thrust, more bass, the vocals in some songs reach out and touch you due to the sheer body. 😳...more to come .

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@dasign 

Thank you. I will keep burning them in. They sound amazing. 

No wonder why the gryphon Mephisto was yelling at me.. 😬

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@tvflem

Awesome man. Glad to hear you all are enjoying it. That’s what this should be all about!

 

@psnyder149

I have the same cover plates and man the difference is significant. The level of detail and nuances at very low volumes is great plus I’m getting a lot more bass....I don’t understand how that is possible but it is all there.

I'm pissed I didn't do this before but I think the journey is what is fun to me. I wouldn't appreciate the outlets as much had I not been using stock outlets for quite sometime. This is what makes me happier.

 

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@chayro
thank you for your observations above. You bring very interesting points which are reasonable. That said, did you see what i did? yes, i was BRUTALLY honest about the Mephisto knowing it can impact my future when it is time for me to sell it. Yet, i did not care and i was as real as i possibly could. I have been brutally bashed and criticized HERE for being X and Y when it comes to selling equipment, but i just demonstrated once again with that video that i DO NOT CARE to tell the truth even about my own gear.
So now that i have gotten that out of the way, I consider the Mephisto the G.O.A.T. from all the power amps i have owned. That said, you are buying a V12 engine with twin turbos so now what are you going to do? are you going to put it inside your Oldsmobile Cutlass and expect the stock transmission, tires and suspension to hold up? no right?
That is essentially what you have done by buying something like the Mephisto. I believe that i can still improve it (slowly) even though right now it is sounding incredible (as you heard on the first teaser video i did) so i have already found synergy. It was not hard to achieve it and it was just common sense: Buy the matching preamp and try their cables.

The truth is when you get to a certain point with this hobby, it is often times better to stick to matching amp/preamp FIRST. I will try more preamps with the Mephisto and other things to evaluate the performance of the component.
I go back to Nordost Odin 1: It is a tested and an excellent cable with a long track record for being one of the best cables out there, BUT the Mephisto brought a magnifying glass with it and it exposed the strength and weaknesses of the Odin 1 cables (brightness being a weakness at times). It is no surprise that Nordost Odin cables can be bright especially when not configured correctly and with the right supporting cast. However, the resolution is insane as well as the clarity so people who own Nordost can validate when i am saying here. Yes it gives you beautiful clarity, liquidity, speed, resolution, BUT nobody will lie to you and tell you it does not get bright (unless of course you listen at low volumes then it is hard to make something sound bright).
I actually had someone PM ME asking me what i thought of Audioquest Dragon because he was getting "bite" from his Nordost set up.
Anyhow, the point i am trying to make is that with the Mephisto these things are more "enhanced" and under the microscope to the point that they are unbearable. It is by no means the Mephisto’s fault because all it is doing is giving you "hearing aids" so you can pick up everything in more of an accentuated fashion.
The best attribute of this amp is that it makes it EASY to tell you what happened to the sound when you add or remove something. i don’t need to spend weeks to figure out the difference between one cable or the other.
Stay tuned for Teaser #2 today. You will get to hear more of it and the best part is that you WILL hear subpar performances sound subpar even though in some systems they might sound better which i can also achieve by bringing the constellations, the luxmans of the world back into the room, but i have already done that so i am not really exploring those options going forward.
Once again, thank you for your observations above.

Jay
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https://youtu.be/eU9U6QyDMKQ
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Hi
The issue is the majority of my followers don’t really care for classical. Can I do it ? Sure. It’s easy for me but as an FYI most people that message me or do consulting with me don’t listen to classical.
I personally don’t listen to classical but that’s just me. Anytime I hear classical music, I can't quite evaluate anything because I don't know the music. 
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I wish I could tell you something different, but I just listened to that and it reminded me of the music they played in the background of cartoons like Tom and Jerry. I know you love violins which is great, but unfortunately I think most of us here are very "ignorant" to music such as the example above. This doesn’t mean that the music is no good, but the reality is that you probably fall under a specific group of people who love violins. I think of it like a "cult" or like a fan base of Harley Davidson bikes. It’s a very specific demographic.
Again, no pun intended with my personal view above.
Viber, you should try to make it to audio shows as soon as this covid thing is over. You will really get a better feel for the audio industry. I plan to get out to axpona 2021 if this pandemic is over.

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@speedbump:

I’m shocked how well you articulated that. I couldn’t have done it better. IF anyone does not UNDERSTAND the analogy you just presented, it leads me to believe that they simply should not be following this thread altogether because every intelligent conversation will go right above their head. They won’t understand it EVER EVER. I hope with the explanation you have given above that many understand more of what I’m trying to do. THANK YOU for this explanation. I am speechless at how you nailed it. 
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