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
Alright guys, I am going to give away my Audioquest NRG outlet. the MSRP on this unit is $179 dollars. What needs to happen? We need to hit 8k subscribers (so i encourage you all to spread this on the multiple sites you frequent and encourage for others to subscribe). As soon as we hit 8k subscribers, you will email me at jayaudiolab@gmail. The 12th email i receive will be the winner. 😉
Happy Holidays!
|
Oh wow. You still alive man ? Oh thank you for continuing to follow and reading my thread. I thought you had tuned out and changed the channel. I guess you still read and only post when you are in position to say something to attack me. Cool though. I appreciate that you are STILL here reading. Yes I am here to promote high end audio and to sell massive amounts of gryphon and wilson to the greyhounds of the world. I can’t keep track of all the orders. I had to call the cops because the line is out to the middle of the street right now with buyers ready to buy my gear. Go ahead and begin the bashing of whitecamaross. We are all anxiously awaiting your next post to confirm that you still read this thread and that you also will only post to create narratives about me as you just publicly demonstrated. |
Anyhow, moving on and away from the noise above: The Boulder 2110 vs Gryphon Pandora will push the boundaries to the extreme. As i sit here listening to the 2110 i can say it will be one of the most difficult decisions i am going to have to make. They COULD NOT be more different sonically-speaking. This will be about my personal preference between both and not about one being better than the other. It is more about choosing your poison and calling it a day. More amps are scheduled to come next month. I plan to use different amps to put both preamps through the motions and see WHICH ONE is the one that really does more for me even without the Mephisto in the mix. As i said, i am looking to improve MY OWN system. I am improving on the best version of what i have put together through today and we will see if this Boulder 2110 can win me over just like the Pandora already has. |
He doesn't post anywhere on audiogon...it is easy to follow where else he has posted... Very little activity on other threads but he loves my journey :) and is really primarily focused on what I am doing. I guess no bad press is bad press ? I don't hate anyone, but I don't like it when I am personally attacked. I don't post on ANY AUDIO FORUM ANYWHERE. I am doing my thing and don't care to read what others are doing unless they share it here. If it is not shared here then I have zero clue what the rest are doing with their systems. I got way too much on my plate to be concerned with things I can't control. See, I will say it publicly HERE: if techno stopped being the antagonist and had more "normalcy" then we can start with a clean slate. I don't hold grudges (I've said this before) but when people just have it out for me then yes I gotta defend myself. It's the right thing to do when you attack anyone. |
@tjassoc Thank you for last post. You and a lot of other people are eager to see what I will do next. Most people don’t do what I do and that is WHY this thread has survived for 4 years. The bickering will continue unfortunately because that is the job of certain people. It’s kinda like when I was in the military: there was always one or two people who ruined a good thing for the whole platoon. I remember there were 2 who got caught eating candy (we weren’t allowed in bootcamp) and so the drill sergeants brought them front and center and told the whole platoon that we will be on the floor, doing push ups beyond muscle failure while we watch the other 2 people who screwed up actually sit on a chair and eat a bag full of snickers chocolate bars as they watched us do push ups. This is a TRUE STORY by the way. Soon after we were punished for them eating candy, you can imagine how pissed off we all were at those two. This is how drill sergeants get people to cooperate as one unit or else we all pay for the weak ones. They also know that we will probably be extremely aggressive towards such individuals behind closed doors. Those days are long gone though...but it was never frowned upon if you hated someone and went behind the building and went at it until both were separated by a superior. The next morning both showed up to work with black eyed and swollen lips and nobody would be ratting anyone out or be a snitch. Man I miss the good old days... Those days when if you didn't like someone , you went behind the building and knocked each other out and then the beef would be over. Nowadays, that isn't possible... everybody has a gun, not a fist. |
@viber6: i am not sure where you got the impression that the block audios are euphonic compared to the mephisto? i don’t think i can say that because they were spectacular when i owned them. Block Audios were no joke and anyone who has the opportunity to hear them will be in for a shock. Have you looked at their linestage? it uses 3 powercords, battery powered, it can tell you the temperature of the block monos, etc. That is one insane linestage. I do not think i have seen another linestage with 3 powercords anywhere. |
@tweak1 interesting find. I will say that i do not like Wireworld powercords. I also want to share something with you all that i have not said before: i live about 15 min away from Wireworld and i have had several conversations with them and told them on multiple occasions that their powercords need help. Someoone needs to call 911 on their powercords. They need serious help with them and of course if i am as honest or blunt as i typically am, i get the eyes of the devil staring back at me which is how i felt when i told them. I offered to bring my Nordost Odin 1 so they can take a look and compare to their top powercord and they did not want to. I have a hard time putting "filters" on when what i have to say something that is unfortunately not good to hear. I pretty much told them that their powercords are waaaaaaay behind and their response was that they don’t plan on changing them because they cant seem to figure out a way to make them better.... |
ok cool. You both can close the door on your way out. I am promoting brands.. here are some FACTS about Greyhound and Techno since they have a narrative about me, and i have facts: Greyhound: # of posts in October = 18 ( 12 of these posts are all on this thread) he has not posted ANYWHERE ELSE since October 3rd other than my thread. This means for the last 17 days, he has ONLY BEEN posting on my thread and NOWHERE else on Audiogon Techno: 36 out of his last 37 posts have been HERE. He only has posted ONCE outside of my thread in the month of October. THESE ARE FACTS. Not attacks or rumors or a narrative. There is a difference. |
Here is a video of the guts of the 2110 and the optical connections inside their separate channels https://youtu.be/YfM5y1FIccs |
I am currently uploading a video of the Mephisto and Pandora. i have selected great tracks that will be used going forward as well. The only change that was made was removing the Nordost Odin 1 PC from the dac and adding an Audioquest Dragon Source Powercord. I also have the clock on a stock powercord. Nothing else has changed. I also do not plan to upload any videos of the Boulder until the first week of next Month. Why ? because i want you all to ride with me over the next 2 weeks with constant videos of the Pandora and Mephisto until we have added all the cables i have at my disposal and hopefully got it to sound as good as i can with my best cables. These next 2 weeks will also force all of us to hear these components together and familiarize ourselves with them BEFORE we get started with the Boulder. Once we have the sound of the Pandora and Mephisto embedded in our heads, it will be easier to pick up the changes with the Boulder and find out if my system got better as a whole or if it went backwards. |
So i have been learning quite a bit with the Mephisto. One of the things i believe we sometimes fail to acknowledge is that not every song will sound good with a system as highly resolved as mine. If the wish was for every song to kick @ss, i would just add a tube linestage and just about everything will sound amazing. That said, i am attempting to follow more of the "neutral" path at this very moment to see how different some songs sound. The song "give you up" by Dido is a perfect example. It got just a tad "bright" during certain passages and yet i am using what is considered a more "relaxed" powercord on the dac than before. This not only leads me to believe that the recording is simply a tad forward sounding in certain parts, but also keep in mind i am playing at around 82 db. Try playing that song in your system at 82db and let me know your impressions as well as what system you have. You might find the same effect of what i am hearing. I am not trying to "cure" recordings by any means. If i were to say what i would like to hear is perhaps a little less etched high frequencies WITH certain songs - not all. Overall, i am very happy with the progress made. On my next video, i will add the Odin 1 pc on the clock and everything else will remain the same. More resolution will come, but i am trying create a balancing act which is hard to do. |
Last day of the year. It’s been a long journey but what is interesting is that I feel I have brought in less components than previous years because I’m trying to live with things longer in order to evaluate them better. Next month, a component leaves my room and gets replaced. I have enjoyed my time with it but I feel that it has lived here long enough and have nothing else to learn from it. Thank you all for the support (including the haters). It’s not easy to do what I do (outside of the financial investment). It requires so much time, physical and mental effort plus hours on the phone with all my sources in order to locate my next component. Happy 2022 in advance to you all! |
I have zero plans to go back to dac-direct. I have done enough trials to finally understand that for my personal system, dac-direct leads to ear ringing, excellent clarity, lack of control with some of the monster amps i tend to own here, decent grip on the woofers from most of my wilson speakers (not an easy speaker to control) and limited dynamics. If i wanted clarity mixed with some bite in the high frequencies and if i listened at around 70 dbs then i would do dac direct. If i were looking for all the smallest nuances, minute details, and listened at low to slightly moderate levels at times and had a smallish room, i would stick to dac and wouldn’t buy a preamp. I just always end up with my ears "on fire" after listening to a dac into an amp at approximately 80 dbs. Maybe my ears are sensitive to that extreme amount of detail? who knows, it might be just my personal situation. That said, NO DAC that i have ever owned has ever come close to the explosiveness, attack, control, bass tightness that i have achieved with the best preamps that i have been through. I also think it has to do with the system in front of you. The higher up the ladder you go, the more important a linestage becomes. I can understand if some people want to save money by not buying a linestage and using that money elsewhere in their system (a better power cord, better speaker cables etc), but when you have pretty much everything in your system, you can’t continue to skip on a world class preamp. I am extremely positive that if I were to bring this boulder 2110 or Pandora linestage to those of you using dac direct into amps, you'd be in shock how much better the entire presentation would be. That said I understand that the 58k boulder isn't for everyone. It is quite a bit of money. |
@thezaks: That is correct. One thing that i must say is that i have noticed that MOST PEOPLE that i have spoken to who like detail and extreme resolution, etc, etc tend to be in their 50s and 60s. I am 41, not sure if this is why i do not need "more" detail than the older generations? Maybe the older i get will eventually lead me to need more "bite" or extra detail in the presentations? I am actually wondering if age has "something, not all" to do with how much detail a person needs in their music. I remember being younger and loving ghost pepper, jalapenos, habanero, etc and i used to indulge in that. I went to town with everything being on the spicier end, but now i am barely able to handle Lousiana Hot Sauce or Frank's hot sauce because my stomach just falls apart. I get tremendous burning and acid reflux that makes me feel as if someone is stabbing in the thorax. |
Well to be honest, it is YOU GUYS, the future buyers of my gear , who don't let me buy everything I want to try because you all won't buy it later when i am done lol. In all fairness, yes I must take the used market into account when buying gear. Speaking of buying gear, my next move has just departed and is in route to me. Next week will be the last time you all see and hear a particular component. Big announcement, stay tuned for more of my madness because I can't do this without you all. Don't forget that. You all are one reason why I keep doing this. Thank you to those of you who have been supportive of my journey and this thread. I really appreciate everything and my home is your home. I mean it. |
Viber You make interesting points and it could be a great intelligent discussion for all of us to chime in on without disrespect. That said, the reviewer stated what he heard. I stated what I heard with my top preamps, and you state what you hear. We clearly hear and prefer different tonalities as audiophiles and that is fine. My issue is when people come with these ideas of affordable components besting the upper echelon. That is when I must say: hmm not so much. What needs to be said instead is that maybe the benchmark punches way above its price point and that it is an insanely good product given its price tag. See, that I could believe and couldn’t argue, but when this mentality of greatness gets taken out of context and I mean WAAAAAY out of context is when I have to snap my fingers and do reality checks here. I haven’t owned the benchmark preamp but I am willing to bet any component I own in my room that if you bring that benchmark linestage here and we do REAL A/B comparisons against the 111 lb boulder preamp, it wouldn’t go past the first 5 seconds before we have a winner. Why do you think that is? Because I have a highly resolved system. I am not bragging, it is a fact. So in my system, the differences are massive and easily heard. NOBODY here is trying to insult anyone with a benchmark linestage because nobody has said it is garbage. What most people are saying is to keep our feet on the ground and our head on our shoulders. I’ve come from the onkyos and rotels of the world. Don’t forget that. I wasn’t born with Wilson and Gryphon. I had to come from the bottom and worked my way up to the top. One perfect example of ME appreciating affordable audio would be the 20.7. Why are they still here? They are special. I can't deny it. Are they a wilson alexia 2? Hmm nope... But I don't expect them to be. I am clear on what they are and they are not. Viber, when it comes to my Alexia 2s, you actually did praise them and were vocal about how much they had impressed you a few weeks ago. Then recently you said that my speakers are my weak link.... Lastly, I am being as respectful as possible with my points above so let's keep a mature and valid discussion flowing. |
For those of you who have been swearing about the benchmark dac, you might want to read this review that just came out. It is of the arc REF6SE which was compared to the momentum hd preamp I owned and rated #1 on my list of preamplification, as well as this benchmark $2599 preamp. I’m hoping you all can read between the lines on that review. In a nutshell, the benchmark was simply "alright" and nothing to rave about. I am going to literally copy and paste here: "As for the other preamps, the MBL N11 was by far the warmest of the lot, with excellent bass. The well-over-twice-as-expensive D’Agostino was the giant killer (as in giant who kills, not killer of giants), with more color, bigger images than with the Rossini solo, a soundstage larger in all directions and set farther back, and the strongest bass. It blew Erik away. At the other end of the price spectrum, the Benchmark LA4, which costs less than a sixth of what the ARC REF 6SE costs, proved the least colorful and engaging of the lot, with recessed highs and a rather flat presentation" Do we have to keep going with this benchmark conversation after those words above where they clearly praised the momentum hd linestage (as I have as well on my YouTube channel) and nothing really was praised about the benchmark dac? I hope this puts this entire noise of the benchmark linestage conversation to sleep when it comes to comparing it to the likes of the momentum hd, let alone the boulder 2110 or Gryphon Pandora. I did not have to do the talking here. Do not be upset with me either. I am only the messenger of the review that stereophile put out this month. I don’t know why some people don’t understand that there are levels to this. I will never talk bad about the benchmark linestage but to dare to say that it bests preamps in the category of the momentum hd, boulders, or even the REF6SE is just simply absurd. Levels....I don’t make them up...they are a reality and of course some people don’t get it because they have not really gone up to the likes of the preamps mentioned on the review. Lastly, most of the people praising the benchmark linestage don't even own it...that's what's even more shocking...I will leave it at that. |
Interesting Kren. I have no reason to not believe that this dac isn't as good as the 11k hegel. They aren't exactly leagues apart from a price stand point. Luxman class a Integrated for $9500 stumped on the accuphase e800 I had here which retails for $20k. As soon as luxman releases their new reference monos, I will throw my name on the waiting list. I love luxman. I can't echo that more than I have. |
@dasign I am very happy to hear that you learned something from my journey. I am happy you also agree with the importance of a linestage and what it accomplishes. I no longer have to second guess myself anymore with regards to the conversation of no preamp or preamp in the mix. That is a dead subject for me. That said, maybe in the next few years there will be new dacs that will change things for all of us. |
@justmetoo: Good points above. I also wanted to say the following: 1. Stereophile clearly loved the benchmark but compared it to higher end linestages such as the momentum hd and well they pretty much spoke how they felt about its performance when comparing it to other levels of linestages. 2. I spoke about how I feel about using dac direct versus no preamp by doing comparisons My point? Both points have to do with REAL comparisons in the same environment. Both come from hands on experience. These points above validate the opinion quite a bit more than the person who only has "an idea" of what an ultra high end component must bring to the table and how an affordable component should or could either best it or match it in performance. To me, that becomes a narrative and not a reality. Yes, we all can create whatever narrative or form any opinion we want but that does not mean you know it is true. Isn’t that how the court system works? If you don’t have proof of a damn thing then how can the judge believe what you are saying? It gets dismissed in a court of law right? He sends you the hell home and case is closed. " Sir, you are accusing him of stealing from your store. Do you have proof? A video? Witnesses? No your honor, I don’t ..I just think he stole it because he was the only person standing in the Isle before it went missing" |
Viber If your main thing is the violin and classical music than I get it. Your selection of components does the trick for you. That said, I can probably assume (hopefully I'm not wrong) that most of us here aren't strictly classical music fanatics or violin lovers. I could not buy all the gear I have today just to hear a violin. I understand why you won't spend more money on electronics if your main thing is classical and violins. I also could not buy an expensive dodge viper acr if I have to drive it at 40 mph everyday and can't race it. Why spend so much money if I can't really use all of its potential? Hell I would do what you do: Buy more reasonably priced components since you're not really going to be doing more than the 2 dimensions of music genres you are mainly drawn to. |
Viber Why don't you buy the benchmark? Then send to me ? You seem to be the most interested in affordable gear that performs in a big way. I don't have any interest in benchmark. Not for any particular reason other than I'm walking my own path and my path doesn't have benchmark written on it. However, if you send it to me then I'll go ahead and evaluate it. Benchmark seems to be more up your alley than mine if you really think about it. |
Alright gentlemen, Let’s shift gears, shall we??? Tomorrow’s video will display the magnepan 20.7 being powered by Gryphon Mephisto and Pandora. This will be the first time a Gryphon Mephisto has been used to power a Maggie. We did this with the Gryphon Coloseum a few months ago so let’s see how the Mephisto does. I also had a manufacturer show up this weekend to let me borrow the TROY ground conditioner. Thanks to TRIPOINT for letting me try this new product. I posted a picture of it on YouTube. If you follow me, you should have seen the post (not a video) of the TROY ground conditioner next to the Mephisto. My thoughts on this device will soon follow. Last but not least, the time has come...next week, I will unveil the newest component of the family. It is the biggest investment I have EVER. I’ve never owned a component of this caliber and I am extremely excited to take you all for a ride. Next will will be EPIC. |
I wanted to share this email that came in today: Jay, Over the weekend, I saw several SF Audio Society presentations, two of which were by Stereophile writers. I knew some “long-term” evaluations samples were sent to reviewers. I was shocked / disappointed to learn that, even within Sterophile, the majority of their “reference” system were provided to them versus items they had purchased. I wanted to thank you for the time and expense you have taken, especially at this end of the market. Go ahead and pass on this question if you wish. I’m curios as to your day-job which affords you this budget. Anyway, thanks again, and keep fighting the good fight! |
Trust me...this ain’t a let down...it’s my biggest upgrade ever...that statement should tell you it can’t be a letdown. Do you hear a letdown on the video... Except for the same 3-4 disney characters that give thumbs down on my videos, it is starting to gain a lot of likes very early. Also, the last song does not sound great. I did this ON PURPOSE so you can easily hear how inferior it is to the rest. That is what a high resolving system should be able to do. |
@kren: Very good analysis of me above. i actually applaud you for what you said about what led me to buy the Mephisto because you were 100% correct. A lot of people fail to grasp that about me. I am actually "studying" behind the scenes a lot of future gear which is what helps me decide on future purchases. i hardly ever ever go backwards unless i am looking for cheaper offerings for review (think Magnepan 20.7). |
Thank you. You aren’t the only person who has not heard this speaker. I believe there are only like 9-10 total pairs of stella EVO in the United States at the moment. At this price point, there are less and less people with this kind of equipment. I’m sure there aren’t a ton of ALEXX owners out there either. I plan to ride with this speaker for as long as I can. Maybe Alexx 2 could be its replacement? You never know... I was never impressed with my one on one time with the ALEXX. I always felt like the bass was so overwhelming and that made me worry A LOT. |
By popular demand....and requests all day from people who don’t want to wait until the weekend, I introduce you to...my latest component: https://youtu.be/On5US8RrUmA |
Here are a few things that are interesting thus far about the Stella EVO:
|