Thank you
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 tried to buy those 888 but they are 120k and unfortunately there has never been a single pair sold in the U.S. all of them are headed to Asia. Simaudio called them "888" not only because of the power but also because #8 is said to be a number in Asia that brings good luck. It is clear that simaudio didn’t make these for North American buyers. Boulder 3050 is also an amp that usually heads out to Asia. Not many 3050s in the U.S. (boulder said this to me) I believe the simaudio 888 are probably awesome amps and who knows, maybe they best Mephisto monos or boulder 2150? The issue is that the name makes it hard for big spenders to buy them. The name attached to those 888 doesn't make these buyers want to pull out their credit card. You can't make a Range Rover autobiography owner sell his truck in order to buy a luxury Lexus even though the Lexus probably outlasts the range Rover. The name isn't Range Rover and yes, people pay more for the exclusivity of the name. Yes, it sucks but that's the truth often times. |
A couple of updates: I have noticed that with this new speaker, the Mephisto Solos tend to sound more pure, more liquid in full class A, HIGH BIAS setting than in medium or low. This is so much different than with the XLF. With the XLF, the Solos got bright in HIGH BIAS and sounded better in medium bias. This is the kind of learning experience that can only be obtained by actually owning and trying things. I was getting ready to say that the Mephisto Solos are bright in High Bias until this new speaker arrived. Now i have realized that it goes back to the same thing we have been talking about: SYNERGY. |
Final video of tekton Ulfberht and now with full boulder set up and synergistic Research Galileo UEF speaker cables. https://youtu.be/giKTA7ReuDs |
BINGO! THANK YOU SO MUCH @psnyder149 |
Yes, I didn’t think isolation devices where that critical and i was incorrect. This is why I ended up buying critical mass stands and footers. Speaking of footers, the 1.5 footers from critical mass are still not really impressing me under the boulder monos. However, i was told to wait 3 weeks and so far I’ve only had them under the amps for about 8 days. As of today, the boulder 2150s aren’t impressing me with those footers BUT I can’t assume anything just yet. I need to wait until about Jan 15 to finally give you all my opinion on them with boulder of course. Let’s not forget that every component reacts differently (some benefit more) and if I end up not liking them after 21 days then it means Boulder needs zero isolation devices under it. I’d proceed to try them under the Mephisto but remember this means that I’d need to wait ANOTHER 21 days... Each component has different weight so the footers need to "adjust" to the new weight. On another note, i spoke to Synergistic Research and told them one of my boulder monos was getting quite hot to the touch and the issue seemed to follow one of the speaker cables. They said the issue is that some Amplifiers DO NOT like for speaker cables to be grounded. Soulution amps turn off with synergistic research cables grounded and boulder seems to run quite hot but if I lift the speaker ground then they don’t run warm anymore. This is why the new Galileo SX speaker cables don't come with the ground leads anymore. |
Yes which is why I rated the Dynaudio C4 as my worse speaker of 2020. It was a good speaker before i moved on to the Wilson's and stellas etc. This is no different than some car reviewers (Doug demuro comes to mind) where he grades cars and then months later he begins to take down the ratings he gave to some cars in the past because there are now new offerings that are better. If i were the strongest guy you met today and you rated me a 10/10 in terms of strength and then over the next 12 months you meet another 12 men who outlift me, guess what? I became the weakest man you know right ? Same logic... |
Oh wow. Who would have known Simaudio reads my thread? Thank you for following me. Maybe one day Simaudio can put a pair of these big boys so they can be evaluated by me? I own the 860v2 right now and it is quite good. Great bass control and very smooth. It’s sounding awesome with my VAC Master preamp by the way. I definitely would love to try those 888 monos in order to see how they go against amplifiers of the same price point (Gryphon and vac) which are in my room now. It would be great for the whole world to see and actually hear on my channel. Maybe we should start a petition here on this thread? Hey, stranger things have happened... including the potential of me bringing a stereo Gryphon Apex which seems to be what is trending right now. |
Yep. That fact came from an actual dealer which will go nameless. Of course, the manufacturer can’t come in here and say " oh yeah we have not sold a single pair in the United States". Do you actually expect to hear such thing from them? Let’s be honest here. No manufacturer will accept (not just simaudio) where their product isn't selling. That is meant to be kept private or else the perception isn't great.
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Dacs are often times 9/10 more highly resolving resulting in ear fatigue unless you listen at the same volume levels found in elevators. Impossible to get ear fatigue this way.
Also, most dacs don’t have balls to drive the hell out of a serious amp. DAC direct is awesome if your amps aren’t exactly resolution kings. That said, good results can be had with a DAC especially when one is on a budget but let’s not get it twisted. Lastly, keep in mind that most people who are saying DAC direct is better than a great preamp are those who are using mid and low tier preamps. They aren’t playing with the ultra high end preamps. |
"But it would be most helpful if someone can link videos of the XLF playing the same songs so we can better understand the differences between the XLF and the new speaker"
How come you dont do the leg work for this particular need? i already do the legwork here man... shooting, lifting crates, unloading, editing, etc, etc. |
@mrdecibel I partially agree with what you’re saying in regards to in home demos. If the dealer has the product on hand and isn’t using it then he can drive it for an audition BUT if you’re asking me , should a dealer remove Wilson Alexx or boulder monos and hire 3-4 people for the job AND having to pay people for these logistics, i don’t agree that is fair for the dealer. Imagine if someone wanted my Alexx but i needed to take them to their home for audition and i had to pay for the work? It just wouldn’t happen... Look, to be more transparent here, anyone looking for the boulders, chronosonic xvx, magico m6, and equipment of that caliber isn’t living paycheck to paycheck. If they want an in home demo of the ultra high end, a fee should be set if the customer doesn’t end up buying. If any of us go to magnolia and order a pair of McIntosh 611 monos from them and then we return them, we lose a 15% restocking fee. Yes, i think that is ABSOLUTELY fair. It’s not like McIntosh will take back the 611 from Magnolia so now they got a pair of 611s sitting on the floor they gotta move. When it comes to the insanity of some of these components (price wise), buyers who strictly focus on the ultra high end should compensate dealers if the dealer is making all sorts of accomodations for them. Please note: I’m not talking about just listening to gear in the store but actually going the extra mile. Unfortunately, this is frowned upon in this industry. However, it isn’t frowned upon when car dealers jack up the prices on cars because they are in high demand??? (Think corvette c8) What’s even worse here is that cars or transportation in general is a necessity for most of us and audio isn’t a necessity PERIOD yet nobody says a thing about the atrocious things car dealers do AND get away with but we get mad if a dealer charges a fee for a service you are asking for ??? To me that is such a double standard... I'll even be even MORE transparent with you all: I had someone reach out to me several weeks ago via email and who i didn't know. They asked if they could hear my set up because they wanted to hear my Boulder set and after talking back and forth he said that he wanted to hear them because he had a dealer who was selling him a set but they weren't local.... So Jay's head goes like: "Sooooo you want me to bring you into my home, i don't know you, we are in the middle of a pandemic, risk the health of my wife, my kid, in laws and mine and what am I getting out of this???? Nada ??? " Not going to happen... It's just ridiculous because we could have put a dollar figure (let's say $500 dollars for whatever amount of time he needed here) and then if he doesn't like the sound or isn't to his liking then guess what???? He only lost 500 HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!! Could you imagine the loses he would incur if he had bought it and didn't like it??? It's THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS PEOPLE!! I URGE MANY OF YOU to think about the benefits that exist when you have the opportunity to hear something that isn't cheap for you to buy. It's better to lose pocket change auditioning than to lose massive amounts of money when you have to dump it. |
A couple of updates: 14 days (they need 21 days according to critical mass) of critical mass 1.5 footers under boulder monos and here are my findings thus far: 1. Lost the vicious and intense imaging 2. Bass seems a tad deeper 3. Mids are thinner 4. Lacks the sheer purity and clarity i first heard without the footers So far, 2 weeks into it, i am quite disappointed with these footers. Again, i still have another week or so to see if things turn around, but so far, under my boulder 2150, the sound went backwards. Could it be that these monos simply don’t need these footers? Who knows... I will try them under Mephisto next and see what happens. As far as the full Galielo set up, these are about 8 months old so they are broken in. That said, i was told by the seller that they take at least a week without touching them at all before they bloom. Right now, i have a hard time sitting through more than 2 songs. I don’t feel engaged or enticed to sit down and push play. I literally fall asleep with the remote in my hand. I know exactly what to do to get back the sound i had before but i need to first be 100% sure that my ears are right with this preliminary feeling. Lastly, one component makes a return to my lab tomorrow... Excited to try it and see HOW it will interact with my system. 🙂 |
That’s my point: If dealers charged by the hour for personal listening sessions where they would have to literally stop doing what they are doing and close a room so they can give you undivided attention then YES they need to get paid for that and if the buyer ends up buying something then they don’t get charged for the personal listening session or whatever we want to call it. Of course if a customer just wants to go drool over the momentum stuff and touch it or sit real quick to listen then let them but once you demand time and attention and want to sit and listen critically with someone changing cables and components for you then it is FAIR to assume you have a credit card in hand and are ready and you just want to narrow down your choices. This is WHY i don’t waste dealer’s time out of respect for them. I know EXACTLY WHAT I WANT so i just need to call and negotiate. I don’t need to listen or make ridiculous demands. Most of the components i have here I’ve never listened to before and the few times I have heard stuff at a dealer i was disappointed with the sound. The dealer in west palm beach who came here to help me dial in the Alexx heard my boulder stuff and guess what? They are now a boulder dealer as of a week ago... Some dealers ask me for advice as to what lines to bring in based on synergy and sound. I am about to start charging them for my time 😂 |
Galileo Sx Wilson Alexx Dcs ROSSINI Boulder 2110 Boulder 2150 Listen at the 9:50 mark... 90db peaks with 1000 watts behind it. Who said power like this is unnecessary? 😁 https://youtu.be/ABaA3FTQNlo |