My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
Great points guys. I'm embarking on bringing you all different tunes with different gear so you can all get a taste of what is important to you. I have a gut feeling that on this shootout there is a closer race going on based on the YouTube comments. I'll be posting a poll soon to see what the general feeling is with these monoblocks. That said, i am dusting off the antileon Evo and i am getting it ready to enter the battle against the pass labs x600.8. Will 300 watts of pure class a change the outcome? Let's see... |
Final round: Pass x600.8 and Essence monoblocks https://youtu.be/Kv-UULF_UIc This concludes my time with the Essence monoblocks and Pass Labs X600.8. As many of you know, i can't keep everything i buy because "the show must go on" so the Antileon EVO will continue to be my go to amplifier as well as the Essence Stereo until a new king is crowned. |
145 votes on the poll and here are the results so far: Pass Labs X600.8 --- 37% Gryphon Essence --- 47% Either one --- 17% Is anyone here surprised that the Gryphon Essence is once again victorious? If you voted for Pass Labs, how do you feel about knowing that the minority chose the same as you? Is it shocking to know that most people prefer the 55 watts Class A of the Gryphon monos as opposed to the 600 watts Class AB of the Pass Labs? i would really like to know what you all think. |
I also believe that Fremer is not spot on with regards to some speakers he has had in his room. For example, he claims the Alexx (former Alexx) is better than the XLFs yet if you look at the measurements of both speakers IN HIS ROOM, you will easily see the XLF measured much better than the Alexx. I actually spoke to Wilson Audio about this and they said they were not exactly "aligned" with that assessment. I basically asked Wilson Audio: "HOW can you build a flagship speaker for $200k in 2012 and in 4 short years (2016) you release a product (Alexx) for nearly half the money ($109k) that beats what was your flagship speaker? " "Does this mean that in about 3 years we should all be prepared to see the XVX killer which should be around $170k msrp? Then that is when they pretty much said "we aren’t exactly in alignment" with what was said about the Alexx outperforming the XLF". They went on to say the Alexx won’t play as big, won’t throw the immense presentation, the scale, the muscle, etc, etc. The laws of physics are in full effect when you look at the physicality of the XLF". HOWEVER, according to Fremer, the Alexx murders the XLF and if you look at the reviews from "HIFINEWS", you will see the Alexx got 88% out of 100% and the XLF 94% out of 100%. So who the hell do we believe? To me it kinda looks like an effort from the reviewer to push new product instead of old. I will be the first one to tell ya, when i had the Alexia 1 in here (which was built in 2012 just like the XLF), I can't really say it was veiled, muddy or horrible sounding. As a matter of fact, when i set it up with the pass xs300 and momentum monos, it sounded amazing. I can't say i would miss a Sasha DAW if i owned an Alexia 1. This is often times an illusion presented to us that new is always more refined, much better, more this n that. I think we simply get tired as hell from owning the same gear which is why we find reasons to buy the new model. hmm |
Are Mágico speakers really inert cabinets? https://youtu.be/NW2kH-e1R2A Stay tuned for the full video.... With 95db of volume... |
Thank you to all of you for the love and support, the good, the bad, positive and negative criticism. It isn’t easy to do what i do especially without any prior experience. When i started this journey, i did it based on the recommendation from some of you (Riaa was one person who pushed me to do it even though he broke my b@lls a few times lol). Doing this, sitting in front of a camera, editing, talking, avoiding repetitiveness (i am working more on this) and trying to deliver a clear message is much harder than you guys might think, but this "struggle" has helped me grow. I hope you all have enjoyed Part 1 of the M6 review and now that we are at 5k subscribers i will deliver my promise of the DCS Rossini versus MSB Reference. Jay |
Which amp did i choose? Pass Labs X600.8 or Gryphon Essence? Tune in to find out: https://youtu.be/_jWv-eavgR8 |
Mágico M6 CONS: https://youtu.be/qe5nPD4ujIc You don't want to miss this one. This will be one of the most viewed videos on my channel. |
Great engineering, amazing clarity, but with greater precision you also need to step up to the plate. This is no different than you buying a super car where you are supposed to buy a specific tire size that is not widely available. You need brakes every 3,000 miles, you need oil changes with a specific type of oil that only the dealer has, etc, etc. You are dealing with great engineering that pushes the limits including your own. It is outstanding, but as i mentioned you can’t skimp on anything here. I failed, but i did this to understand WHAT it takes to own a "super speaker" such as this. Lastly, i know there might be some out there who might say "oh i am using pass labs or parasound with my magico and they sound insane, you dont need all this stuff that you are mentioning to make it sound good".... My answer to that statement is: Do you OWN THE M6? if the answer is "no", then you dont understand what i am talking about here and if your answer is "yes i also own the m6" then my answer is " you aint heard nothing yet and have no clue of what this speaker is capable of if you are using subpar anything in your rig". Of course, we have all heard that most of the money should be spent on the speaker first and then the electronics. That said, that approach is totally false in this situation. You CAN NOT buy a 172k Magico M6 and pretend that you will spend less on electronics to make it sound its best. You actually need MORE money on the electronics than the Magico M6 itself. I mean, the Soulution 701s MSRP for $170-180k so the amps alone are a boat load of cash and we are not even thinking about the source, cables, and preamp YET!. I am completely happy about everything the M6 has taught me and now i can only imagine how much more the M9 requires from you. Magico M6 = Super Car Super car = lots of $ associated with cost of ownership I hope this gives you an overall idea of my time with the M6. |
By now you all have watched the video of constellation audio with room treatment behind my listening chair. To me, this is the best the M6 have sounded since they arrived. It is a about compromises and trade-offs and although Constellation does not have the monstrous explosiveness and grip of Gryphon, it does add an immense amount of clarity, detail and imaging. Right now, i am preferring Constellation audio over Gryphon and you all know that i am a HUGE Gryphon fan boy. |
i have received a lot of recommendations for that brand, but here in the U.S. it is not easy to have access to it just like Dartzeel. These are obscure lines that are not widely accessible to people. I’d love to try them, but it probably will not happen. Unless someone (a dealer, manufacturer or end user) sends it to me, the chances of me bringing it are as big as me hitting the lottery tonight. |
Understood, but keep in mind that unfortunately this means i probably can't get it. Most of my equipment never comes from a distributor. Distributors are a different mind-set than dealers. Their business model is really a different animal (which i understand). For now, i will keep rolling with the usual suspects that you have seen on my channel. |
The last dance: https://youtu.be/sxx3uAUoZuQ More coming your way. Thanks for the support. I am hours away from receiving the next chapter in my journey. I am icing my back in preparation for this. Teasers will be released throughout the weekend so be on the lookout for that. |
@kren: You back from the dead man? 😂 Well, there is a some truth to what you said above. That said, there is a video that will be released tomorrow about the reasons why i let go of the Magico M6. Leave it to me to articulate things so you don't have to suffer or be "jumped on". Don't miss the video tomorrow. |
Why did i let go of the Magico M6? In this video, i go over 5 reasons why. https://youtu.be/8VNcfQdkPG0 In the meantime, I'm popping 1600 mg ibuprofen for my back. I stayed up until 3am this morning moving the big crates of the speakers that arrived at 10pm last night. Enjoy the video and stay tuned for more ! |
So if you guys watched my last video, reason #5 should have been clear for most but if it wasn’t then I’ll articulate it here further: I didn’t engage with the M6 which didn’t allow me to go to bed with it at 4am. I take the blame for it because i simply wasnt prepared to do everything it needed. I didn’t know i had to do new brakes every 3k miles and that the brake job also needs new rotors (not just pads). I didn’t ask the service advisor how much is a brake job and i didn’t know the 30,000 mile service was 4500 dollars. I simply signed the dotted line and was quite excited to drive it. It was, INDEED, my own fault. But i am a believer that you also learn from your own mistakes so i am happy with that. Some speakers simply require more of you and some don’t. This doesn’t mean one is better than the other. This just means you have to choose how far you are willing to go to maximize performance. I simply wasn’t going to go far into it (at this time) but the future could be different. |
Here is the first clip of the new speaker: https://youtu.be/8x1kz-YwGKI This was recorded with my phone mic. Not the external shure Mic. |
Understood but unless you have heard and are familiar with the song, you, me and anyone else would be assuming. How many classic rock songs have you heard that don’t have hard transients.... Again, it’s crucial to be familiar with the genre of music. You can’t make Ozzy Osbourne sound like Diana Krall no matter what system you use. It's rock.. if a system sounds smooth playing rock then you got yourself a big problem. |
Here is the M6 with Essence monoblocks with the same song: https://youtu.be/u0KukMhvCkc?t=462 Could it be the m9 magico... |
Here's the new speaker with a baby essence stereo amp https://youtu.be/Zkbtx3E_B5s Here's the Magico M6 with essence Monoblocks: https://youtu.be/u0KukMhvCkc?t=462 You all can easily click on both and listen. I certainly hope you all are using headphones at the very least... |
