@psnyder:
what's up Paul? long time no see..
Yep, i agree with your statement above.
what's up Paul? long time no see..
Yep, i agree with your statement above.
My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
Giant killer = a component that is praised to be as ferocious and as big as a pitbull but has the body of a miniature pinscher and the bark of a Chihuahua. They tend to be dogs that "should" protect the house in the same fashion as guard dogs and aren't as "high maintenance" as the larger breeds that eat 40 lbs of food a month. They are highly liked by the masses but for unknown reasons nobody has seen these "giant killers" actually killing the big dogs. This is the mystery that the legend of the Chupacabras didn't even come close to. |
The issue is if my amps crush these giant killers then i look like the bad guy... Ain’t that a b!tch....oh well. With that said, one thing i didn't bring up is if i should use my cheapest or most expensive amps for this exercise... Oh wait, you all don't know this yet...maybe I'll leave it for this coming weekend... Yes, i will unveil a set of tube monos this coming weekend. Don't miss it. |
@jafant: So I’m still breaking in the new XLRs and my speaker cables arrive this Friday. I plan to do the formal video of the cables I’ll be using this coming weekend. As a side note, i have about 200 hours or so on these new xlrs (they just came out to the market by the way) and I’m now finally starting to hear things that are quite impressive: More separation, imaging is wow and bass is starting to get punchier. This Friday i will be over at Suncoast audio and i will be filming FROM THERE, my top, middle and bottom tier amplifier groups. Some of these amps are amps that Mike has on the floor and they won’t make the top list. This will be done to show everyone that i can come into a dealer’s showroom and STILL give you all my opinion in front of the dealer himself. Mike has agreed to let me tell it like it is even if it means that i won’t be praising all his amplifier lines as being the best of the best. This video will be awesome 😎 |
The room is toasty, the amplifiers are at 158F and 152F respectively. The XLRs seem to be broken in and so is the valhalla 2 USB. No music server, no special speaker cables and yet i believe this might be the very best my XLF have sounded? -Monstrous soundstage -check -Imaging that makes it feel as if you were listening to two separate speakers -Clarity -Insane musicality -Subwoofer bass - not woofer bass -Depth for days - Is this really happening? Am i really hearing this in here? Can I even make a bold statement such as these monos are perhaps the best I’ve heard in here? I’m not prepared to put that in writing with my signature on it but i am quite IMPRESSED... |
Jay visits Suncoast audio and here’s a sneak peek at the upcoming video. You don't want to miss the full 3 part video. Lots of interesting talk between Mike and myself! https://youtu.be/34Y8dRCxa-4 |
You all need to listen to listen video that just dropped. It gives us an idea of HOW a speaker designer thinks. This is quite interesting https://youtu.be/bM8ncCv1F7M |
Hi Viber, I've received a few messages from people and here's one for example: "Hi Jay, just an FYI, I'm loosing interest in this thread because viber6 keeps derailing it - he uses it as a chat room. I now just pass his posts but it can be hard to know what the few others are talking about due to lost context. Not sure how you can disrupt him, but he adds nearly nothing, and that is being generous. Really like what you are doing, but this thread is very hard to read (I've followed since nearly the beginning - I have experience with a lot of the upper tier stuff, but not the more current batch of stuff you've had so I don't comment since I can't speak with any authority). Meant for this to be short, oh well." I'd like to politely ask if you can use more private messages when it comes to ongoing conversations that might not exactly be aligned with the thread? I'm not saying you can't post - but please keep what I said in mind. |
Respect for the xlf. The last speaker made my Dave Wilson. Wouldn’t it be something else if i end up selling it and all of a sudden this speaker appreciates in value because it’s the last work from Dave? Look at what happened to Porsche vehicles with their V8 non turbo engines...their price has skyrocketed now that they only make V8 or V6 twin turbos.. @kren: you aren’t disrespecting it. I can totally understand why you feel this way. Daryl is a fresh mind, new ideas, more tools, social media. These are things that older minds have a difficult time with. It’s no different than you and i are in our 60s or 70s - we won’t be able to keep up with technology then. Our brain won’t be able to absorb things quite as easily. The biggest hurdle for Wilson Audio has been the criticism and obviously the hate. That said, this comes with the territory. You can't please everyone. |
Well, I have finally received my speaker cables yesterday and i gotta say that these are THE BEST SPEAKER CABLES i have ever heard through my XLF. Ladies and gentlemen, those of you who don’t believe in cables are in for a great surprise. @viber: Give it a rest. If you feel that the back and forth is going to be ongoing with others in regards to a specific topic and you know you would like to articulate your thoughts to them by writing long posts then just take to private messages or open up a new thread. I’m trying to be as nice as possible and again, im letting you know the sentiments of some people who are regulars here. I’m not saying by any means that you should not contribute. If the topic of the thread is about building powerful engines, repeated posts about building transmissions isn’t too far off but it isn’t exactly aligned with the main discussed topic. I’m not being a d!CK either so don’t take offense. I rather you keep grilling me about giant killers 😂 (just don’t overdo it ) Anyhow, when the hell are any of you going to show your face to me on a zoom call? I feel like i gotta a lot of regulars here that don't want to show their face. Damn, i don't bite folks 😆 |
And so we begin to ascend to the top. Here is a video from today. I highly recommend headphones because the second track will rattle your brain. Listen to the control and the room pressurizing on this track. I hope you all enjoy this one! Pay close attention to the 6:18 mark. Wear headphones if possible at this particular point. The room is fully pressurized and under massive control. Notice how the vocals and highs DO NOT get drowned out by the massive bass? Guys - no music server or power conditioner either and yet the sound is quite impressive. I'm using a 10 year old MacBook to feed a signal to my msb DAC. Just imagine once i bring the music server on board and a new power conditioner? https://youtu.be/0VNKZx84flE |
You all wanted to see this on my channel, Here you go: Reference level tube monoblocks for the first time in my room: https://youtu.be/dYb8C-KB8ns |
Today, during part 2 of a 3 part video series i will go over the "mid fi" brands. What will these brands be? There will be shockwaves and also an interesting comment about a brand which i have been told did not want his new amps to be reviewed by me. Which one will it be? You will find out today at 1030 am ET. DONT MISS THIS ONE! |
This tube amp pretty much trashes a long list of solid state amps I've owned. I don't even want to go into more details so i don't offend people who may have bought some of these solid state amps. This tube amp is FOR SURE tier 1 group. No it's not ARC so drop those ideas. I've never heard a tube amp sound this good. The only downfall is that they need time to open up and sound good but other than that i don't see any other issues. |
@mr139113: Not trying to dismiss what you are asking, but this thread is not really about the gear you have asked about. I also don't believe you follow my thread very closely (you have 2 posts total under your username) which leads me to believe that this is why you have not "picked up" on what i just stated above. |
@ricevs: When are you starting your own YouTube channel and do your video of tweaks and giant killers in the format you described i should follow above? Hell, I’ll subscribe to your channel if you do. This would give you less time to spend on this thread because the YouTube channel will keep you busy as hell shooting and editing content. Why not try that and let me know how it works out for you? Maybe that will help your finances since you'll have a way to market your tweaks? You'll make about $190 dollars a month from YouTube by loading 3 videos a week and editing about 4-5 hours a week. Try it - who knows. |
Got it. I get your point. That said, it seems that you all want to see eye candy instead? 😂 I plan to show one of the 2 sets of monos soon. The constellation monos will be up for sale this weekend since i will no longer make them part of the rotation of amps. I plan to have one set of solid state monos and maybe one set of tube amps. |
@dguitarbut: Don’t you find it interesting when i play my system in "raw" or "unfinished" mode so you can then compare my before and after results? THIS IS the reason for the exercise. How are you going to know HOW MUCH better things get if you don’t have a starting point? If i gave you a Lamborghini as your first car and that’s all you ever drove, how can you gauge HOW GOOD it is if that’s all you’ve owned? You have no way to compare to something else. Right now, I’m listening in "unfinished" mode so that when i get my music server I’ll be able to know exactly what changed. That said, I’ve got no issues with people who unsubscribe because i never said i was going to meet everyone’s needs. I got a bunch of people that claim to hate this n that about the channel but i can ASSURE YOU, they STILL watch me or read what I’m saying. WHY?? Because (once again) NOBODY DOES WHAT I DO and as long as I am the only one doing this at this level (there aren’t other channels that zoom in on the ultra high end), I’ll be fine. I mean NO DISRESPECT, but i don’t follow the dudes who have YouTube channels that primarily focus on Hondas and Toyotas. I wanna watch the YouTube channels that show the Calvo motorsports vipers, McLaren 720s, twin turbo lambos, etc etc and guess what? I cant afford any of those cars but does that mean i shouldn’t watch it because I’ll never own one? Nah... I still enjoy every minute of it. I always want to look at what’s ahead of me and not what’s in my rearview. If life forces me to go down with regards to electronics then I’ll deal with it and be ok with it because i came from "the gutter" with regards to electronics. It won’t be in unfamiliar territory in any way, shape or form. My vision is to keep pushing HARD and maybe in the next 2 years I’d have the XVX or something like that but BELIEVE ME it is HARD WORK to get there. It hasn’t been a walk in the park for me to get here. I don’t have a Middle Eastern Prince relative that sends me money to play. I gotta grab the shovel every damn day and dig deep, sweat, and not complain. I’m not trying to give life lessons here but if there is one thing i can share here is that NONE IT, ABSOLUTELY NONE of the stuff you see here has been given to me. I just work my ass off and if I’m not getting where i feel i should be, then i immediately find something else to do to help me get there. When i got a taste of the ultra high end for the first time, i was hooked and i worked two jobs and did whatever side gigs i could do to earn more money so i can buy what i wanted. I've NEVER BEEN the dude that is happy working 40hrs a week and take my paycheck home and be content if i was able to have money leftover to buy cigarettes (i don't smoke). I'm thinking of heading out to capital fest and shoot videos for my channel even in the middle of this pandemic. Why? Because i see opportunity for content and to give you all footage of what many won't be able to see. I'm wired different i guess. |
Omg i just removed the 725 Soulution and inserted my arc ref6se... 😳 The arc preamp and vac amps is just WOW WOW WOW... I suspect I'm not going to bed tonight. Will it shock some people if i decided to do an all tube rig and ditch my solid state gear? Because right now, that's what I'm feeling like doing. I'm not finding myself analyzing a damn thing but just letting the music flow. I'm quite impressed |
I plan to attend if the stars align and work doesn't get in the way. With regards to the Arc ref6se sounding amazing with vac, I think it's the tube synergy and we should not forget that having components that match well together is super important. You can make a Mephisto sound atrocious if you use a cost no object dac and skip a preamp. |