My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!

rsf507672 posts02-28-2020 5:44amNice move to the DAWs! They are very very detailed (something we have learned you look for in gear) and are very very very dynamic. Yes I’ve heard them several times. BUT mating them with Odin speaker cable may bring to much of a good thing and while initially you might find all the detail to be fine I would think that after 20-30 minutes you would become fatigued with the sound in my humble opinion. I would have thought the Audiomica speaker cable “might” have been the better match with the DAWs or any other cable but again just my own thoughts not the Odin match-up.
Looking forward to your impressions after all it’s what you are looking for and not your followers, we are just riding along on your journey.

Hey Jay,

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. Actually since your last DAC shootout. Hope you’ve been well and have a wonderful holiday season.

Couple things before I give my thoughts. The Playback DesignsMPD-8 has been on my radar for quite awhile. One of my dealers dropped his DCS dealership in order to carry Playback Designs. Those of you not familiar should read about the Founder’s pedigree. Extremely impressive. I’m also a fan of OCD Mikey, but have found he tends to favorably review as well as push items he reps.

Reference system. Modwright Oppo 205/Western Electric 422a rectifier/75 Reflektor Silver Shields--->Nordost Tyr 2 XLR’s--->Pathos Inpol Ear Headphone amp/75 Reflektor Silver Shields--->Nordost Heimdall 2 headphone cables--->Focal Utopia

My thoughts thru my system before Mikey’s reveal.

Both DACs portrayed the music beautifully and unlike previous shootouts were extremely difficult to separate or in this case to even tell apart. Soundstage was deep with great special queus on both DACs. Music and vocals were presented in a natural and very musical manner. I went back and forth numerous times to try and pick out any differences and simply couldn’t. Maybe,just maybe DAC #2 is very slightly more open in it’s presentation with DAC #1 being just ever so slightly darker but that’s it. After listening initially I gave DAC 2 just a sliver of an edge but to be fairer I have to say this is a toss up and if you read my previous DAC shootout thoughts I am not a toss-up kind of guy. My system is extremely discerning and after going back to the video even now I literally cannot hear any significant differences. With regards to Mikey’s comments on the MSB being souless...Absolutley not. In fact I find the MSB to be quite natural with a relaxed and musical presentation. I find Mikey’s review way over the top, unfairly leaning towards a product he reps and not reflective of anything I hear thru my system

It says quite a bit about Playback Designs that it's 22k flagship competes quite evenly with an 80k DAC from the pre-eminent DAC maker in the industry. Bravo Playback Designs! 👏👏👏

Great shootout again Jay. Much appreciated!

Watch some of his videos and read some of his Youtube comments, it’s quickly apparent that’s his entire MO, attack brands he doesn’t sell to push brands that he does, and then attack people who either disagrees or calls him out.

I’m familiar with Mikey. I’ve been subscribed to his channel for over a year. Overall his channel is imo actually quite good. One of my favorite videos is one in which he did a comparison of DSD vs lossless PCM on a Led Zeppelin master track. That review was unbelievably informative and the recording amazing. He also does DAC shootouts quite often using his MPD-8 as reference and I find them to be quite qood.

The point here is that although Mikey has lots of good takes and information, in this one regard he does himself a real disservice. Very few people are going to come away feeling that Playback Designs blew away the MSB or vice versa. It’s too bad that part of Mikey’s schtick is to heavily criticize more expensive pieces and then try and sell cheap stuff he’s a dealer for.

Here is Mikey’s DSD v PCM shootout. We’ll worth a listen.

On my computer the Audiomica #3 sounded the most detailed, had the longest reverberation time and (to me) sounded the brightest...then the AQ Dragon #2 followed by Odin1 #1. In fact #1 Odin1 sounded a little rolled off on the top end (over my computer). I was perplexed to hear the OP say that Odin1 was sometimes too bright for his system and felt the need to tame the sound with Cardas IC's.

rsf507698 posts03-18-2020 1:26pm@chazzy you stated " Dragon was by far the brightest in "my" system. Odin the least. Audiomica in between both.

What’s your full system and does your amp(s) also require the 20amp IEC? Have you listened to other cables and what’s your thought?

guidocorona4,233 posts04-07-2020 7:25am

Hey @Chazzy007, happy you enjoy my scribblings :)

See you on the Daemon thread... The critter is truly delicious, and still getting better!

Saluti, Guido

whitecamaross OP2,418 posts04-11-2020 6:20pmA single luxman 900u is already gluing me to my seat...once again, the intoxicating effect has started.... Guys, this is just entirely too good to be true. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE power amp.
With a drink in my hand right now, I can say that I can easily sell each and every single amp I’ve owned to INCLUDE pass labs xs300, dan Momentum m400s, constellation, gryphon and many others and just keep this luxman. This is STILL the only amp that NEVER EVER makes me miss any other amp I’ve owned.

viber61,035 posts04-15-2020 6:45amNever mind the money for Dag vs Luxman. My interpretation of Chazzy’s findings is that he likes the greater accuracy of the Dag, but WC seems to be in love with the specific euphonic flavor of the Lux 900.

04-15-2020 10:24amMy time with the Luxman duo never displayed a euphonic tonal balance but rather neutrality. My experience with Dag indicates more warmth than the Luxman with the most edgeless presentation that I’ve ever heard. Zero pronounced sibilants. Both amps are superlative but considerably different in my opinion.

04-15-2020 12:58pmkren0006,
My last post is merely a statement of several facts.  Chazzzy just re-confirmed that he found the Dag superior to the Lux in every way, INCLUDING clarity.  WC won't disagree that he likes the certain euphonic flavor of the Lux.  This has enabled him to enjoy the DCS direct without the softening of a preamp.

It is you who injects a negative tone to what I really said.

That said, there is no way the Dag m400s are 4 times or 3 times better than the luxman. Also, please keep in mind i am only using A SINGLE LUXMAN AMP and not 2 in mono configuration which could close the gap significantly.
I still stand by my previous comments on the luxman 900U: it is a giant killer and can easily make most people out there feel embarrassed for spending far more money for their amps.

give you all luxman owners want to grab your checkbooks to chose what i will suggest you should buy.

dpac996584 posts04-16-2020 7:57amsounds like a good idea WCSS; Zoom is a great online "venue" that handles multiple channels very well; Better than Google Meet on the audio side;

Boulder 2150 Mono Power Amplifier and 2110 PreamplifierSo Close to the Musical TruthEquipment reportby Anthony Cordesman | Jan 21st, 2015Categories: Solid-state power amplifiers, Solid-state preamplifiers |Products: Boulder Amplifiers 2110, Boulder Amplifiers 2150

The Boulder 2150 mono power amplifier and 2110 stereo preamplifier mark the second time in a few months that I’ve reviewed electronics that define the state of the art in sound quality, design, and luxury. I can recommend both without reservation to anyone who has the money and is looking for superb sound quality.

They do, however, present a challenge to both the reviewer and the audiophile. Here’s the issue: With equipment this good—and this neutral and transparent—almost all of the colorations you hear come from the recording, the front end, the interconnects and speaker cables, the load presented by the speaker, and the complex room interactions that shape the sound of the speaker at a given listening position.

What is Truth? Jesting Pilate Asked
There is no such thing as a truly neutral and transparent amplifier or preamplifier, but increasingly the inherent sound quality of a small number of elite units has become extremely difficult to gauge due to interactions with more-colored equipment. The question becomes: What are you really reviewing? Even if—as I did—you use a mix of other components, speakers, and listening positions, you can’t avoid the reality that any given reader is going to hear sound that is dominated by the colorations of a different mix of recordings, components, and listening rooms.

This may sound a bit hypothetical, but it was all too clear in practice on the day that the Boulder 2150 mono power amplifier arrived. It literally came in from the cold, and was then thrust immediately into a setup designed for my Pass reference amp. The end result was that the 2150 initially sounded thin and lacking in midrange warmth.

The problem, however, was not in the Boulder. The thinness and lack of warmth came from the fact I was using Transparent Audio speaker cables designed specifically for the radically different loads of Pass amps used with the Wilson Alexias.

The sonic problems that I at first thought were in the 2150 went away the moment I substituted a high-quality AudioQuest speaker cable. They did not exist when Transparent Audio sent me one of its speaker cables specifically configured for the Boulder amps. They also did not exist when I used a high-quality Kimber speaker cable.

The practical problem that did exist, however, was that each speaker cable that worked well in broad terms also changed some aspect of the upper bass and lower midrange, and presented a slightly different soundstage. They were all really good speaker cables, but they changed the sound in ways that were more audible than the colorations of the Boulder 2150.

Much of my initial listening came on a day when Peter McGrath of both Wilson Audio and recording fame was helping me adjust the position of my Alexias. Like my experience with the Pass Xs 300 power amps, the Boulder 2150 has an almost incredible amount of reserve power and an extremely high damping factor. It has an al- most unmatched ability to control speaker loads with the right cable.

What no amp can do, however, is control speaker/room interaction or be precisely designed for a given speaker load.

Once again, the low coloration in the 2150 made the colorations in other aspects of my “system” more apparent—particularly if one adds the room in as part of the “system.” The sound of the Wilsons changed slightly with only a one-inch back-and- forth movements, and shifted significantly from warm to neutral after being moved less than 3.5" forward. We also could hear the differences between digital front ends more clearly—devices where I often find the analog audio circuits to be at least as colored as any of the digital circuitry.

A few weeks later, I was listening to four different digital front ends: The Sooloos, the EMM Labs XDS1, the PS Audio PerfectWave DAC II, and a brilliant new Swiss server called “The Beast.” I also was now using both the Boulder 2110 preamp and the Boulder 2150 mono amplifier. Once again, the sonic differences between the digital front ends dominated the sound character of the Boulders.