Gentlemen - I wasn’t going to say anything but this just begs me to.
When Jay commented on the character of the different amplifiers;
- The 2150 monos are the most detailed and ultra-resolving amps i have had that make you say "holy sh@t"
- The Mephisto has the most tremendous control over the Alexx and makes the woofers feel as if a mule was kicking them from behind which is amazing for a lot of music that needs this extra body on the low registers (great imaging too)
- Momentum sound just right all the time with just about any song. They arent as highly resolving as Mephisto or Boulder, but they have a way of drawing you in that is like a "voodoo" effect.
I was frustrated.
Then when the comments about the Pass XA-60.8’s were made - I had to post.
For me, our systems are not about the character of the components but rather the fidelity which the performance is recreated. Now, unless we attend live performances and / or are very familiar with the performance - there’s no way for us to know how the performance "sounded / sounds"
While I attend orchestra and small natural acoustic performances (unamplified) I certainly can’t confirm all of our recordings. How I compare them is hearing the individual instruments played live in our room.
I forget which established editor at Stereophile called the Pass XA-60.5’s the best amplifier he’s ever heard! He used the live performance as his reference. And - he should know because he recorded the performance!
Did it have the best bass - no, but it sounded most like the live performance. This is what I strive for and what I think a quality system should obtain.
This is the point of difficulty I’ve had selling cables. Cables are supposed to transfer the signal while doing the least harm. That is - with the most fidelity. How can this be determined? Live performances is the ultimate reference but other things can be used as indicators - coherence is one. Specifically meaning - when music is played back, is it easy to distinguish what sounds are coming from where. Like - instead of applause as background noise, you distinctly hear it in front of the performers, clearly defined and imaged in specific location(s). Just like it occurred in the live performance when recorded.
I could go on, but this is why I stopped selling cables. Because not everyone looks to build a system that sounds most like the live performance(s). Oh - they say they do because they select attributes they think / like best, but that doesn’t always equal the actual live performance. A memorable experience (I had) with a quality amplifier was with the Lamm 1.2 Ref mono’s - these had a slight emphasis in the bass.
Please don’t take this as me criticizing - that’s not my intention. I’m just venting my frustration, because I don’t understand how we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment by selecting what we think sounds best instead of making direct comparisons to live music. If we make direct comparisons with live music, determining which component(s) sounds most like live music becomes dramatically easier.
