My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
I certainly hope every manufacturer doesn't join this thread and shill their products. Their proxies as well. While I am pretty sure its not sustainable, I've enjoyed WCSS having the freedom and independence to hail or bash a product at will, based on his experience alone. I'm personally indifferent whether someone used to be employed in the industry, be they in operations or whatever role. |
That makes 3 favoring Wilson over Magico. "Lively discussion" - ha! well yeah if you consider faxer and Viber advertising for the GTA and me and others telling them to stop on this thread. But whatever - I actually hope faxer gives WC a freebie pair so he can test them - I’d be interested to see if they could beat the Tektons in absolute, full-range performance. WC has said many times in response to Viber begging him to try GTA that he has zero interest in purchasing them because in a week when he wants to dump them nobody will buy them. So I guess the only option is if he gets a freebie pair to test, like the Tektons. He purchased the Maggies (3.7i, then immediately 20.7) and loved them (he didn’t have the same resale concern with Maggie that he has expressed re GTA) - said the 20.7 were best speaker under $20k that he’s had if I recall. Anyway, back to stuff that has actually been in WC’s room, not wannabe stuff that has never been in WC's room. |
Hi all - thought I would jump back in after catching up on the thread after several months of absence. I see there has been lively discussion that includes the GTA speakers. Anyone can search on my username and find my past contributions; I don't feel the need to repeat those. I will note that since my GTA purchase in 2019 the planar driver is updated and I plan to do that upgrade. Otherwise, my system is the same save for replacing the Coincident Statement MK II linestage with a Viola Crescendo. Better match for the Viola Symphony amplifier. And... just better all around... After having listened recently to the posted videos by WC, faxer, and others in other forums, I feel the GTAs are a good 'instrument' for judging electronics. As viber6 has hinted, some speakers may not be the best choice for ferreting out subtleties of amplifier/electronics' characteristics. I feel the GTA's abilities lend very well to that goal. I am still very happy with my GTA speakers and don't plan a change. I will, however, try to audition in my listening room different electronics as opportunities occur. Though the posted videos are good and can provide some level of guidance, I believe in-room listening is the ultimate arbiter for these subjective decisions. So I'd encourage those whom have not done so, to audition the GTA speakers at Steve's or any other owners' room. All are welcome here anytime. |
WC doesn’t want to use subwoofers. He’s reiterated that, oh, about 1,000 times. He primarily evaluates amplifiers, and subwoofers have their own integral, separate-from-main-amp, lower-quality amplifiers, typically, so that alone defeats the purpose of his ability to compare amplifiers, and the low-end control they provide (a key feature for the amps he compares). Any speaker in WC’s room has to stand, full-range, on its own merits, without any low-end help. Bass-wimpy speakers need not apply. |
4 hour listening session just wrapped up. The only thing i will say is that this secret amplifier here has COMPLETELY won me over... Managed to keep me glued to my chair and just unable to stop listening for hour after hour. I am completely speechless. In 2 weeks you all will know. Expect great things because what i am hearing is just world class. |
Jay, Yes, any speaker will sound better with the Boulder or Gryphon. I'm glad that you are open to the GTA. For what I know you value, the GTA + two to six subs for $30-50K total, plus even modest electronics will give you more of everything you want, than M6 plus Boulder/Soulution 700's at many times the price. For your ultimate, GTA + subs + those top amps will still be well under $200K total. Since GTA is most revealing, the top amps will make a much greater contribution than they would for the M6. Your revealing DCS Rossini + GTA will be especially revealing. Also, Steve's room is much narrower than yours, so you will be able to place the GTA's much wider than he does, and will get all the spaciousness you desire. You will love the 7 foot total height of the panel and the even taller subs if you get the full sub system as well. |
I had a chance to hear gt audio speakers at axpona 2018 and i thought they were one of the best speakers there. I know since then they have made improvements to their design so i expect them to be far better. I would love to hear them with Gryphon Amplifiers or Boulder. Speaking of Gryphon and Boulder; i gotta admit that i miss those suckers dearly. You never know what you got until it’s gone I guess? It's HARD AS HELL once you try the upper echelon... You simply have a hard time adjusting to lesser gear. |
oops, how could I have forgotten the system shaming that faxer also always does. But there it is again. Pathetic WC clearly stated he had zero interest in purchasing GTA speakers and instead purchased the Maggie’s and raved about them and also purchased the MLs. Sure if you let him test yours without buying them I’m sure he will, just like he did with Tekton. Good luck |
Kren0006, Only from what I've read, the Soulution 500 series is more euphonic than the older 700 series. Jay said that the Soulution 530 is more transparent/neutral than the Pass combo. I'd love to hear a shootout between a top Boulder and a Soulution 700. If you like neutrality, the Boulder 1160 is good value and worth considering. The Boulder 1161 is the only one I can lift by myself. Decent peak power capability, only $22K MSRP, price not going up, unlike big increases in other Boulders. |
Hey Henry021 you claim I have anger issues any reasonable person in my shoes would clearly be angry with someone like you who clearly stated that they have never heard our speakers but nevertheless criticizes them for lack of dimensionality when all the reviews extol them as extremely 3 dimensional. And Kren00O6 - you never indicated what system you have and don’t have the guts to post a video of your system. Also how do you know what is happening behind the scenes with Jay and our company. Jay never declined auditioning our speakers. I promise you - once the dust settles you will eat your words. |
Lots of scenarios but let’s wait until you hear pass labs tomorrow... You all might be QUITE SURPRISED... When it comes to quality watts, let’s just say i am currently playing with an amplifier behind the scenes that I’ve never owned and it is insane (as expected)... I will unveil it in about 2 weeks. |
henry201, As you said, "The GTA may be more clear sounding, but they lack dimensionality and heft. I would get tired listening to these." That's an honest statement of your preferences. You acknowledge what the GTA does, but your preferences are for a certain type of sound that dynamic speakers deliver. That's OK. |
henry201, In practice, there are no serious mismatches of products, except for obvious errors like high output impedance from tube preamps going into low input impedance of power amps, which will roll off HF. The 91 dB decent efficiency of the M6 means that except for a few pieces of highly dynamic music, it can be driven by low watt amps. Amp quality is more important than power quantity for sonic purity. No inefficient speakers of less than 80 dB efficiency are being considered here, so all amps are game here. |
He does that. Posts videos of his speakers and then when they get criticized he can’t handle it and lashes out. Mostly people just ignore the desperate cries for legitimacy of continually advertising here. We are focused on WC’s stuff on this thread. The times recently that WC has purchased similar speakers he declined the GTAs and chose Maggie 3.7i, 20.7 and Martin Logan 15a all within a 3 month period despite the incessant advertising on this thread. He’s a dealer of the speakers but violates A’gon’s policy of clearly stating such, btw. Just ignore is easiest |
The recording quality of Boulder/Wilson and Soulution/Magico videos is not the same, the latter is much better. If you noticed, I posted a video by someone playing top of the line Boulder combo with $200k Wilsons. That was the very best, I think. In any case, Boulder-Gryphon-D'Agostino/Wilson for some and whatever/Magico for others. I expect Gryphon Diablo 300 to be worse overall with Magico than Soulution 530, though perhaps more dynamic. I would try Boulder/Magico and Mephisto/Magico. Pass or even D'Agostino wouldn't make sense to me, they wouldn't match Magico's transparency. |
Just to show you that I’m not full of crap this is one of my customers who’s listened to every speaker out there including Magnaplanar. https://youtu.be/-B8gmhkqFE8 |
Hey Henry201 when did you hear the speakers because the speakers have been redesigned they are using completely different mid range drivers and even with the older model we have many customers who have auditioned the 20.7‘s and 30.7’s and it was no contest I can give you their names if you like and you can speak with them directly. Please bring your speakers over I will gladly hook them up and compare them to ours put your money where your mouth is. |
For the undemanding recording of Iron Hand, the Pass 60.8 is plenty of power. At 82 dB or so, only about 1 watt is needed. For low level transients, 10 watts. The Soulution integrated also has plenty of power. Tonal qualities of each speaker can still be judged. The GTA speaker has the most clarity, even when driven with relatively cheap Pass electronics and Lampi dac. Listen to the GTA with an open mind, preferably blindfolded with a friend doing the switching among the three videos of this song. |
Going back to the Sasha DAWs that you had, noticed yesterday that Stereophile gave that speaker class A recommended component but did not place it in the full range category, rather restricted LF. Odd given that Wilson specs it to 20 Hz, which is supposedly the criteria. Anyway, I don't put much stock in Stereophile recommendations but just thought that was interesting. |
