My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
Can't sell them just yet. I will try them under momentum m400s next but I won't be waiting 30 days. I'll be doing 7 -10 days and thats it. Momentum are with the footers as of yesterday so I'll have my impressions next week. With my 2150s, the footers were a bust. They didn't live up to the hype and they robbed all the great qualities that the amps have. The average user will choose the first presentation (although the majority selected presentation number 2 on the polls which by the way which is what I selected) because the footers do change the sound are first glance but the long term effects of that sound are just not enjoyable. It reminded me of the old class d amps from the past. Very tilted on the high frequency, very "wired or caffeinated" feel after you sit there for quite sometime. Yes, when I removed the footers I felt it took away the extra boost of energy but it gave it the naturalness and beauty. It feels as with footers under the boulder you are looking at a woman with a lot of make up but who isn't really pretty without it ? And with the boulder with no footers you're looking at a girl that is pretty and who is only wearing lipgloss on her face and nothing else. Hope it makes sense. |
Thank you for a very complete and honest review of the CM footers with your Boulder monos. What they did to your system was exactly the opposite of what they did to my system. They gave my system a more natural, holographic, warm yet detailed sound. Like you and I said, the Boulder amps are so well built that isolation does not improve the sound....good news for Boulder owners. Put your money elsewhere......Let me know if you want to sell the footers. |
WC I remember months ago when the importer of Audiomica cables sent you their cables to try and said something to the effect "have a listen and tell all your honest opinion good or bad" now that's how all manufacturers should do it. If they truly believe in their products. I'm now a believer in Audiomica cables and have slowly been adding more to my system. So please be honest and keep telling us how you really feel about a piece of gear and don't worry about anyone saying anything behind your back. Be true to yourself and your followers. |
haha, yeah I figured there was more to the story than we knew. When you think about it though, it isn't really surprising that manufacturers don't want you to review. Why would they when they can go old school and get a sweetheart review by magazines? Just keep giving the honest opinions. That is what matters. |
When I get "messed with" I roll up my sleeves. We can always settle it like adults and leave things alone and move on or we can do it old school. I don’t mess with nobody and that’s why I am in my room alone (the wife doesn’t care to listen to audio - just tv shows). Even she knows to not come in here to push buttons on any gear because she has her big tv and whatever she needs inside. There’s more that I couldn’t mention on the live chat. If I brought it up, you all only got a slight taste of the whole pie I deal with. You are only going to be punked for as long as you let others do it to you. At that point, you should blame yourself for letting others do it to you. Here’s a little background about me: When I was little, I was bullied, had my shoes literally stolen from me several times and walked home barefoot. I was weak, the opposition used scare tactics to steal from me and I let them get away with it. Granted I was like 7 years old or something like that. Now I’m in my 40s, I know my rights (freedom of speech being one of them) and standing up for what I believe in as long as I’m not hurting others (this is key). If someone or something has it out for you, you have to get up and face it head first. This is the only way or it will continue and at that point you'll have to blame nobody else but you. I am a huge believer in not messing with anyone who is not doing anything to you unless of course they are doing something foul to someone else in front of you or one of your loved ones. |
I agree with Kren0006 on this one. Not necessary to get into it with manufacturers. Making things sound bad of good at will is not the reputation you want. You’ve always worked very hard to get the best from every piece you’ve ever had in there. That’s who you are and the way it should be. Keep up the good work |
Kinda disappointed in myself for not being able to guess that the new amps are D'agostino. I think you slightly misled (just a bit) by saying "new amplifier" (which implies stereo) so I was focused on stereo amps that you've had, not monos. But when I heard the teaser video I wasn't so impressed by the sound quality and especially the noticeable reduction in bass. Should have known then it was D'Ag. Darn it. My streak is broken. Constructive criticism: I think you are getting a little too hung up on manufacturers supposedly not wanting you to review, and publicly discussing it and warning them, etc. Makes it sound like you have a score to settle that will affect your objectivity. You even said you will make their stuff sound bad, or something to that effect. Not needed if your calling card is unbiased reviews. Reading between the lines I almost think the D'Ag might be one of those - let's see. I myself never thought D'Ag (stereo amp, monos, or preamp) sounded great the first time around (in fact I can't remember myself ever thinking any of them won a shootout on your channel against anything you put them up against (Luxman, Merrill, Ayre, Gryphon, Audio Research, Simaudio if that was there at time, can't recall) - should have kept the JC1+ maybe that a good matchup??). Anyway, the live chat was fun and interesting as always. |
Jay is live and ready to introduce the amplifier that has made a come back ! https://youtu.be/-wbEnU7nJt4 |
Lol. You are back ? It’s been a long time since you’ve posted here :) I think people's opinion is really a matter of personal taste. Is anyone wrong for liking one presentation over the other? Nope... 31 out of 46 people chose presentation 2 so far and that just means more ears prefer presentation 2. Are they wrong? nope. Are they other 15 people wrong? nope. |
I hesitate to weigh in on the CM blind test as I was listening through an iPad that predates the iPad Pro so I wouldn't trust the situation on a bet where the wager was to take out the garbage can to the curb... but I agree completely with ron17. To his description, I would add that first setup sounded more natural. Second presentation lost a little "life". That I felt like I could hear a difference on a recording through the internet replayed over an ipad leads me to the question of whether I should book a padded room in a local, "special", hospital! |
"I am very very excited to receive my custom-made transparent opus Gen 5 powercords next week. I was told yesterday by Transparent that i will have 95% of the performance with only a 48 hour break-in time and only miniscule improvements through the 200 hour mark. Now, THAT IS MUSIC to my ears." Sounds like you are setting yourself up for "What the eyes see, your mind believes" with the new Transparent opus gen 5 PC......You want me to come to your house and blindfold you and switch between PC's so you won't be influenced by what you 'see' and want to like? lol |
But why these youtubes files are so bad compared to the real cd? That is the question to ask.... Why nobody asked this in the first place? Am i the only one with this cd ? The difference between the youtube files and the real cd are so great that it is difficult to believe, is someone has ever listened to the real cd on his system like me? If yes i will not be the only one to say that the real cd is totally beyond the youtube horrible files.... The main point in audiophile listening is naturalness of the timbre for voices or instruments first imaging second.... If it is not there nothing is there... no? |
Well I guess what you are saying is while doing a/b testing and you can see the products you are testing you will like the sound of the product you think you should like....not sure what that statement has to do with this blind test. Like I stated before I use a mix of Critical Mass, Stillpoints and Nordost SortFut and SortKones. The CM products sounded terrible under my preamp but wonderful under my amp. I could 'see' the CM under my preamp and really wanted it to work / sound good, but that just wasn't the case. I moved footers and shelves (regardless of brand) until my ears told me what was the best combo.....not my eyes. Again....not every isolation device works best with all equipment. |
"what your mind see, your eyes believe" 😁 The 2 files on youtube are so horrible and unnatural artificial sound for S.Q. i downloaded the cd to verify ... And in my system (500 bucks all in all )well embed mechanically, electrically and acoustically tough, there is not even a comparison between the horrible S.Q. of the youtube files of the Ray Lamontagne cd and the natural timbre of the voice and natural timbre of instrument in my audio system.... And the imaging is no more congested like on youtube files... I guess i may sleep well with my audio system.... Sorry to seems rude..... Dont upgrade before embedding everything... |
isn’t that something? "What the eyes see, your mind believes"... has anyone heard this before or something like it? i believe this is a quote from the movie "swordfish" with John Travolta... The power of delusion is real.. Gotta love the Boulder monos... they don’t have an ounce of dishonesty. The more i play with them, the better i can summarize my own journey through the many amplifiers i have owned. No wonder why they only replace their amps every 15-17 years. I am very very excited to receive my custom-made transparent opus Gen 5 powercords next week. I was told yesterday by Transparent that i will have 95% of the performance with only a 48 hour break-in time and only miniscule improvements through the 200 hour mark. Now, THAT IS MUSIC to my ears. If these powercords are something special, i will know after 2 days of use. What is scary is how much better the 2150s could become with these powercords which should make the gap in performance between these amps and rest i have owned just brutal and too massive for any amp to close it. Now, if i could only get my hands on that Boudler 2120 dac... ugh.. i have been looking for that thing so badly and no luck! |
Coming soon... My raw opinion is coming tomorrow... I want more people to vote as well... That said, this is the reason WHY I use polls so that you all can actually see WHERE your ears are compared to the rest. I always urge you all to listen more than once and hopefully on different days. Yes, if you try to listen on different days you might be shocked. This quarantine taught me to be more patient than ever. I plan to do a live chat later today after I’m done with work. That’s where you all will see the amplifier that has made a come back! |
I have the Martin Logan montis speakers. In my years with them I have heard them driven by Boulder, Jeff Rowland, and my own Spectral DMA 150. There are several second hand spectral at discount. An amplifier that fast can handle the speed of the esl panels as well as generate the current needed for the .5 ohm impedance at the high frequency. What spectral gives is the honest signal that the montis needs. |
| Post removed |
| Post removed |
Has anyone ever wondered the level of transparency that my current system must have? Think about it, you all are able to hear a footer change through youtube...that’s how ridiculously transparent the boulder gear is. That’s one of the most fantastic things about it. We have criticized youtube for compressing things and not really allowing us to hear everything and yet we can hear footers? If you could only be here to listen and analyze things in person, I think you’d be shocked. I'm happy you all can hear footers changes through youtube. That's pretty awesome 😎 |
