No matter how much room correction you apply, it won't give you the huge soundstage and imaging of a well designed component. I have tbe McIntosh c2600 preamp and it gets killed by the ref6 in just about every area.
My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
So I have been in a long journey looking to find the best amplifiers for my martin logan montis. As you know, the match between an amplifier and speakers has to be a good "marriage" and needs to be blend exquisitely. Right now, I think I might have found the best sounding amplifier for martin logan. I have gone through approximately 34-36 amplifiers in the past 12 months. Some of these are:
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
20,890 responses
@whitecamaross No matter how much room correction you apply, it won't give you the huge soundstage and imaging of a well designed component Don't be so sure . Remember that you did not believe in cables either. How can you be so stubborn and sure if you have never ran it.(Roomperfect). Read up on it . It makes a lot of difference . Half of the cost of the MX160 is probably in the Lyngdorf RoomPerfect . My gosh . What do you have to lose ...???? I don't get it. |
I agree with grey9hound about the supreme importance of equalization. I go much further with my Rane EQ, used at all freq. Although I still want the most revealing amp, using a given amp with or without EQ makes MUCH more of a difference than differences between SS amps. This is generally true, although I couldn't get the snap/sparkle from the Classe D200 amp using the EQ at different settings compared to my Bryston 2.5B SST2 with my usual EQ setting. Also, my electrostatic speaker has a bass boost in the transformer circuit which makes the sound muddy in that area. So I reduce the bass with my EQ--problem solved. BTW, I bought the tweaked Rane from Mrdecibel. MUCH more revealing than mine. There is likely no amp at any price that I could mate with my original Rane that would equal my present amp mated to the tweaked Rane. I give a shoutout to MrD for his great work and integrity. |
I just didn't think it would appeal to me aesthetically speaking. I didn't want to spend anymore money on the room either. That said, my room will go through changes overtime. I also think the room sounds very good and dead quiet. Surprisingly, my focals have sparkle that the room needs and yesterday I tried my c4 platinums and noticed that the speakers might already be too warm for my taste since my ears are now tuned for the focal tweeter. I might do another speaker brand next year but for now I want to keep learning these focals. They have plenty of oomph and have far better imaging than my c4 platinums. I am itching to bring some revel salon 2s :) |
I was hoping you were heading toward bringing in a pair of GTA 3.1Rs with 2 x 12" OB subs per side, their room at CAF was stunningly good and the presentation was tonally neutral, something you are appreciating. They upped the ante by using a pair of XS-150s, you have the bigger XS-300s and they would be the perfect match, clearly surpassing the sound you liked at AXPONA by a wide margin. Boxes can sound very good, but I believe planars are even better w/o any box colorations and a huge soundstage including pinpoint imaging, the stage starting behind the 3.1Rs letting them disappear and going 20' back was one of the mesmerizing attributes of their room at CAF. |
My customer Bill had the Revel Salons 2’s in his room to compare to his GT Audioworks- He is also good friends with the owner of American Audiophile in Lynbrook, NY All I can say it was a joke - The GT’s were a million times more transparent, dynamic and 3 dimensional. If you don’t believe you can PM me and I can give you his number. |
@WC, I agree that you should try the RoomPerfect for your MX160, if anything, just to be able to advise folks about it, as you do with speakers, amps, preamps, etc. RP does do more than EQ and DOES help with the soundstage. For me, I prefer w/o RP or DL, etc. I believe it removes the sparkle that you speak of, which ends up being more important to me. Dave |
thezaks, Yes, many people fear that processing causes veiled sound with loss of sparkle. I was a follower of that audiophile religion for 15 years until I discovered the Rane ME60 EQ. Even set to flat, used as a line stage it was more transparent than the hyped Spectral DMC10 gamma preamp. Then when I boosted the HF, I got more sparkle than anyone could get with a million buck preamp without EQ. Now, with MrD's tweaked Rane which I bought from him for a mere $250, this has been the best money I have ever spent in achieving the most exciting sound I have ever had. |
@whitecamaross "The best 5,000 dollars I've spent is the shunyata Denali." I forget if this is the 6000/s V2? Have you tried to plug your amps into which ever Shunyata PLC you bought? If so, can it provide all the power the amps need or does it shut down certain aspects of the sound like bass, detail, etc? |
Sorry WC, you are wrong. My Rane EQ does more by miles for "soundstage, height, depth, imaging" (your words) than the Denali or changing amps, never mind $250 for the Rane vs $5000 for the Denali. Without the Rane, there is pervasive mud and fog which drastically reduces any "soundstage, etc" compared to using the Rane. Just open your mind to the possibilities. Grey9hound urges an open mind regarding Room Perfect as well. Certainly the Denali is very worthwhile--it's just that creative and careful use of the EQ has FAR more of an effect. I know because I enjoy both the Rane and Denali. |
spinaker01, Instead of insulting you the way you continue to do so at me, I post truthful observations. As I said, for 15 years I followed the audiophile dogma that phase shift EQ spoiled the purity of sound. The fact is that all purist systems without EQ are dull compared to the real thing. A very practical way to achieve sparkle and overall liveness is to carefully use EQ. It is certainly not sonically or technically perfect, but goes a long way towards reducing the problems with all speakers and room interfaces. For example, WC had the D'ag integrated which had tone controls. He boosted the HF with the Neolith speaker, and reduced HF with the Magico speaker to find the ideal HF tone to his liking. The Luxman preamp also has tone controls. These excellent designers had good sense of the utility of this EQ feature. RIAA, You have correctly advised everyone to listen personally to a component before writing about what something sounds like. People should listen to what EQ's actually do when handled judiciously. This and other threads are not technical engineering debates about theory, but real world personal experiences of well meaning listeners. |
I use a judicious application of parametric EQ in the digital domain via Roon. I understand the benefits but I’m not inserting a piece of mid-if junk into my system to get it. There are just muuuuch better ways to implement it now. V6, my issue with you is less the what you say but the how you say it. The words preachy, obnoxious and pontificating come to mind. Like when you start a response to WCSS that he is “wrong” to not submit to injecting your POS Rane into his system. Who are you to judge anyone? Anyways, I’m wasting my time with you, you're just content to infect someone else’s thread on a daily basis with your myopic drivel |
I thank viber6 for the kudos......Just to clear the air a bit....when I purchased the Rane, I was in the business, and researched many higher end eqs. I listened to several, in my system ( strictly as eqs ), and the Rane stomped the others, as " getting out of the way of the music ". This needs to be understood. The cleaner the interconnects, the cleaner the unit. My modifications brought it to another level. Until reading viber6's posts here, I never thought of using it as a line stage. Curiosity had me pull it out of my closet ( my mods were already applied ), connected it, listened to it, and realized 2 things. ( 1 ) As a line stage, it was " cleaner " ( all sliders set flat ) than my 2, $6K preamps I had owned; ( 2 ) The Rane, like my preamps, was not as clean as my Luminous passive unit. At one time, many moons ago, I needed eq, but currently, I do not. So, in talking with viber6, I sold it to him for less than what I paid when I purchased it ( accommodation price was 50 % off, as it retailed for $699 = $350 my price ). My modifications ( parts and labor ) were a gift, as I described to him what I had done. His new Rane, is something to be reckoned with......so stop the bs.....Another thing. Soundstaging, imaging, height, depth, width, of the stage, is all artificial ( once it is recorded ), but, even to me, is something I want, and have achieved. But, pitch, tone, dynamics, rhythm, attack, decay, coherence, noiseless background, clarity, detail, and most important, the MUSIC, are all more important to me......everyone is all bats over this soundstaging thing. Systems, ime, that lack any of the attributes I have mentioned ( and there have been many I have heard ), will not make up for the realism of a performance, throwing a good image......I am just sayin...Anyone is invited to visit me, and listen to what I am talking about. Enjoy ! MrD. |
The record shows that WC emphatically said that NO EQ can improve soundstage, etc. He needed to be corrected on this point. The relevance of this discussion here is that judicious use of EQ has more effect on all characteristics of the sound than changing amps, preamps, power conditioners and cables. I have the experience to know this. Spinaker01 may be correct that his digital parametric EQ is better than my analog Rane EQ which is no POS but still enables much more benefit than anything WC has discussed or tried. MrD said the rest of it very well. |
@whitecamaross Are you aware that posters on other threads actively warn people away from this thread because of one of your "regulars"? I posted a quote from one of those threads a few days ago but someone had a mod delete it. About 60 pages ago Viber posted he was done posting on this thread and then about a day later he returned. Sad.... 👎 |
I understand the reasoning behind your statement. However, boulder preamps hardly ever come around so I had an opportunity to get one and see how it performs. I read tbe review of the 2110 preamp whuxhy they used successfully with different amps. On paper this preamp should be superior to the ref6 , Merrill Christine and McIntosh c2600 which are the only preamps I've used with my pass labs xs300s. Personally, I didn't enjoy the boulder 2060 but this doesn't mean their preamp will be the same. |
whitecamaross OP 11-19-2019 7:28amDacs that I've tried: ever consider Meitner? (EMM Labs) |
@whitecamaross Just an FYI. Here at my listening space using JRiverMedia Center with HDMI out of PC to MX151,with Mx151 doing the decoding. the Music is better with Steinway/Lyngdorf RoomPerfect Engaged. Soundstage is deeper wider and Instruments are well presented in their space . Bass is Excellent .It is tight and quick and not bloated. Top end is very much There, and much more so with this amp. very clean sounding amp without being dry or harsh , but also not warm. It is the Excellent (for the money ) Belles 150A Reference V2. I like it a lot I am sure your stuff is 10 times better , but this is very enjoyable . |
I am using Purist Audio HDMI Bill Dions Acoustic BBQ ICs Star Sound Technologies Sonoran Desert Plateau speaker cables Star Sound Sistrum Apprentice Speaker platforms and DH Labs home made power cables here https://www.ebay.com/itm/DH-Labs-Silver-Sonic-Power-Plus-AC-RAW-Power-Cable-sold-by-the-Foot-DIY/362091010146?hash=item544e4e5862:g:I9sAAOSwBahVQjrh from Curtis Howard at audiophileanswers |
WCSS, I for one applaud your willingness to at least try the Boulder preamp given your being less than impressed with the amp you tried. Keeping an open mind is important. Also, as so much has changed in your equipment and room, who knows, you might even have a different opinion on the Boulder amp if you were to audition it now. Good luck, and let us know what you find. Cheers |
spinaker01, Agree, especially about keeping an open mind. Grey9hound, I still use my 1995 Belles OCM 200 on occasion, which is better than many current amps for clarity and tonality. The 150A is a slightly later model, which is probably excellent. However, the latest SA 100 was rolled off compared to my OCM 200. |
Chord Dave was awesome and it was not bad at all as a preamp. I think it's system dependent to be honest so I can't really say one is superior to the other. However, the chord Dave by itself is not superior to the k1 esoteric. It's only when you add the CD player on the chord Dave that it actually challenges the esoteric. |
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The eq argument is a simply a band aid for a correcting the inherent problems all speakers with crossovers possess. Specifically, these problems center around phase shift, timing and delay issues - not to mention the overall loss of transparency when compared to a speaker with no crossover. We welcome all who audition the GT Audioworks speakers to bring any speaker to our showroom so we can do a side by side comparison to prove our aforementioned point. As Herb Reichert of Stereophile said when he auditioned the GT’s -that they can go toe to toe with any cost no object speaker. |
