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!
Continuing your line of thinking--to me, sweetness and neutrality/clarity are opposing characteristics. Sweetness is usually obtained by rolling off HF, as with classic tube amps which show sweetness at the sacrifice of neutrality/clarity. The high fidelity ideal is smoothness/coherence + clarity, which are features of live, unamplified music. So if an amp has sweetness, I give it negative points towards the total score, but if it has smoothness/coherence I give it positive points which increase the total score.
I'm guessing that your 'Overall Rating' of the Luxman M900u and the Simaudio 860a v2 are going to be fairly close. Referring again to the two categories (Sweetness vs Slam/Dynamics) you said it is possible to improve the Sweetness category by using a preamp or cabling but can you improve the Slam/Dynamics category of an amp?
How would you improve the sweetness of the Sim 860a v2?
How would you improve the Slam/Dynamics of the Luxman M900u?
It is easier to turn a slam/dynamic neutral amp Into a sweet amp by adding a tube preamp than the other way around; It’s hard to turn a sweet amp (tuned to sound this way) into an explosive machine... Think of it as this: it is easy to make your "plain" tasting food taste sweet by adding honey or sugar to it ,but can you make sweet tasting food taste plain again?? Once it’s sweet, it’s hard to go back to being "plain" again ..
@ron17 you can make simaudio amp sound more warmer by adding warmer cables like transparent audio but i doubt you can do the opposite where you can make a sweeter sounding amp like luxman to have more dynamics or slam.
@whitecamaross WC - great step and initiative for you to get into developing a coherent ranking system for amps. appreciate your time, effort and thinking towards this.
do you have any thoughts on using diff preamps with 860A V2. last time i heard d’agustino preamp power amp combo the overall output was still warm and slightly sweet. are you saying connecting d’agustino pre amp with 860A v2 still gives a dynamic output?
@whitecamaross WC looking forward to it. if possible can you pick & make more price and segment appropriate comparison. momentum HD preamp is 40k. can you a pick a preamp in the 9 to 20k USD to mate with simaudio 860A2
The Sim 860V2 has lots of gain, 31 dB, so a passive preamp may provide enough volume in many cases. My personal preference is to avoid electronic stages when possible, which enables the highest detail/transparency. Mrdecibel has the cheap Luminous passive preamp, which he has found to beat all the active preamps he has tried for transparency/neutrality.
WC,
Agree that it is hard to convert sweetness into neutrality. Once information is lost thru sweetness, it is gone. This is especially true with sources. An old historic recording which is musically interesting because of the artist won't sound much better on a revealing system because the recording is so veiled that it is hopeless from the hifi point of view. You have found a superb amp (Sim) at a semi-reasonable price that is revealing. There are so many sweet, rolled off amps available at all prices, that it is a shame to take a relatively rare neutral gem like the Sim and convert it to a commonplace rolled off one.
Guys, I said it on my video that the simaudio is on loan. I don't own it and it is now back with the owner. I have bigger plans and I DO plan to bring that amp back down the road.
@grey9hound I have not heard the Coda #16 yet. My dealer in Los Angeles does not have it yet (something about a pandemic). Today, I was looking over the specs on the Coda #8, Luxman m900u, and the Coda #16. The #16 is supposed to be the quietest of the 3. One factor that is important to me.
I was just suggesting to @whitecamaross to have that amp in his radar since he is a fan of the Luxman m900u.
Actually if you follow this thread you will see that WCSS only gets Amps that he can at least get his money back on. I will bet ANYTHING he isnt going to buy a CODA and then try to flip it. That would be a 30-40% loss...might as well invest in JC Penney stock. Im sure CODA's are wonderful like Bakoon and many other boutique brands but if you buy them prepare to OWN them indefinitely. Try flipping them on a constant basis and you will be living under an overpass in a cardboard box in short order.
if I make a couple of suggestions: -for your video sessions, instead of one or two long tracks, try a bunch of shorter tracks say one and half to two minutes each covering different areas like bottom end, female vocals, male vocals, instruments, top end, dynamics etc. ... you could do a session number two with your inputs, observations etc. ... -for the ratings, if you look at Stereophile you see they rate the stuff A, B, C, D... but their sister publication Hifi news gives an actual number. So for example on the reviews for D'agostino they gave an 89 or 90 to the older version of your stereo unit, a 90 to the progression, 91 to the 400 monos, and a 95 to the relentless monos they reviewed a couple of months ago. As you see the the differences are not in the tens but one or two or five, even from the stereo unit to the the gargantuan relentless... (Imitating the one eyed viper cutie here, who wanted to put this word in a sentence!) Just like Cigar, Wine, or Whisky ratings, those in the know would know what the difference between a 91 and say a 93 is. they also just recently did a review of the 860a v2, but I don't have a print copy to know what rating they gave this unit... Not having heard the unit, but only your oohs and ahhs, My hunch is somewhere in the mid to high 80s, rather than in the low 70s... Though all these ratings are subjective, they still give a good indication of the take of the reviewer, but the difference between say a 71 and an 81 is again gargantuan (did it twice now! Eat your heart out evil viper!...), let alone with a unit in mid to high 80s... just my take and thank you for your reviews...
WC, I hope you get the Sim 860V2 back soon. Meanwhile, let's hear your comparative ratings of the Sim with the Gryphon and Merrill 118, particularly for sweetness, resolution. I understand your rating of the Sim for sweetness as a 5, which to me means that it is tonally neutral. The Luxman sweetness of 7 means it is sweeter than neutral, but not as sweet as a classic tube amp which might score a 10. A sweetness score of 1 would mean totally cold/sterile. When adding up the total score, I would convert the 5 score for sweetness to a 10, the ideal, and downgrade the overly sweet tube amp to much lower than 10, maybe 1-2.
As many have said, the sweetness category is confusing and misleading when you add up the total score. I suggest replacing "sweetness" with something like "smoothness and coherence" which everyone agrees is desirable, unlike the big differences in preferences for sweetness.
As i mentioned during my video, i plan to eventually change a few categories. They are not set in stone, but i wanted you all to have my overall feeling on the simaudio 860v2. Yes, i would take this amp over any hegel, krell, mark levinson, bryston, etc, etc. i am not going to compare it to Luxman because it sounds NOTHING like luxman or momentum. I can’t punish the luxman or momentum for perhaps not having the same "muscle" as the simaudio because then i would have to punish the simaudio for not having the same degree of silkiness, smoothness or romanticism that exists in luxman and momentum. It would not be fair. I LOVE both amps in different ways because they both take me away in different ways. We have already been over this; THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE PERFECT SPEAKER, AMP, PREAMP ETC, ETC. If i wanted to punish the Simaudio then i just need to turn on my Gryphon and then have a long conversation about how much better the mids, highs, lows, etc could be on the Simaudio when i use the Gryphon as comparison, but then that is not fair either because they are different price points. In short, there needs to be categories: 1. Vodka 2. Tequila 3. Whisky
None of them are remotely close in flavor but they all get you tipsy. Do we criticize the guy/gal who prefers to take tequila shots because he/she loves how it burns on the way down? Do we punish the guy/gal who loves Vodka because it is what is used for Martinis?? I tried Whisky and i can’t seem to like the flavor...
In short, there is no "universal" amp that trumps all. I’d love to own the Dan D Agostino Relentless and maybe a pair of Mephisto monos so i can have probably the best of both worlds (this is an example fyi)
WC, So, for folks who do not like any sweetness (viber6) then no need to have more than one amp on hand for both sweetness and non-sweetness. And similar for those who prefer sweetness. However, for folks like you (and I suspect there are many) who appreciate both flavors, I am guessing there are two ways to go. For example, if someone had a budget of $40K, would they be better served by getting two high performing ~$20K amps - one that is not sweet or much less sweet and the other that is sweeter, OR, an ongoing quest to find the one single ~$40K amp that does a bit of both? Or, a third option might be (something that you mentioned) to get the $40K amp that is not as sweet, but has high marks in the other categories. Then, component and/or cabling choices can sweeten things up a bit.
If I had 30k to spend, I'd buy a luxman 900u and simaudio 860v2. This way you can't be second guessing yourself as to what you like best. Trust me there will be recordings where you will prefer the luxman over the simaudio. I tested this theory myself and it is the case. The gryphon is amazing with slam and dynamics but it does add a hint, a smudge of honey due to it's class a design which is well received in my book with piss poor recordings. As far as WHAT PREAMP would sweeten the 860v2... Look, don't even try to go around burning money; Buy a ref10 and prepare to be FLOORED with the synergy it has with simaudio. I did this YEARS ago when I owned the v1 860a and I was in love. It is a combo that will put many systems to shame with the right speakers.
Thanks WC. I did have the chance to compare 3 preamps in my own system with the Simaudio 870a - the Simadio 740p, Simaudio 850p and arc ref 10. I have been asked privately on how they compared so just to resummarize:
Over the span of 2 weeks I had many hours to compare these 3 broken-in preamps in my system. Final notes on the 740p vs the Ref10 in my home system: - Ref10 a touch warmer/richer. 740p can sound a bit thin on certain songs in comparison - Ref10 wider stage. some songs remarkably so - Ref10 a bit more engaging and less fatiguing - Ref10 more bottom weight, but not boomy - same resolution/detail. So, if I had to choose bw these two, definitely Ref10. Perhaps a 15% bump in overall enjoyment. That said I was quite surprised how well the 740p held up.
Then I brought home the 850p. Compared to the 740p my jaw dropped. The 850p performed with an increased overall smoothness/liquidity, brought forward recessed instruments w exceptional spacing, resolution increased/inner details on songs I had never heard before, tidied up the soundstage, added coherent bass,...was hard to put a finger on any one exact change. Overall I had never experienced the utter lack of fatigue after playing for hours. Obviously there is quite a price difference between the 740p and 850p.
That said, I can see why someone might prefer the Ref10 even in my Sim (amp and DAC) dominated system (vs the 850p). The Ref10 adds a touch of warmth and a wider soundstage and perhaps is a slight touch more forgiving. I think the 850p gets out of the way better to play what is on the recording more than the 740p and the Ref10. I decided to stick with system synergy (which I think may be the primary reason for the slight nod to the 850p vs ref10) as I wasn’t quite ready to build a system around the Ref10 (although I was tempted). I think the 850p and ref10 are incredible and a good example of how individual preferences may vary.
Totally agree with your assessment above. That said, if someone is looking to be surrounded by an immense amount of musicality and soundstage, Id choose the ref10 for the simaudio. That said, the momentum HD is becoming more and more that component that I am simply afraid to even think about parting ways with. It really is the most enjoyable solid state preamp I've owned. Is it better than the boulder 2010? Its hard to say because my system has changed so much...
@zprr excellent thoughts and very well summarized. so ref10 is 15% better than 740p where 740p is 9k and ref10 is 30k in price 850P is 33k in price.since you said ref 10 and 850p were very close in performance would you say that 850P is 15% better than 740P or more. the price difference is enormous not only between the premaps but even both ref10 and 850P cost way more than 860A V2 which is just 18K.
WC Did you get a chance while testing to connect 860A V2 directly to the dcs rossini dac and do you have any thoughts and comments on dac direct to power amp where dcs was used as a pre-amp. is dac direct performance adequate or good by any chance?
WC, In your words, "The gryphon is amazing with slam and dynamics but it does add a hint, a smudge of honey." So I interpret this to mean you rate the Gryphon 6 for sweetness, compared to 5 for Sim, 7 for Luxman. How about the Merrill 118 for sweetness and resolution? Do you still have the 118 so we can hear it A/B’ed with the Gryphon? If not, just give your ratings of Merrill vs Gryphon, thanks.
@goodsource...Please refer to my YouTube channel where I have talked about this and I believe I also have given a few pointers about using dacs as Preamps if you scroll back a few pages.
Hi @goodsource, haha percentages are very tricky and of course subjective based on varying baselines. Above I indicated my overall system enjoyment went up 15% with the Ref10 vs the 740p. Not that the Ref10 was 15% better than the 740p. For me, a 15% increase in overall system performance is very significant. With respect to the 850p, and with my sq preferences, I would have said my overall system enjoyment increased by say ~20-25% over the 740p. Which is huge for me. As always, in my view, there are diminishing returns into the higher price points which I think we all strive to strike the right $ balance...
Viber I'm not about to embark on reviewing amps using the rating system without really sitting down and giving it some serious thought. If I answer you then everyone else will come back and want me to throw numbers off the top of my head for other amps I've owned and that's not going to be too fair..
Good source, that’s always the problem. In reality none of those are cheap for the average person. Value for the money the choice is obvious. But many audiophile can never be satisfied, and need/ want the next fix. What if? They want better, or sometimes it’s just different. What would be really intresting, and I have no idea if this could be done. I play the guitar and kemper makes an amp, or even what we would call a preamp, and you buy a separate amp, but it’s a modeler. With guitar amps, tube model are hands down superior to solid state. The kemper is digital and solid state. You can download files of modeled guitar amps, and speaker cabinets. Could this be done in Hi-Fi? Model preamps, amps, speakers, who knows, dacs? I don’t know. There were always naysayers about modelers,and the early ones really wernt what the current product are, but they’ve done blind tests, where it was proven that artists could not tell the difference. There are some subtle ways if you train yourself, because of how it loads the speakers, but even knowing this, no one could tell on a consistent basis to say it wasn’t the same as a 50/50 guess. Files of amps were mostly free and made by other players who owned the real thing to record, and shared on sites. In this case for about 4k , you could have any product that someone had “ modeled”, anytime you wished. My, how that would change the discussion.
@zprr haha. point taken.fully agree. great summary on your preamp comparison and appreciate it. wish these audiogon forums get upgraded to new roon or dcs or ps audio types community forums where people could like,love and vote on comments.
WC great video. as usual you have stuck gold mine in performance leap. feets and isolation bases do take the performance to the next level try changing the feets on dcs and put it on a isolation base and iam sure that will improve the overall performance as well.
@speedbump6 I fully agree with you. we can never be satisfied and thats the fun part or sometimes the curse part of this hobby.once you listened to something better its hard to go back to the lower end gear. wanted to find a good performance sweet spot and thats what i was trying to gauge. like in dac to choose between bartok ,rossini ,vivaldi i chose rossini. my 860A v2 is ordered and on its way. iam trying to figure out what would be the best segment appropriate preamp or the performance sweet spot or do i not need the pre-amp at all
Stick to the Rossini as a preamp if you own the clock... No, the Rossini isn’t the Vivaldi as a preamp. Not close either. The Vivaldi kills the Rossini as a preamp. After hearing the Vivaldi as a preamp, I can't live with the Rossini as a preamp so now I need a preamp which is why the momentum HD is here and I am working on bringing the ref6se back in.
WC, I thank you for your work and presentations. But since you have owned and listened to the Gryphon a long time, it shouldn't be much trouble to say why you think it is still better than the Sim. You have extensively listened to the Merrill a few months ago, and now you are even more enthusiastic about it, so it would be nice to complete your thoughts about it instead of just brief mention as the best class D. The Gryphon, Sim and Merrill you consider very special, unlike nearly all of the hundreds of other amps you have gone through. Thanks.
@riaa Regarding Wc and the Coda 16.0 amp. Whether or not he would lose money on it obviously depends on how much he can get it for . That part we do not know.
It sounds like the Gryphon will be leaving, my guess. If so, please do a video A/B with Merrill. If the Merrill is gone, bring back the Sim. From your statement that the Gryphon is a little warm in sound, I believe that the Sim has greater clarity, unless you want to refute me with a Gryphon/Sim shootout and/or greater clarification of the differences. You could live happily ever after with the Sim. Imagine the Sim on top of this stand. WOW.
The stand is impressive and reveals MUCH MORE clarity from the Momentum. The guitar twangs are sharper and really impressive. There can never be too much clarity, and anyone who says they prefer less clarity and more dullness is on the wrong track. Let's see if such a person prefers the amp without the stand. If this increased clarity is too jarring, keep the volume reasonable, and/or accept the recording for what it is. The stand sounds like a totally different amp. The other possibility is that the RF/EM suppression with the large disc on top can be responsible for the clarity. The simplest thing to do is try the amp + stand with and without the disc on top to see the effect of RF/EM pollution by itself. The disc looks like it weighs about 10 lbs, but this is negligible compared to the weight of the Dag, so I believe that the major effect of the disc is RF/EM suppression.
What makes you think the Merrill pair is still around? We haven’t seen it on video in 2-3 weeks, despite now-open stands since Pass INT and Accuphase and Sim left. Plus numerous pleas from you to bring it back for more video time have been ignored by WC.
I can’t remember even one time where WC featured an amp or preamp on a video, then completely removed it from the on-camera area, and then brought the same amp (not repurchased) back weeks later.
Probably was a one-and-done without much staying power, though he did say it was best of class D which counts for something although he hasn't typically gone for D amps too much ...
You seem pretty set on your preamp. Have you done much evaluation of pre amps? I am looking at upgrading from a Sonic fronteir line 2, modified. Am considering an Accustic hybrid. Thanks
Unfortunately preamps aren't really something I plan to heavily review. If I end up buying one here and there then sure I'd do a comparison but I'm not trying to search for preamps in tbe same fashion as I do with amps. As far as the Merill, they will be back and yes I still own them. I am waiting on the matching Christine preamp to arrive as well.
A few factual comments, and a thought or two......Acoustic Live, by Nils Lofgren, was released, on cd, in 1997. The track, Keith Don’t Go, has been used for years, for audio system demonstrations. My Luminous passive, at a retail of $1200, might be considered cheap ( at least on this thread ), but using recordings such as this, I do feel, an active preamp, only hinders, the recorded information. This has been my experience, and in truth, the levels of preamps, in my own listening room, have only reached retails, of 6K. As stated by wc recently, and, which I have stated, many times before, on these pages, and elsewhere, we are at the mercy of the recordings, and with each recording we listen to, one piece of gear, might be appreciated more, than another. So, with many of you ( me included ), if not, all of you, the merry go round, will continue........enjoy, be well and be safe.
WC have you had an opportunity to audition the new Progression Integrated Amp? It is said to have some of the HD preamp’s technology. I don’t know about that, but it’s a beauty imo. People wanting tube sound, which I guess means a big soundstage with somewhat focused/forward vocals and zero harshness might be enthralled with this unit. You appear to be a Dag guy so I assume you’ll run across it at some point. I find it more ‘tubelike’ than the Luxman units which I also have high regard for. There’s a place for both imho.
BTW I’ve used a DCS Bartok and Rossini direct into a couple of A+ amps and have never preferred it to having a great preamp in the loop. In my limited experience I did prefer the JRDG dac direct as opposed to using the Corus preamp but it was a singular event.
WC - agree that the last video you posted is the best that song has sounded. It will be interesting to try other amps on that stand and see what happens. Right now, it seems like great synergy with the Dag amp. Dave
Many have said this to me about the last video. Also, you all who loved the sound of the last video should REALIZE that you also have an appreciation for a sweet-tube like amplifier if this is the case. See, this is why I think there is a place for both types of power amps and neither is better than the other in my opinion. If you like to hear the dynamics and neutrality then I understand why you choose a gryphon or soulution but this doesn’t mean that those who love constellation, dag, luxman are selecting inferior Amplifiers. To me, that is an absurd comment. It is just a different delivery of the music, but I personally don't want to hear all the blemishes that some old recordings have even if that is the truth of the music. There is a certain level of magic that sweet amps have that draw you in and makes you unable to get off your seat. Some days I am enamored with the Gryphon and then the next day I fall in love with the Dag too because it does something cool to the music that makes it attractive to me.
@4425 i heard that speaker they used to pair and test the amp while developing the dag progression integrated was sasha daw.so for sasha daw prospects and owners its going to be great synergy
WC, I agree, Give me something that has some magic and keeps me in my seat or up for hours after bedtime.. still listening . I do not want the ruthless revealing of recordings. Obviously, by the comments on your YouTube with the last video, there is a LOT of people in this camp. Make the music enjoyable and listenable... YES YES ...YES !
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