Guys, not sure how this kind of pis... contest is helping the conversation and usefulness of this thread...
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
thezaks, The reviewer's words, "I recently reviewed another class-A power amplifier, the Plinius Reference A-150 ($13,000). I characterized this sweet New Zealand amp as having “feathery highs, strong but round bass, [and] a midband of tonal density to die for.” The Essence had some of those qualities, as well as some quite different ones. Starting with those “feathery highs” -- much like the Plinius A-150, the Gryphon Essence won’t ever have you lunging for the volume control to turn down screechy highs. The Gryphon had poise in the upper frequencies -- its reproduction of detail sounded natural, without calling attention to itself. Much like the Plinius’s, the Gryphon’s midrange was tonally dense, something that’s long been a hallmark of Gryphon amps. But the biggest difference was in the bass. Whereas the Plinius possesses what I described as “round bass,” the Gryphon’s bass was tighter and more physically present. Although Gryphon’s larger, more expensive Antileon Evo and Mephisto amps are even more impressive in just this way, if only slightly, in this area the Essence still has an advantage over most other power amps -- including the Plinius A-150." He is saying that the Essence has some of the qualities of the sweet Plinius--"feathery highs, tonally dense midrange, lack of screechy highs." These are the words used by lovers of euphonic tube and some SS amps. "Feathery" highs means delicate, but lacking in sparkle. "Tonally dense midrange" means rich and creamy due to rolled off HF so that the midrange is emphasized. When I have heard dynamic speakers with amps described like this, the sound is dull boredom. These writers hate sparkle and brilliance, so they call it screechy instead. The next problem with this reviewer is that he doesn't know that amps that have rounded bass, also have rounded midrange and HF. Electrons don't respond differently in different freq ranges. Tube and euphonic SS amps have this rounded character in the entire range. So if he is describing the Essence as having tighter bass than the Plinius, it is likely that the midrange and HF also are more defined than the Plinius. He is either a poor writer (I doubt it) or more likely, doesn't know how to judge sound objectively. WC may have somewhat different tastes than me, but he knows how to describe sound objectively and truthfully, and he is building a reputation as a trusted reviewer with the videos to prove it. One day soon, he will A/B the Essence and Mephisto at home, and we will know the true story. Meanwhile, from this review, we have no way of knowing whether the Essence is like the somewhat euphonic Luxman, or whether it is more like the brilliant and transparent Mephisto. |
A couple of things:
LASTLY, i want to be very CLEAR, no there will not be a review from me comparing my Mephisto to an Essence here in my room. If you want to make that possible, please purchase the Essence and send it to me and i will be glad to give you my opinion on how it compares IN MY ROOM to the Mephisto. If you want this to be a private review, please message me directly and this way nobody needs to know that you are sending me your Essence or bringing it in person to hear it against the Mephisto. I would refrain from making any public comments of this comparison if the other person wants it that way. i totally get that. I know exactly how this works: i post a comparison of the Mephisto vs Essence and you will get the trash talkers who will say this: "oh my lord that Essence sounded broken in comparison" "oh wow that Essence killed the Mephisto for 1/3 of the price" "oh wow the Luxman would have held its own better against the Mephisto" "Essence is a broken amp tonally speaking from what i heard" etc etc etc I am not going to go through that exercise. Been there, done that. |
I am sure if i call Mike over a Suncoast audio RIGHT NOW and borrow the Essence, he would hand it to me. That is the kind of guy he is, but i will NOT do that to him. Why? so that the "garbage men" begin to talk stupidity here? REALLY? why would i do that to him or any dealer for that matter? I said it before, i don’t use no 30 day trial on anything if i know i am going to return it after the period is over. i dont take advantage of others like that. I was taken advantage of HERE by a crook who stole my money, but i don’t FOR ONE SECOND do that to anyone. Why pick up something from him that i am not going to buy? I don’t roll like that man... If it comes out of someone’s good will to message me and say "hey Jay, here try it, post whatever, give your impressions, we dont care, etc, etc" then sure i will do that. One last time, I AM NOT BUYING THE ESSENCE AMPLIFIER. |
WC, The Essence is probably an excellent amp, so you wouldn't say anything negative about it that would hurt Suncoast or other Gryphon dealer or distributor. You would say truthful things about the sound and how it has a similar family type of Gryphon sound, but doesn't quite equal the Mephisto in areas of X,Y,Z but is fabulous for the money. Even if anyone here or on your YT channel distorted what you said or pounced on any Gryphon, the dealers or distributor can use the good things you said for their advantage. Fools have the liberty to be heard in the US, and they are mostly ignored. You made a video on the 5 most disappointing amps you've heard, but are you saying you would never do that again, and only do positive written and video reviews the way it is in most magazines that live from their advertising revenue? |
The bystander is great, by comparison to many other amps. The power really helps wit the bass control, it is clear, transparent. The mephisto is on a different level. Everything is more dynamic, more there. It’s Bass control makes the Bryston seem like weak by comparison. It’s not, but..... there’s more of everything avaible with the mephisto, and the dealer I heard it at did not have it set up or properly matched the first time I heard it. The sound was unbalanced. They’ve had time to play with it and the second time it was so much better. It didn’t annoy me with over emphasis in some ranges. Every range was fuller, and more dynamic, more lively, and better controlled than the bryston. I love the bryston, works great for my home theater, have two, one not used yet, waiting on the moabs for the rears. |
One day, some people will be able to hear a properly set up mephisto with the right partnering gear (I'm slowly getting there) and they won't be able to listen to a lot of stuff out there ever again. What's interesting and in case you haven't noticed, MOST PEOPLE who have ACTUALLY HEARD IT say nothing but astonishing things about it. Ever wondered why that is ? Those who criticize it are the ones who have never ever ever even seen it in person. Have you all noticed that here ? |
A long time in business hi end dealership in my area put together a demo of the YG Sonja 2.3s with the Mephisto last Fall and to their ears it was one of the best sounding systems they had ever heard. They also have found the gryphon cabling works best. A cheaper alternative with apparently good synergy with the Mephisto is Audience. Just sharing one data point/viewpoint. I kick myself for not having gone to hear it. |
speedbump6, Thanks for your useful info. It is tough to differentiate tonal qualities at dealers. At low/medium power, could you hear the different tonal personalities in the midrange and HF between the 14B3 and Mephisto? Resolution? I think you have the Tekton Ulfberht flagship as the main speakers, and Moab coming for the rears. That should be killer, better than any movie theater. |
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Techno, No, Nordost and AQ do it well, but I am all for WC trying Gryphon cables. It is natural to want to try many different components when you have an amp you love. We have all done it, including you and me. WC, Agree that the speaker comes first, and the Mephisto will get the best out of it. If the speaker is bad, Mephisto will reveal that. However, it is not necessary to have an expensive speaker to appreciate the M or other great amp. From many owner reports, Tekton speakers which are all cheap/modest in price are as good as $100K famous speakers. Too bad audio salesmanship tells people with cheap speakers to get cheap electronics, and people with expensive speakers to get expensive electronics. The Paradigm Persona B is probably the best speaker of that line for clarity, since it is the only one using all Be drivers. And it is the cheapest, the bottom of the line--another example of deplorable salesmanship. As a fine speaker, for a mere $7K, it deserves the finest amp to bring out the clarity. With its relatively high 92 dB efficiency, and the Tekton Moab's 98 dB efficiency, they would do well with a low power but highest quality amp. Until you personally do an A/B of the Essence and Mephisto, you cannot say that the M is better in all ways, especially clarity. Certainly, an audition is not needed to predict that the M is better for brute force and power--that's obvious. I'll go back to my experience with Bryston. That company says that all the models sound the same, and a few dealers I have spoken to say the same, because they just blindly follow the sales marketing and merely link the company's website. Possibly a few good dealers who actually listen carefully, know the real sonic differences. However, I am probably only one of very few listeners who know that the 2.5B SST2 is far superior in clarity to the bigger 4B SST2. If I had an efficient speaker, then the little 2.5B would have plenty of power to drive it, and then it would be better than the larger, more expensive 4B in every way. This might occur with the Essence as well. For an efficient speaker, it might have better resolution AND enough power, making it a better choice than the Mephisto. BTW, we have certainly learned from you that the M has the best drive and transparency, but how about low level resolution? If the M is the best amp you have found, it should excel at both low and high power. I am not implying that you must do the A/B of Essence and M. You're not getting paid much to work for us, and your personal happiness for your own system is more important. So if you are happy with the M, that's great. |
@flrun thanks for the comment above. I am certainly not bitter about what happened to me. I just sometimes DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW some people can live life scamming others and living on eggshells not knowing WHEN they will be buried in prison or simply run into the wrong person who they should have never messed with and who will be vindictive and knock on their door and put an end to their lives. I watch these cartel specials on Netflix and man i DO NOT KNOW how people can live running away like that. Nothing NOTHING feels better than knowing you don’t have to hide from anyone. I get anxiety just sitting at home all day during this pandemic and not commuting to the office like i did earlier this year. I could not survive in prison locked up in a cell and sleeping on the floor. My mind would not be able to handle the lack of freedom. That said, some people do not give a damn about doing others wrong and this is why i am very vocal about this so that you all dont need to go through what i went through. Be proactive about it, check references, use Paypal (yes i know they can be difficult), call the manufacturers, double check phone numbers, check their websites, talk to other people to see if they can vouch for the person you are trying to do business with. The internet has allowed for thieves to be smarter, but if we unite as a community, NONE of them will be successful. If we don't communicate with each other, we WILL LOSE each and every time. Many platforms allow us to expose these people. I am working on a black list with another high profile youtuber, but we need legal advice first and maybe we put this together and flag those that are known to be doing this constantly from all angles. Stay tuned. |
Jay, I know what you’re saying about people. Had the same guy try to rob my store today for the third time in a month. Fortunately this time I saw him coming and managed to keep him outside the store, he stole my car last time, had the key still, I just got the car back two days ago, and now my car has bullet holes in it, and unfortunately he did get away, but left his cell phone. the cops managed to show up just after that was over and sat and watched him speed right past the store after he stole another car and hit yet another car leaving. There’s always someone looking to take advantage of the rest of us. It’s sad, but a fact of life. I’ve had people I thought I knew take tens of thousands to build a computer system and disappear. For now, I look over my shoulder until this guy is caught, but he will have to live with( or die from) the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. |
The newest 2 videos have wonderful sound. I can't yet tell if the Gryphon cables are better than Nordost cables--I would have to go back and forth among all the videos with the same song. I wouldn't be surprised if the Gryphon Essence is more revealing and live than the 4 MBL monsters. According to reviews, MBL is good but a little rounded in sound. It is one of the worst examples of an overpriced product line. You can A/B the Essence with MBL there, to learn the truth. |
WC, I'd be curious to know what your thoughts would be, if you ever had the chance to compare the MBL with the Essence. Regarding my other statement, I have no idea about MBL - never heard it. I was just letting viber6 know that he could say it a different (and possibly more proper way) - depending upon how he really feels about it. Dave |
ron17, Wow - not asking for much! :-) Actually, WC can do most of the comparisons at the store and share the video, as he did with some of the other components. It’s not the same as doing those comparisons in his room, but they would still be cool comparisons. WC can comment, but I suspect his goal at the store was not comparisons, but to allow us to just hear some other components. Dave |
@whitecamaross these are great talking points and looking forward to your video. do you have any thoughts on differences between the whole valhalla 2 line vs odin 1 line (power cables, XLR and speaker cables) like how close or valhalla 2 in performance to odin 1 and when does it make sense to get valhalla 2 and how do the highs/treble and the low end bass compare on valhalla 2 vs odin 1. is ansuz c2 line better than valhalla 2? if you can either share your thoughts here or in the video .either way, it would be of great help. |
@whitecamaross great video and you nailed it and summarized it perfectly - it is not surprising at all that gryphon cables are a better match than valhalla 2 - for XLR and speaker cables impedance matching is key also the equipment manufacturer has a better understanding of the characteristics than a generic cable manufacturer like nordost who has to make a universal cable to match different pre-amp, amp and speakers. |
WC, Of course, the brute force of the 4 MBL's will make that system sound more dynamic than the Essence. However, on that simple selection we heard, the Essence was just beautiful and great. I am talking about the ability of a quality amp to provide nuance/detail/clarity at low levels. Even if you find that the 4 MBL's can blast a certain piece of music, when that music has moments of delicacy, you will get nothing but a headache from the blaring loudness and also be disappointed that the amp monsters may fall short in low level detail. So if you get around to doing the A/B of the Essence and MBL, bring the same pieces you are doing for the videos, which are at moderate to low SPL's. You also said that for careful listening, you test at SPL's in the 80's. |
great video. glad the pandora on its way. should be amazing. caught your concerned comment on streaming. have u considered the taiko extreme? obviously steep $ but in league of its own as far as streamer/server. i understand that isn’t the focus of your passion but would help maximize what is coming into the front end. and would be tremendous complement at this level. i know i am not alone in saying it is hard to overstate how good it is |
So last night I attempted to switch the Gryphon speaker cables and put back the Odin 1 speaker cables in the system. Without a SINGLE DOUBT, I am now 200% sure that when you switch speaker cables (mainly), you must MUST wait at least a few hours before you can pass judgement on which cable is better. Forget about those quick a/b comparisons. I can assure you that at least for now, for speaker cables, you need to swap them and let them play music for at least a day before you know exactly which cable is better. This amp is insane when it comes to showing me the transformation of cables as they settle in the system. |