So does any luxury brand. LV purses, Rolex watches, Armani suits. If enough people didn’t think it was worth what they charge, they wouldn’t be in business. Obviously not everyone agrees with the idea that they charge too much.
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
Today's video will be dropping at 1pm ET. I have removed wireworld interconnects and introduced Gryphon VIP xlrs back in the mix. I also went back to the stock powercord on the Boulder 2110. One interesting fact about the Boulder 2110: This linestage might be (might be) the only component that i have ever owned where powercords make a difference, but where the stock powercord also sounds insane. i have tried Nordost odin 1 on it and yes it does get better, but i find myself going back to the stock powercord some reason? This COULD BE a testament to the meticulous care that Boulder places on their products and how they maximize performance on stock powercords. I am quite impressed to be honest how good this thing sounds with stock cords... Wouldn't it be great to finally have a component that does not need expensive powercords to make it sound great? :) |
@whitecamaross ...I believe the Magico tweeter is awesome but it is not built by Magico. It is built by Scanspeak with Magico’s specs... That is not true. SS build the S series tweeters (which is a lot cheaper).The M series tweeter is a proprietary 28mm tweeter (vs. SS, 26mm) with a much bigger motor system, definitely not built by SS. I own the M3 for some time now, never had issues, but a friend of mine M2’s needed a tweeter replacement due to mischievous grandchildren. It’s more tricky to replace, but a good technician or a set of good hands can do that easily. Magico was very helpful in that and provided him with a step-by-step manual on how to do that. Of course, one will be better off sending the speakers in, but that may be the case with any tweeter. BTW, I find Nordost speaker wire to be a bad match with the M3 (or any Magico I have hard). They seem to chock up the lower region, giving you the impression of more detail. I think they were designed with ported speakers in mind, where you may want to tame the bass somewhat. YMMV |
Sonic differences between Boulder 2110 & Pandora with Mephisto? hmm... at a high level, here is what i think: -Boulder 2110 makes DCS Rossini sound less digitized and more analog -Pandora is more dynamic -Boulder has intense imaging that almost spooks you -Pandora adds that "bite" on the pluck of a guitar and Boulder makes it a little more rounded -Pandora leads to days of listening sessions -Boulder leads to weeks of listening sessions -Old recordings sound amazing on the Boulder 2110. You can still hear how "not good" the song is, but it does not give you road rash in your ears. -Bass control is probably better on the Boulder, but i am knit-picking here. Both have incredible bass control. That said, let’s not forget that my cables might be favoring the Pandora and that both linestages go about their business very differently. This will be a difficult task for me once i have identified which linestage i will stay with. One day i have the Boulder winning and then the next day i have the Gryphon Pandora. If feels as if it is very mood & song dependent. |
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Here we go: Boulder 2110 with gryphon vip series interconnects and STOCK POWERCORD! https://youtu.be/gslChYAxjTs |
@julie_priest bit some of the amps were amazing (merrill, luxman, pass) and most can be found second hand for a fraction of new. i don't think the OP's wandering eye is a reflection of a "lack". i believe it to be no criticism to guess that the OP could find the best amp that ever existed and it would still be up for sale at some point and i think that goes for many people on this forum (me included for sure). that said currently WC swears eternal love for Mephisto :-) i hope you don't mind me making a comment about an amp that would suit dynaudio 40's but i have been learning a bit lately and so i wanted to just point out that the dynaudio is quite an inefficient speaker (and less efficient than the rating given its impedance is probably down at 2 ohm in bass). for 2 ohm it will be an 80 dB speaker. so you want some grunt! i had never owned a "seriously" powerful power amp until recently so i bought a bryston 4bsst (not too heavy, not too hot, people seem to say that are ok) 2nd hand and it absolutely amazed me. with speakers like dynaudio - there is no such thing as too much power. they will sound so great with 300W plus. |
Jay, I appreciate your honest assessment of Boulder vs Pandora preamps. If a Boulder amp has similar characteristics of the preamp, I know that Boulder is not for me, which rounds off the bite of a guitar pluck, in contrast to the Pandora which preserves it. So even at this high level, Boulder is euphonic compared to Gryphon. Mephisto is still the king for truth telling, which I speculate you will confirm if you get the Boulder amp. Years ago, you said the ATI 6005 was nothing special, in opposition to all the glowing reviews about it. You saved me a back injury so I didn't have to try it or the ATI 6002 stereo version. Same goes for Boulder--you saved me a back injury AND money. This is why I continue to follow you and why I ask lots of questions. THANKS. |
I’m surprised that it turned out this way. Boulder went from being extremely neutral , cold and sterile in the past to very tube-like while remaining extremely detailed and focused. That said, and i have mentioned this many times here, my system RIGHT NOW is set up for the Gryphon Pandora - not Boulder. Think of the Boulder linestage as a racecar minus the bumpy ride. They gave you all the detail, clarity, immediacy and took away the nastiness of terrible recordings but still remaining as truthful as possible. I’ve said it before, NOTHING at this level sucks. It’s about choosing your poison. One person could choose the Pandora and I’d totally understand it and another one pick the boulder and I’d get it. Both do spectacular things which is why I was saying this will be one of the toughest challenges for me. I might have to keep living with both for another month until I make my decision on which linestage will stay. That will be purely based on personal preference. |
i would take neither as i couldn't afford appropriate peripherals including amplification. i fall into the category of people who might be able to afford a piece of the puzzle if i went nuts, but cannot really afford to play at such a level. i think the high power high resolution game, as WC is capably demonstrating, is very responsive to money and mass and volume (room, speakers, components). and what i mean is you spend money it gets better. this is why my instincts were alarmed and told me to stay out of hi-fi when i started fussing with IEMs four years ago; but here we are. a whole bunch of power cords and wattage and pretty much penniless :-) |
Alright guys, Gryphon Pandora has taken center stage. It is midnight and I'm about to embark on a 2 hour listening session with the Pandora. From the very first 5 seconds i can tell you it's going to be a tough one. The Pandora immediately presented itself with a soundstage the size of a tsunami. My thoughts will come soon... |
Wilson Wamm with 4 relentless monos and matching external bass modules. About 1.2 million dollars. https://youtu.be/oMyMf7xy3q0 |
Jay, Your latest video with the Pandora and Mephisto is instructive. The 2 selections starting at 7:08 illustrate needed tradeoffs. At 7:08, the voice is crisp, "standing on the platform.." but some people may not like the sibilance. But the background soft piano is very clear. On previous videos with this song, the piano was muddy, but now the HF resolution of the Be tweeter clarifies it so you can hear the piano hammers softly striking the strings, plus some ambience. Excellent. Next at 9:08, "Man on the Moon" illlustrates similar things, with the crisp jangle of the HF percussion and guitar, again which some might not like. The voice is clear. With these processed, artificial recordings, one has to accept the recording for what it is, and enjoy the increased content of the total music. Just play it at reasonable SPL's, as you did on this video. The alternative is to choose euphonic electronics which decrease the sibilance, but which muddy the bulk of the musical content. I like what you have. |
I was just informed that Stereophile magazine has named the Magico M2 2020 speaker of the year. They said the competition was not even close. It was Magico M2 and everyone else fighting for second place. Pretty much a unanimous decision. Last year’s speaker of the year was the Revel Performa F228Be. That said, when i look at the list of speakers that they reviewed in 2020, i honestly do not see a speaker that could have beat it? i mean, maybe the Von Schweikert Audio Ultra 55? Göbel High End Divin Marquis? I have had a few conversations with a few people in regards to the M2 vs M3. I have heard the M2s and they certainly do a disappearing act that reminded me a lot of the Vivid Audio does. However, is the M2 a better buy than a M3? They are 23k dollars apart (msrp) , but can one justify going from a M3 to M2? or buying a M2 over the M3? Yes, there is talk about the construction of the M2 being like that of the M6 and the M3 is more like the MPro. However, can this be heard in a room with the same electronics on both speakers? Tough decision for me to be honest. The brief moment i had the M3’s here was special. Not once did i feel i needed subwoofers, but some say with the M2 you will need subs. This means you buy dual subs which now makes the m2 73k dollars. Tough call. |
I guess the M2's needing subs would depend on what type of music you listen to and your room. I thought you told me the M3's you had were very hard on the ears. Do you think the electronics and cables you had at the time might not have been a good fit? I know you were using Odin1 but can't remember the components. I'm guessing careful component and cable matching would be critical with the M2 or M3....more so because of the Be tweeter. |
For the Wilson bashers, pay attention to how long things remain in the room, independent of the initial plaudits. That is the true barometer. DAWs were at least 6 months. Alexia 2 at least 2-3 months or so recently (just estimating here based on recollection) and Alexia 1 for a good bit of time before the DAWs. Nearly a year straight of having a Wilson Audio speaker in the room as the trajectory of the system scaled upward. And VERY importantly, each time a Wilson was replaced (current $140k Focal experiment pending, (or is it?)), the replacement had a very short shelf life. Let’s see how long all of these other contenders last in the room before we anoint anything as superior...... |
That’s an opinion, fair enough. But let’s see what happens in the room. My guess, and it’s only a guess, is that each time WC parts with Wilson he immediately begins to severely miss the authoratative slam and muscularity that so many others lack. Indeed, I heard it myself on the very first Focal video and said so right here on the thread, and WC agreed that for dynamics and muscularity Wilson is tops. And that was a $140k speaker competing against a $55k speaker!! I think those features are so important to WC that, once the initial shine wears off, everything else is gone before we know it. But let’s see. The proof will be in the pudding. Maybe the Focals are already gone??? In less than a month??? I wouldn’t think they’d be gone yet (I had set over/under for New Years if I recall), and I didn’t think they sounded bad, but last post WC waxing about Magico and Maggies in latest video, so I guess time will tell. At a minimum WC went to a lot of trouble to move the beasts out of the way and place the Maggies. Maybe not a good sign for Focal longevity??? Only guessing- |
I’m not predicting that he goes immediately back to Wilson (that would be too easy a prediction as that has happened last two times!), or even that he has already moved on from the Focals (tho wouldn’t be surprised), and no I didn’t prove any point that you made. What I will predict is that anything non-Wilson that comes in will not last as long as Wilson collectively did, which I submit is the ultimate barometer. Care to dispute that prediction? |
Lots of interesting thoughts. For the time being, all i can say is that I am "Wilsoned out". There is nothing under $100k msrp from Wilson that i am interested in. I've done my rounds with Wilson under $100k msrp. This doesn't mean I can't show up with a random Wilson speaker but that is not on my mind. It would be more of the speaker chasing me than me chasing it. |
I imagine tricky in the "marketplace" sealing a deal on series 2 YGs. I wish I could compare hailey 2.2s or sonja 2.2s to Magico 2 and 3. Seem to be great comparators. Still lament not hearing the Mephisto/Pandora combination with Sonja 2.3s recently demoed, which from a couple of long time audiophile/dealer/25+ year show attendees, etc/ was the best they had ever heard across the full gamut of speaker types. And they are one of the few dealers that actually have a demo Mephisto in their shop as WC alluded to. But of course, just a few sets of ears and preferences... |
