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!
So now you have turned into a mastering guru? interesting.. You are now telling those who work in studios and do this for a living HOW things should sound (you said sometimes they do bad things) and so you believe your way or the highway is really the way to go. By the way, have you heard a song by Limp Bizkit called "my way" ? With that Rane comment and how it can be used to make the Tekton sound better than Alexx you have pretty much exposed yourself. I am not sure if you will be able to recover after making such statement.
if i change the transformers in the Parasound, add a couple of footers, change the heatsinks and tweak the internal wiring and fuses, i can make it sound like a Boulder 2150 NO QUESTIONS ASKED...
If we all take supplements, eat healthy, take hormone replacement therapy, lift weights and play baseball 24/7, we can hit home runs like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
If we use Rane eq on the Alexx then we can make it sound as good or better than the Chronosonic XVX??
I will give Viber the benefit of the doubt and believe him when he says that if he were to play around with Tekton and Rane, that he would be able to get them to a place where HE, and he alone, would prefer Tekton/Rane to Wilson Alexx.
Why? Because we’ve seen Viber argue about Rane, Mytek, Bryston, lamp cord speaker cables, and other things, and about how he thinks those are superior to everything that WC uses.
Note I am not directly criticizing any of the above, I am simply stating that this is what Viber believes, as he’s told us innumerable times. So he really believes that for himself.
Let’s agree to let him live in that world, so long as he doesn’t try to push that world onto the rest of us.
I know the benefits of EQ, but also the harm. I used it for many years, on and off, and I know why folks use it, which is fine for them. Once a recording is produced to it's final properties, I choose to leave them alone. Eq, ime, should be for room set up optimization, if the listener finds it necessary, not to eq every song. What I find most interesting is viber's zip cord. Not that it is small gauge, because if the length is short to moderate, it can still do the current / voltage thing. Litz configurations have been used ( great article from Dick Olsher in the Absolute Sound, August 2019 ) for decades ( I was around and very active back then, and showing my age ), and I heard tremendous differences during seminars given by many of the wire leaders back then. Litz cleans things up, and there are engineering papers on why, as opposed to using zip cord. Every good cable today uses a Litz geometry, and for good reason. Of course, material, winding, insulation and so much more go into the manufacture of cables. But having strands jumbled together and touching each other at dissimilar points throughout the length of the cable ( what Litz corrects ) is what the low end and less expensive manufacturers are doing. This non Litz configuration is generally bright sounding....so there you have it, as to why viber likes it so much. At least he knows what he likes, because many people are searching for what they like. Anyway, sorry for my rant. Enjoy !
Kren, I’m sure viber appreciates your valuation of his equipment. Viber, as far as an open mind, for me it was easy to see who has a negative bias towards tektons in general, vs what they heard, based on their comments and those who were genuine in their assessment. Same for the ones who are just anti Wilson or Gryphon, etc. In the end it dosnt matter what anyone else thinks other then the person spending their money. There are people whose opinions I appreciate and take into consideration when I make a decision on equipment, and in the end it’s my ears that have to happy and I think that’s what Jay tries to do. Give you his opinion, while saying over and over that your mileage may vary and his preferences may not work for you.
Speed bump, Not to start an argument but where did I value V’s equipment? I haven’t heard any of V’s equipment.
V is the one who contends it is better than what WC has, at least for him. All I said was I am willing to take V at his word as it pertains to his preferences. Don’t look to stir up trouble for the sake of it. Life is too short.
I agree with you that in end it only matters what person spending the $$ thinks. But on this thread WC asks us to provide opinions on what we hear on his vids
You said his equipment was priceless, lol. ( I know, the priceless comment was directed at the statement quoted on the post, the priceless comment was in humor as was my comment) At least I thought that was you that said that
Everyone's efforts to be nicer are obvious and it makes this thread much more enjoyable. I'm no expert on music, viber has a lot of experience playing and listening to music - so when I read his comments I try to understand his experiences. I'll never forget listening to a live natural acoustic band in a large, hard surfaced area (a commercial atrium with hard granite / reflective walls and floors, windows all over with a ceiling that was 4 stories high) about 15 feet away. Super detailed but what I would describe as hard. It was an awesome experience right up until the drummer hit the cymbals really hard. It hurt my ears - a LOT! It didn't make them ring but it was very uncomfortable. I cringed from the pain. Who would have thought? Not me - that's for sure. I'm not justifying saying a $20k or $30k system could compete with a half a million dollar plus system. But I am saying there's something he's experienced with live music that he likes and recognizes. It may even be something(s) that many of the rest of us haven't. Please don't criticize me, I'm not trying to defend or support anyone or anything. All I'm trying to say is he's got a lot of experience playing orchestra music and / or close proximity listening to orchestra music and he's trying to share his experiences. I try to respect and understand his perspective.
kren0006, You are being truly nice these days, which I appreciate, thanks. I agree with most of you said today. You have an open mind, which is more than I can say for Jay. Words have been wasted on trying to bash me. Everyone should just listen to the videos of the GTA on p 280 of this thread, playing the same 1st and 2nd songs as the Alexx, on both videos of Boulder and Gryphon. Also, everyone should be honest at how close in quality the Ulf comes to the Alexx. A few people said they prefer the Ulf. I like some aspects of each speaker.
Since you are nice, I will answer your valid post about whether EQ of higher freq affects bass. YES, it does. The reason is that natural bass instruments like string bass, lower brass instruments like trombone, tuba, bass sax, kettle drums, etc., have a wide freq range. These instruments have lots of bass energy, but a spectrum analyzer shows a surprising amount of energy much higher in freq. These higher freq harmonics are perceived as "growl" or "buzz." For a male voice, you hear the body and chest for lower freq, and raw vocal cords and throat as higher freq components of the sound. So the total sound includes this wide range of freq. If you are careful with the HF boost, you can bring out the higher freq components of the total sound which are often submerged in dull recordings played on rolled off speakers and electronics. The sound will be natural as long as HF are not aggressively boosted. It is really Goldilocks, done by ear--not too hot, not too cold. Some recordings are so dead and laid back that they need much boost, and others which are already EQ'ed hot, need little. I might like what a particular engineer did, or not, and then make adjustments according to the recording and what speaker I am listening to. Some speakers are so dead and rolled off. Maybe I can improve them a little with EQ, but they are so hopeless that I can't do much to get satisfaction from them.
When the day comes that we have perfect speakers and electronics and recording engineers who do the job the way I want, I won't need EQ. But until that day in the 25th century, EQ will be essential. There are much more benefits from a cheap judicious EQ than big bucks cables. Realistically, I estimate that as a line stage without EQ, my Rane tweaked by mrdecibel is comparable to an average $10K line stage. Whatever superiority a Boulder or Gryphon preamp may have, that superiority is much smaller than the benefits of engaging the EQ. Any doubters should say no more, but just do the listening. Most important, OPEN THEIR MIND.
Live chat tomorrow night @ 7pm eastern time. I will go over my best components of 2020 and the best system I put together in 2020 plus which component really disappointed me and WHY !
Yes, I could EQ the Alexx and get it to sound more detailed and spacious than the Chrono without EQ. I just did you a favor in case you lust for the Chrono!! Get the Rane, maybe put better parts in it, and rejoice. Yes, the electronics of your Boulder or Pandora are likely much better, but careful EQ will bring out more of your music if you replace the B or G preamps with the Rane. I'll coach you on it by phone. No consultation fee.
As for a warm speaker like Sonus Faber or elephant Martin Logan Neolith with its bloated image and rolled off HF, I doubt I could use the Rane and get them to compete with your Alexx. The Alexx is a nice sized speaker. Even you don't know how good it can be. No need to go for the bloated image of the Chrono. You might prefer the ideal size image of the Alexx. BTW, the Alexx's resistor adjustments for various freq ranges are Wilson's way of EQ'ing it. You probably have experimented with all the resistor combinations, and in this way you have done your own EQ to your liking. Yet the Rane has much more capability for EQ than any speaker adjustments.
If you wanted to make a hit with your consultations, I would recommend speakers, amps, cables, but recommend the Rane instead of preamps, which would give maximum flexibility and results. Why don't you try it? You will thank me.
I think what comes out of this recent discussion, is nothing new. Viber, you simply want to extract more information out of your recordings, and taper them, to your liking. This is no different than someone buying a new power cord, amp stand, whatever, to enhance listening pleasure. And I know 1st hand, what is capable from the Rane, for anyone who does not believe ( I should buy all of them available, do my things to them, and sell them, for a profit, but, they will be a bargain in today’s marketplace, lol ) All about music enjoyment. No different than ricevs, as what he does, is to extract more detail and information, from the recordings. The equipment, gear, room set up, etc. is all for this purpose. This is audiophilia, the high end, the craziness, we have all grown into, with the same ultimate goal. Many different pathways, to our individual tastes. My biggest disappointment, is how poorly most recordings really are, compared to the real thing ( my reference, as is viber's ).
Jay, it is all part of the passion, and, the insanity...at least we are all on point here, to making the listening experience better. I think your thread is popular for many reasons, and people are free to express themselves ( and yes, up to a point, lol ), and share not only opinions about your journey, but theirs as well.
Do none of you Einsteins (meant with infinite love, humility, emotional intelligence, and of course humor, dear ricevs) believe in or heard of the scientific method? Jay, All you have to do is fire up the old wcss, drive up to your local Home Depot or Lowe's, put your mask on, and spend less than the shipping cost of most of your gear for the lengths you need of some zip/lamp cord. If you need help sizing, I can consult. Might as well get some romex while you are at it. Now you can do some evals that many, if not all would like to hear. Do the video same as before, 82 db, same songs in the same order as the B and G comparo. Then we can talk about what we heard in a respectful, well reasoned manner. No excuses. Don't make me start doing videos! Any ideas as to who might/might not want that video to be done, gentlepeople? Ps.....I will reimburse you the cost of the wire and gas money as well.
Jeesh, sorry I can't spit it out all in one post. Also please do this once the Boulder is back to normal and Alexx has scurried back into his location of prominence. Not interested in this test if you use Ulfs and Gs. Don't let that be a reason for not doing the comparo.
Viber I’m going to have to disagree to some extent about eq. I for one do not understand the negative perception in our hobby that many people seem to have about eq and believe it can indeed be a very useful tool, rather than play around with hardware components to change or fix a certain issue of sound. To some extent we are using hardware changes or tweaks for some, in order to eq the sound. Having said that there is a difference between eq and changing the tone or fundamental sound we hear. A proper eq cannot change this, but can can only increase or decrease what is already there. Expecting a very lush sounding amp for example to become a much more detailed one isn’t truly realistic unless it is so recessed at certain levels by another component that you compensate for it with eq to some extent, though there will still be an underlying loss due to that component still being in the chain. You can indeed make a detailed amp sound more muffled by recessing certain frequencies. Maybe to some that may make it sound softer and less sibilant if they perceived it as such, but at a loss of detail and texture just because the surrounding frequencies are masking what is there because of the reduced levels at those frequencies. Eq is best used in modicum for smaller changes, larger ones will make the result sound artificial due to what you lose by something being masked too greatly. If there is a need for that much eq, there is a greater problem that should be addressed by whatever is creating the underlying reason for needing to add so much eq. I have seen eq used in the professional recording industry in this way and the engineer involved not recognize the problems they’ve introduced and why the results end up being unsatisfactory to listen to. Much of this is why we say there are “good” and “ bad” recordings. If that much eq is needed in the first place, something else was done wrong in the chain that should be addressed to alleviate the need to try to compensate with eq. It can suck the life, or soul out of the music if done poorly. The Harmon curve is generally used to achieve what humans here as a good sound, with minor variations acceptable based on personal preferences. Deviate far from that, or have to use too much eq to achieve the curve, and the result will likely be unsatisfactory. I currently have a system in my car that I spent a decent amount on that the company that did the work really has no understanding of these ideas. Adding eq to increase a frequency that inherently has issues due to hardware or design isssues will not solve the problem, and they cannot seem to grasp this. Maybe the problem is that the car audio audience isn’t really an audiophile one. I haven’t been involved enough in that side of things to know if that is the case or not, but at least the company I’m dealing with is most definitely not one filled with audiophiles or even the concept of what good sound is or how to achieve it. Seems strange because their bays are filled with some very expensive cars, maybe those customers just equate expensive with good and that’s enough to make them happy, lol,
speedbump6, I actually agree with nearly all you just said. It is true that the EQ drastically changes the tone, which is determined largely by the freq balance. However, I know what the live, natural tone is, through my 65 years of listening since I was a baby. The problem is that all speakers are veiled compared to live music, and recordings are either dull or doctored up with the choices of mastering engineers that I might not like. As a serious audiophile, I enjoyed my systems from 1978 to 1995 without EQ. In 1995, I began recording my orchestra in a small medical school lecture hall that wasn't designed for concerts. The 40 year old conductor (leader of the orchestra) who was not an audiophile, complained that my recordings were dead with excessive bass. And that was with the most detailed Neumann KM 184 mike, Bryston mike preamp which I personally auditioned from my own violin playing. I compared the Neumann mike to other professional top mikes from B&K, Schoeps, AKG, Shure. The Bryston mike preamp was more detailed than industry top rated Millennia and John Hardy preamps. But the conductor was correct. EQ to the rescue. I now made the best recordings in that hall, which in many ways were superior to big name recording companies' recordings of the same music. I continued use of the EQ in other halls with other ensembles. In my audio system, I introduced the EQ with what I learned from recording, and then asked myself where I had been all those years without EQ.
Mrdecibel is right that I tailor my sound with EQ, which is exactly what we all do with electronics, cables, speakers, which all alter the tonal quality according to the designers. EQ effects can be even greater than speaker variations, and 1000 times greater than variations in cables. Still, EQ can't do everything, which is why I choose other components carefully.
Jay and others continue to misinterpret my recommendations, claiming that it's my way or the highway. Every listener would use the EQ differently, according to his sonic preferences and hearing. Even those with perfect hearing would find uses of EQ that would enhance their own unique enjoyment of their music. Their adjustments would be milder than mine. Even small adjustments have much greater effects than cables.
Professional mastering engineers use EQ of much higher quality than my Rane ME 60. And the Rane is analog, which is inferior to digital EQ. I found happiness with it, and stuck with it.
Skepticism is fine initially, but continued bashing and sarcasm over my recommendations is inappropriate. Some people will remain close minded and enjoy bashing rather than opening their minds and listening for themselves.
Skepticism is fine initially, but continued bashing and sarcasm over my recommendations is inappropriate. Some people will remain close minded and enjoy bashing rather than opening their minds and listening for themselves.
No, I believe you are the one who doesn’t get it. We started with open minds to your opinions. Now that you have repeated the same two or three simple concepts over pages and pages seemingly a thousand times it is simply boring to tears to read one more time. As well as implicitly it displays your disrespect of our comprehension skills.
But you will be repeating them again, you just haven’t any fresh ideas to offer.
Wondering why viber doesn't start s thread about rane eq and lamp chords? I mean, wouldn't that really REALLY let him know how much interest there is on his advice? Why not do it so he can test the waters?
I encourage all here to tune into the livestream tonight. The last impromptu one was quite entertaining. I just happened to be glancing at my phone last time when the notification popped up, dumb luck.
If you are wondering which one is WC on the livestream, he’s the one who looks like a slightly scaled down version of The Rock.
I tried to log in but Google logins and I don’t get along too well it seems, so I just followed and watch the others ask the questions.
WC, one tip, and you did a pretty good job of this last time, but before you answer a question please repeat what the question was, because that way it isn’t as confusing and sometimes the questions flash across 30 seconds before you get to them and there are another 2-3 in between so not always clear if you don’t repeat question, thx.
Well 2020 has been a f’d up year for everyone and here I am defending Viber (imagine that!). To all who get annoyed with his repetitive shtick, i’d give the same advice others gave me when I used to fly off handle at his wild contentions -- just take it with a major grain of salt, or skip over it if it bothers you. And Viber, don’t be so pushy with your opinions - you’ve gotten much better in that regard. For me when he talked about losing his father (something I’ll probably also be dealing with in the next 10 years and will be very hard) it made me see a different side of him and now I try to not get so worked up when he goes off the deep end like saying Rane and Tekton is better than Alexx - damn, 2020 is f’d up!!!
To all who get annoyed with his repetitive shtick, i’d give the same advice others gave me when I used to fly off handle at his wild contentions -- just take it with a major grain of salt, or skip over it if it bothers you.
It’s not happening, my kumbaya days are long since over. And there isn’t a person on the planet who has not or will not lose their father, isn’t relevant.
All- I just wanted to make sure I put it in writing here for the whole public to see. Some people (HERE, won’t mention names) are quite salty because they claim i am stupid and don’t know what I am doing. They claim my motives are to purposely hate on Tekton so that the whole world hates the speaker and that i purposely select expensive gear so i can sell for profit 😂 Let me let you all in on a little secret, there is not a line of people outside my home to buy my Alexx. There also isn’t a line of people waiting to buy the Mephisto or let alone the boulder. I think it’s such a stupid , ignorant comment because if i were to be into moving gear, I’d be bringing the cheap stuff since it’s much easier to sell and there are more buyers for that kind of gear. Also, who in their right FREAKING MIND would expect for a Tekton to best an ALEXX? I’m being serious here too. WHO??????? If you are really thinking that this is possible then you gotta share whatever you’re smoking. Not even the owner of the Tekton speakers that i have here handles himself with so much disgust-CLASS ACT GENTLEMAN who simply wanted me to hear his speakers - (by the way he also owns wilson speakers 🙂) and for me to give him my opinion on them and i decided to share this experience with you all. Lastly, where in the world have i mentioned my thoughts on the Tekton speakers? ?? I haven’t even given my opinion and yet I have people mad at me ?? Interesting...but that is life. Why do people get angry over this silly stuff? Are they married to any of this? SO WHAT if another brand smokes your speakers sitting at home. You really thing your speakers or mine are the best there is? Come on guys...stop the emotional attachment with any of this gear. They ain’t (manufacturers)paying your bills and you aren’t sponsored by them nor do you get a check in the mail. You owe zero loyalty to any of this just like they owe no loyalty to you either. It’s material crap that won’t go into our caskets. If tomorrow I get a speaker here that I like better than my Alexx, I’d grab my weightlifting belt and deadlight the hell out of those crates and send the Alexx the hell out of here. It doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. I won’t lose sleep over it either.
When Jay says will we see a matchup in 2021? I’ll translate that. Count on a matchup, lol. Jay you’ve gone and burst my bubble. I have been waiting ( very patiently) for those checks from the different manufacturers to show up in the mail. I guess no one is going to pay my way through life other than me, how sad. I could get used to a playboy lifestyle if only I had the financial backing to do so.
Honestly, if someone actually liked the Tektons more than the Wilsons ( likely a few did ), what would be the big deal ? There are no rules for personal preferences and tastes, and there are no rules with situations, where a less expensive product could sound better ( to a specific individual ) than a more expensive one. I will just leave it at that. Enjoy !
Wow, keeping it real (as you like to say), must be nice to be able to light your cigars with flaming hundred dollar bills (that's called comedy, not haterism). You are truly in a fine situation. Humility is more desirable (usually) than braggadociousness (my sniglet). Jay, I haven't read any post on this thread that was damning you for playing the Tektons (please direct me to it if I missed it). And if someone does......so what?! That is their problem for being intentionally mean spirited. Jay, c'mon, yo put yourself out there in a big, bold way.....and credit goes to you for being in the game (90 % of success is just showing up), but you really need to thicken the skin (repetitive, I know). You constantly respond to the messenger and not the message. If a poster DIRECTLY attacks you personally, ignore them. And no one needs to defend anyone else ( we all should have our big girl/big boy pants on. Respond only to a well reasoned thought/opinion/position with the same. Support thoughts/opinions/positions with as many facts as feasible, speculate where it is warranted. Now, depending on our individual level of sensitivity, one person's flaming attack is another person's hearty banter (can't help that, well you can by asking for clarity in a follow up). Different snowflakes melt at different temperatures (not really, but why spoil a non PC analogy). I know that I have offered some well thought out opinions/critiques/experiments without any response from you in particular or anyone here in general. I have a style of writing that I know is not either appreciated or cared for by some. Correspond with me on substance not style. If I had a 'tube channel, style critiques would be welcomed as well. Jay, when I offer any opinion/analysis it is to stimulate, not denigrate. "I know what I have given, I know not what you received" comes to mind. I hope you want to be more than an audio "Pied Piper". Also......as I am not a slave to my phone I didn't see that I had a notification of someone referencing me from this thread in time to read before the poster deleted the post. To that poster: PM me if you would like your comments to stay private (whether friendly or not, I can handle it. Actually, I prefer a different opinion...if we are in total agreement/ lockstep, we won't learn a thing, only one of us is needed. Ha!) Ps......Why has no one stated their desire/curousity in how value laden wire sounds compared to the cost of a decked out double wide priced set of cables? Jay, you need to know for those times in your consulting gig when a client asks to know the difference.......you will be able to accurately describe (from experience in your specific system only) what the cost/benefits are. Good luck tonight. Differing opinions and quality critiques are productive, groupthink is not.
Close, I believe the negativity was posted on the YouTube video of the Tektons. I don’t know why people have to be hateful about any product that Jay reviews or his reasons for doing so. Be respectful, others like them,and some may not. Not sure why it bothers some people so much like that. I have no problems with anything someone likes, that’s their choice and it’s their money to spend. I get to hear reviews on products I am intrested, while I may not be intrested in every review, I have found that there are products that maybe I should take a look at that wasn’t on my radar after I read a review and hear feedback. Some people are just bitter and the world revolves around them ( so they think) and anything outside that orbit is hogwash to them. I would think that life would seem very disappointing in general if I was always bitter about everything and anything that other people find intresting. Personally I enjoy hearing what other people’s intrested are, I already know what mine are, so it would be a boring conversation I’d have with myself if that’s all I had to look forward to.
I think it was early this year or late last year that you decided you needed to have a thicker skin to deal with some of the characters on this thread. I think it's time to revisit that thought. There's always going to be a few stinkers to deal with on a popular thread or YouTube channel......it's not you, it's them.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
BTW.....a big THANK YOU to the guy who was kind enough to send you his speakers for all of us to hear. Very very cool.
Someone should eat the nicest spaghetti sauce among the nicest pastas when feeling offended that much. Not with too much wine though, it tends to make you write about food a little. 😁
Holy mother of Lou ferrigno! Jay, is that you, the muscular guy in between two muscular guys? :) I have to go on the "moving heavy audio stuff around" workout regimen. Good job! Only saw the picture, don't usually participate in vid chats.
We are singing from the same hymnal, Speed (not always the same page).
And yes Ron, absolutely a huge thank you to the Tekton donor. Very, Very Gracious! I didn't give an eval, but thought for the price differential it performed just fine. We don't know how much effort went into finding the best location in the room for them, as well as best location for the mic. I am assuming Jay made sure the mic was at tweeter height (beryllium). Even though (as it should) the Wilson's overall superiority(state of the art raw drivers, xover components, cab structure/design) came through, the Ts midrange had a bit of interesting hmmmmm going on. When I switched from the Ts to the Ws there was a shrinking of the large fun effect that was going on. Just ignore the flaming critics of the Ts on the 'tube. Many are just "drive-bys".
To use an analogy...(as I've seen used here often)
It's because Tekton speakers are the Donald Trump of the speaker world.
Those that love them, have almost an irrational self-worth tied to their love of the Tektons.
Those that hate them have an an irrational hatred like they were personally violated by the speakers, even if they weren't screwed on grills, or a bad return etc...
When the truth is Tekton only cares about selling more Tektons.
If you like Tekton's, you can post until you are blue in the face, you won't convince someone who doesn't like them that they should. If you hate Tekton's you won't convince someone who has them they should look elsewhere. They have to come to that conclusion on their own.
Yes, dep whole lot of "audio evangelistas" out there, trying to convert others (unsolicited) to their "audio faith", proclaiming "you are an "audio heathen" if you do not accept the "audio grail" as I have so painfully laid it out for you. How dare you enjoy something different than I have prescribed!
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