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!
What is the objective of all this gear, thread, and videos.? Can anyone really appreciate or differentiate without being inside your room? A set of cables or ancillary gear can match one component and not the other, so, can true comparisons be made? How much of a difference would all those acoustic treatments made to the other gear/systems presented in the past, for better or worse? How many here are seeking your advice, and are they going to purchase the level of gear you present? Many of us are trying to reach SOTA sound for as little as possible and thus the comparisons of less costly gear to your expensive gear. Present what you hear, some will agree others won't. Again, what is the objective?
Totally fair question. Have you read all 326 pages over the last 5 years? For those that have, we enjoy the ride and the incredible tidbits we have gleened from it. It has not always been at this higher end. Regardless, for many, ha, or at least for myself, has helped inform a few audio decisions. That aside, Jay has done ALL the hard work. I am grateful that he does. And I can point out to my family that I am relatively sane ;)
Not particularly cheap, but throw Esoteric in the mix with DCS and MSB. I have currently an Esoteric K01XD in my system and it's a wonderful machine. Not sure about that, but it seems to me that Mike from Suncoast Audio likes this one better than the K1 that you had also before.
They no longer using the AKM dac-chips, instead a fgpa based discrete dac, so the firmware can be upgraded.
And then there are the K1X and the separates, up from K01XD
I find it interesting how choices change based on blind testing versus unblinded"
This has been my entire argument here. Most people WILL NEVER ACCEPT this though. You have any idea HOW MANY people here were impressed by the XLF prior to me unveiling it? All you gotta do is go back and read (unless their comments have been deleted by the users themselves). As soon as they found what it was, all of the sudden the speaker is not good or has too much of this or too much of that, etc, etc. I am 200% fine with someone not liking something because it is a subjective hobby, but i detest the "changing" of your vote after you find out what product it was. To me, that is straight up BS and childish. This is another reason why the Poll i will be posting is going to be THE ONLY way for me to gauge WHERE the entire world sits with regards to the DCS vs MSB. Comments won’t matter UNLESS the person has voted. I also WILL NOT be rushed to unveil what dac it is. I will post as many videos as i want until i have enough votes on the poll and then i will come and give my opinion on what i heard here and leave the unveiling until THE VERY END. So if you expect me to unveil what each presentation is after 2 days, you won’t be happy.
I will say it again, this is NOT ABOUT people not liking the speakers or the dac or whatever. I DO NOT CARE about that. Instead, this is about being truthful to your word, selection, decision or whatever REGARDLESS of what brand it is. I DO NOT understand WHY there are fan boys of brands here. Do they pay you? are you on their payroll? do you get freebies? do they send you Tylenol in the mail when you have a headache? Do they give a damn about you? HELL NO they DO NOT. How many brands have you seen on my channel? do you see me with them for the long haul? ever wondered WHY? Oh, before i forget, many accuse Wilson of being outstanding at marketing and promoting the brand and these being reasons why they sell so much, etc, etc. Well, then what DOES THAT TELL YOU? Who’s fault is that? It certainly isn’t theirs. They are being wise and smart at doing what most brands do not do. Why do you think I DO NOT BUY no name brands? WHY? BECAUSE YOU ALLL WILL NOT BUY THEM from me when i am done with them!! You all have a HUGE impact on my buying decisions! I would love to bring the vivid audios, audionets, EMM LABS of the world in here, but they are not "the brand names" you all buy so then what do i do with them when i am done? bulk trash? donate them to goodwill?
The objective is to sell / move gear for a big payday. Regardless of the objective or motives, I do appreciate his efforts and time to review gear and for his YouTube videos.
rbach, Yes, I haven't posted a video of my own personal system. I am not set up with the equipment required, and the room doesn't exactly look like House Beautiful. So what? I have stated that my system has similar qualities to the GTA system, which anyone here can listen to.
Jay nailed the fundamental issue of preconceived notions. I applaud his efforts in the ways he has done. Zip cord and Rane EQ? The prejudice against these cheap items is unfortunate as well. Now that Jay is urging people to have an unprejudiced open mind, hopefully he will present zip cord as "mystery" cable, or just a "different tweak" and let blinded people hear the increased clarity for themselves. If they have good ears and are honest, they will also say that the zip is deficient in bass. These are factual and accurate assessments which I won't dispute, but I would hate prejudice and closed minds if they say that zip is totally bad and doesn't belong in an audiophile system because it is dirt cheap and wouldn't be sold by any high end dealer. Same for the $200 Rane. He presented the XLF with Antileon, at first not revealing that it was done with the inferior phone mike, and the superior Orange fuses. My comments on that video were just a description of what I heard. Jay might even decide to make fools of all the prejudiced people by making A/B's of two identical components, but call them component X and Y. The prejudiced people will say that X is better than Y for all their imagined reasons, but I will say that I am unable to hear any differences.
You like "warm" sound, which I describe as "dull/veiled." They are merely different ways of describing the same thing. Maybe I am being too harsh with "dull/veiled" and should say "more rounded and less revealing." The guitar is "sharper" on the XLF than on the Magico. But you would say that the Magico presents the guitar as more natural, which I would agree with if you heard a live guitar in a small room where it really is boomy and rounded. But the way the guitar is recorded and presented in the outdoor concert on the "Man in the room" the XLF presents more snap/brilliance the way it really is. Actually, we don't totally disagree, because I stated that the tweeter of the XLF may exaggerate the HF. Since no speaker is perfect, I have made the assessment that on balance the XLF delivers the truth of the recording more accurately than Magico. Rather than getting rid of everything I have, I use the Rane judiciously to maximize the benefits and minimize the drawbacks. I have experimented with less aggressive settings and have gotten more rounded sound, but the relative murky qualities have interfered with getting all the musical content, so I choose the more aggressive setting which reveals much more music, at a price of slight HF aggression. I tailor all this to the recording. These recording engineers have made their own EQ and processing choices, which I modify according to my needs.
Rather than escalating the duel between us, it would help if you revealed your musical background, training, experience and preferred music so I could understand your perspective better.
The objective is to sell / move gear for a big payday
What are you talking about? You really think "big pay days" are easily done with this level of gear? You really think i expect for someone FROM HERE to show up at my door to fork out money for my XLF? if it makes you feel better, the M6 DID NOT go to a buyer. They were traded in which BY THE WAY, IN CASE YOU NEED TO KNOW, A LOT of the gear you see on my channel gets traded in for other stuff. Dealers DO NOT WANT garbage trades from me either just like you all dont want no name brands from me. I have been verbally told "Jay i will not take these brands on trade in the future anymore because they sit on my floor forever and i can't get rid of them later on " So then what can i do when i am being told this? I have to roll with the punches and essentially make moves that are strategic if the goal is not to be panhandling in a few years under the Florida heat and humidity.
I think Jay is a gear head....absolutely no offense towards Jay. Jay loves fast cars and hi end audio gear. I believe the thrill for him is to experience as much as the industry has to offer and file it for future use to help others achieve their goals in this crazy hobby. I doubt very seriously he is making enough money to warrant all of the work and effort he goes through. We all benefit from his obsession....I know I have, as well as most of my friends. Huge props to you my friend for putting up with all the BS shoveled your way.
@jays_audio_lab Your two posts above say it all. I have not read this ’ongoing’ thread entirely, but it would seem to me that there is a common aspect that a lot of folks in this hobby will not accept. That aspect is that there are a TON of folks who buy this gear with their eyes...and NOT their ears! This is one of the reasons that I believe that great sounding gear can sit on the dealers floor unsold while less able gear, but gear that is eye pleasing, will move! How many folk here are really being honest with themselves and will admit that IF the gear doesn’t meet their idea of ’aesthetics’ ( IOW eye appeal) that they will NOT consider it regardless of its SQ credentials? That is why you see folk who are so disingenuous that they will change their opinion of gear, once they know what it is and have seen the ’look’.Then we have folk who are also ’gear lovers’..and NOT music lovers, that is another issue...and lastly we have folk who are simply trying to impress their friends/family/neighbors...and how do they do that?- through price love...the higher the better! ( NOTHING to do with the gear’s ability!). IMHO, this is all pretty pathetic...BUT it is the current norm. My 2 cents etc.,.....
One big takeaway should be that we are all guilty/culpable of what happens with high end and have to accept that we often times we are not real with ourselves and don’t listen. We DO NOT LISTEN and that is THE TRUTH. We cant be mad at the big ticket items because they are expensive. Guess what? WE, AS A WHOLE, CREATED THESE MONSTERS. NOBODY ELSE! We want the pretty cabinet, the pretty drivers, the pretty shape, etc, etc then manufacturers are listening to us by giving us exactly that and forgetting to do less and less sonic improvements. If in order to make something sound better it means they have to build a bigger, heavier component that looks ugly, they simply will not do it BECAUSE nobody wants it in their home. It is a business at the end of the day and guess what? WE AS CONSUMERS have the power to dictate what sells or what does not. Manufacturers WILL NOT produce something that does not result in profit so essentially if the Ultra high end exists then it is BECAUSE OF US. Ever noticed why there are far more SUVs now than ever before? because we are demanding bigger vehicles and this is why many sedans have been completely discontinued. More and more brands are building big trucks and less small cars.
viber, I think you have a lot to offer to this thread. It's the way you do it that is objectionable. If you were to tone it down some, not be so repetitive and not insist that your way is the only way, I think you would be more respected. Home audio is highly subjective.
Surely Jay, you must have known that bringing in Wilson Audio and Magico speakers back to back would get ugly. It's been like this since the beginning of time. I'll even guess it's something you and Mike from Suncoast have discussed earlier.
Based purely on what I've read here and other forums, I think you'll find more Magico fanboys hating on Wilson than the other way around. And your right, this has nothing to do with sound, it's all about brand names at this point.
Yes I am, like rh67, I’m into my 4th decade of Wilson Audio as well.
There are several Wilson Audio owners who post to this thread, and including myself have never bashed, or had a negative thing to say about Magico.
I was actually glad Jay brought Magico in so I could hear them (I’ve only heard them at audio shows). For me, it wasn’t about one being better than the other, it was just the chance to hear something different because of the number of Wilson speakers he already brought in. In all honesty, I was getting bored with the Wilson speakers - too much, too soon.
My comment was more about the real haters based on manufactures or brands (nothing to do with sound), not someone who likes both but prefers one over the other.
Yes, about Viber. Wait until/if Jay brings in GTA Audio speakers. Then we’ll get to hear how GTA bests Wilson, and Magico. Why are you taking any of his posts seriously? It’s all based on other peoples comments (and his misinterpretation of those comments - mostly) and YT - he’s never heard any of these speakers in person.
While I get the reasons for buying audio gear that are not based on sound quality alone, my highest want, I also understand that many people have many different purchase metrics. But the thing we have in common is we speak with our wallet. There's nothing wrong, or for that matter, right, with that. It is what it is. People should not be judged on that. The definition of an audiophile is not set in stone, there's no real way to judge absolute performance, except with your purchase.
BTW, I purchased a new system a couple years ago and very much wanted to find either an integrated or separates that were better with the TAD E1s, but I could not find that and so I bought the matching Evolution series amp/pre. In my opinion, they are not the least bit sexy. But they really did sound the best with the E1s, go figure. So, am I right, or am I wrong - neither, I chose what worked best for me. And I'd bet some of you would agree while others wouldn't. There's no reason to become a zealot over what we each may think is the only way to do audio. Rather let each have their own choice. Agreeing to disagree, sitting down to have a meal or drink together is so much more fun than bickering about what is "right".
I think you are right. At times Viber6 has contributed to the thread in a meaningful way. But as you note, toning it down and refraining from going off into the weeds would help Viber tremendously. Home audio is a very subjective hobby. We should agree that what we like is the "best", but that it is the "best" for us, not anyone else.
Respect demanded will never be given. Indeed, it must be earned.
I've always had a negative view of Magico. I've heard them probably five plus times, don't remember what models (A3 twice, and some smaller and larger models), I just remember they never sounded good. I figured it was probably setup or associated gear, but I had no way to know. Hearing them in Jays room I found I quite liked them. Could I tell if I wanted to purchase them based on one of Jays videos, no. But, I did find it would be cool to look into them further some day if the opportunity presents itself. Again, they sounded quite good in Jays room - that is a testament to Jay and him trying to get the best out of them he could. Poster @ron17 gives Jay props for his hard work and putting up with the BS, and I'd agree with him.
All good points. I try to avoid being personal, so most of what I say is my attempt to describe objectively what I hear and relate it to some theoretical concepts that explain why.
I have heard the version of the GTA that I have posted several times, most recently on page 323 comparing it to the XLF. I have heard the GTA in person at Steve's house a few times, and correlated those experiences with the same videos at home. I have never heard the XLF in person, but I have a good idea from Jay's excellent videos. Listening carefully to that song on GTA and XLF, I actually hear more detail from the XLF tweeter above 5 kHz. But much of the midrange of the GTA is slightly less colored and more transparent than the XLF. I speculate that the midrange planar magnetic driver + ribbon tweeter of the GTA is more coherent and pure than the midrange driver + tweeter of the XLF, so this explains why I actually agree with some people who have found the XLF highs somewhat unnatural. I could be wrong about the real differences between the two speakers, since the GTA was driven by warmish Pass electronics and tube Lampi dac. As is, the XLF is the only speaker Jay has owned that I feel seriously competes with the GTA for what they both do very well--clarity, transparency. I can't wait to hear the completely reworked GTA. I feel that Jay will never find a better dynamic speaker according to the criteria of clarity/transparency, and the new GTA may represent improvements at a much lower price than any dynamic speaker contenders.
At first glance, the GTA will have poor resale value compared with several prestigious brands, but since the price is so much lower, there is less absolute risk. However, once people realize that to duplicate what the GTA does so well, and that it will take spending 5-20 times its price to get a SOTA dynamic brand name speaker, then the GTA may develop more popularity and offer good resale value.
I like routing for the underdog. Remember that in their early days, McIntosh, ARC, Krell, Wilson were underdogs until they proved themselves.
Jay, I really would like to know your opinion about High Fidelity cables. I’ve compared an HFC XLR and Gryphon VIP, which I put between my preamp and Mephisto - no contest, the HFC XLR is more resolving and has somewhat less grain. But the biggest difference is the soundstage, it is much much bigger and have a certain 3D effect, which is quite unusual. It is as if musicians are bigger and closer to you. This effect bothers me a little, what if it becomes tiresome in the long-term? I know, you have not auditioned HFC cables in your system, but maybe, you’ve heard something from Mike or other experienced audiophiles. What is your view about this brand: snake oil or the real thing? Thanks.
Because that’s what he does. It’s never been in WC’s room and probably never will be unless it is donated to him. I suspect WC’s not spending the $$ on something that will have no resale value when he wants to get rid of it a month later.
But yet it continues to get brought up ad nauseum by the same person. Just ignore it like everyone else does
@abedirov i have never heard of those cables. I would definitely be interested in hearing them though. Based on your description, they might seem similar to Synergistic Research - big sound, 3d effect that wraps around you.
Based on your description, they might seem similar to Synergistic Research - big sound, 3d effect that wraps around you.
This is similar to what I hear. I do not know what Synergistic Research do to achieve such an effect, High Fidelity use magnets, which they claim somehow direct electrons to the center of the conductor. It does not sound very scientific to me, but all I care is the end result. The big question: is it OK for a cable to have such a dramatic effect on the sound reproduction?
I mean, look - there are always those who say that adding anything to the sound is detrimental. It all depends on what kind of listener YOU ARE. I personally like the "voodoo" effect that synergistic research achieves, but some people might hate it. On the other hand, if i were to use more ruthless cables then we can run into the typical issues of having too much of a "revealing" presentation. Ultimately, you have to decide what you prefer, but this is not easily done. Best practice would be to own 2 sets of cables at the same time and switch them out and decide what does it for you. Hope this helps
Thanks, owning both in the long run is certainly the best option. I think, I’ll get one of their XLRs and pass on the speaker cables. Adding 2 High Fidelity cables in my system is probably too much. Will do further testing with my new preamp (CH L1) when it arrives. BTW, I preferred CH L1 in my room to Pandora. Both were very good, Pandora had more slam and a bit wider soundstage, CH was better for longer listening sessions.
Jay what MSB Dac are you using, Premier, Reference, or Select II? What clock modules and other modules is it built to? There are several different Femto clocks available depending on what level MSB DAC you purchase.
Jay, I believe we talked about CH Precision amps before. I am interested in their A1.5 stereo amp. You told me the resale on that brand was not so good....are you rethinking that?
ok Jay and everyone lese. I have some music recommendations. These are KILLER GREAT songs that will give your speakers a workout. besides they are FREAKIN AWESOME ! Mostly indie
Down & Out by Boozoo Bayou Kyiv by Tom Misch Lift Off by Tom Misch Flow By Crooked Colors Days Without You (Crussen Remix) by Satori Charlottes Thong by Conan Mockasin Drift by Great Gable Farewell Transmission by Kevin Morby Honey, There's no time by Fenge Suave
Crank it up . I’ll bet you will be amazed by a lot of this
Jay- to answer your question above, and as you of course know, there is no speaker >100k with good resale. There are a lot more options and market liquidity in the 30k-50k arena. so if you’re worried about a boat anchor, seems to me you’re playing in the wrong space. I’ll be curious how easy bright orange XLFs are to move from. I wonder if your clicks would go up at a lower luxury price point too.
I can tell you the beautiful M6 wasn't exactly selling like pancakes at IHOP either. Doesn't matter the brand, the color, the shape or anything else. Most people who buy these big boy toys aren't found around the corner. It's huge money even at a nice discount. I don't think clicks would go up if i go with more affordable speakers. Remember, by now most people are used to seeing me with these crazy toys and not so much with the more affordable ones.
Here is a couple that are not in my list ,but should be Takuya Karoda Everybody Loves the Sunshine https://youtu.be/lZ8zu1aRYA8 The Parcels- The Comedown https://youtu.be/v0GzIguNPUA Fenge Suave https://youtu.be/R90kVBcVgE8Amazing(Fenge Suave) Actually that whole live video of the Parcels in a studio in Germany is very good .
Oh by the way you all were talking about speaker cables. I just received a couple days ago some speaker cables from Von Gaylord Audio.. They are Return Of The Legend 7000s Speaker Cables. These are their Reference Cables. I'm not sure if anyone has heard anything from Von Gaylord Audio but they are the best speaker cables that I have owned. Highly recommended
So i finished shooting the msb dac yesterday and brought the DCS back from the dead after like 2 months i think since i last heard it? Interesting contrast between both dacs. I think BOTH do things so differently and uniquely. Both have strengths and weaknesses. i am hoping the first video of this shootout will go live tomorrow morning. As i mentioned, please vote on the poll. It takes you longer to type a comment than to vote. Dont be lazy. Let’s find out for ourselves how the entire world or how we all feel globally speaking about both dacs without knowing what is playing. This is one of those shootouts that we dont ever get to see ANYWHERE so let’s have some fun guys. Let’s see WHERE each one of us sits with regards to both presentations. Let's have healthy discussions about them and understand what each dac brings to the table. I want this shootout to be FUN and hopefully something that can also be helpful for your future buying decisions. I am doing all the legwork here so all i ask of you is to keep the comments, feedback, etc about what you are hearing. Also, make sure you remember that when the first video rolls out tomorrow, you will get a feeling of how things sound with a certain type of music. You might change the way you feel when the second video rolls out because the second video will probably have female vocals only so remember to keep your mind open because the first video might not be everything you need to hear to form your decision. You should listen to all 3 of them before you know exactly which presentation is checking all your boxes.
I think the release/conditions for the shootout sound good. But there’s one thing you haven’t clarified, so I’m going to make a suggestion.
Definitely keep the identities hidden (you were already gonna do that), but keep the order the same across all 3 videos. In the past you have swapped things across videos and that’s needlessly confusing. What I’m saying is, whichever dac is “demo 1” in the first video, keep it (at least) labeled demo 1 in all videos. As long as we don’t know which is which, that’s all that matters.
If you start switching them around, not only will people get frustrated bc they won’t be able to compare across videos, but the votes will probably not be accurate because of confusion.
If you are worried about always showing the same dac first, then instead of 1 and 2, pick generic labels like Demo A, Demo B and okay to play B first on one video just don’t be making dcs A (or 1) in one video and B in the next. Or pick colors: demo purple and demo green (or whatever). Just keep same dac with same label so we can use all 3 vids in analysis without wondering if same
Jay, Pure business is boring. Don't buy speakers or anything else you aren't passionate about, just for the sake of clicks and YT revenue. There are lots of YT videos of mediocre items, but almost none of the quality products you own.
For me, if I have a nice patient with an interesting medical problem, I'll take more time even if they have lousy insurance. I don't think of it as work, but as helping a friend. It makes me happier as the most important benefit to me.
I second kren0006 on keeping Demo 1 the same dac and Demo 2 the other dac for all the videos. Perhaps I'll be convinced that Demo 1 is my choice after the 1st video. Suppose on the 2nd video, I choose Demo 2, etc. Should we vote after all the 3-5 videos are presented, or after each video?
*Dac #1 & # 2 are the same dacs playing through the videos so for example if dac # 1 is dcs then dac #1 will always be dcs throughout all 3 videos.
How should you vote? Easy as this: (i will pretend that these were my personal favorites:)
Video 1 I chose demonstration 1
Video 2 I chose demonstration 2
Video 3 I chose demonstration 1
i essentially have selected one dac as my favorite (demonstration 1). This means that my final vote should be demonstration 1 because i preferred it on 2 out of 3 videos. does this make sense?
What a big build up!!!!........I am so in suspense!!!
If I had a ton of money and wanted to buy a DAC I would want to hear an A/B with the better sounding Vivaldi gear versus the MSB Reference (way closer in pricing).....and I would, for sure, want to know what the Select brings to the table. By the way, some like other DACs better than either of these two, including Jonathan Valin who likes the Soulution 760 better than the Select. Why Jay down graded to the Rossini, I never could figure out. All of this could have been done 2 months ago. He could have just told us all the differences he hears and present one video showing one A/B that would demonstrate the differences. Instead, we have months of build up and we were being held hostage to how many people subscribe and now we have to listen over and over to A/Bs and vote!?!
There is a new DAC from Musetec (formerly LKS) ......the 005. This $3300 (including shipping to your door) DAC has everyone who has heard it dancing in joy. How does this very tweaky Chinese DAC stand up to the big boys? Their last version, the $1600 LKS 004 with my $400 mod was keeping up with $10K DACs......this new Musetec 005 is way better in every way than my modded 004. What are you getting going from $3300 to $40K- $100K+. Wouldn’t you all want to know? If you are stuck on fancy name brands.....then no. If you are interested in great sound and value....then yes.
What is this thread about?...... A quest for the best sound possible? Entertainment? One man’s journey through time playing with stereo gear?. Education and knowledge? Just passing time? Being right? Caring and loving? Wanting everyone to be happy? We create our own reality.....moment by moment. What we contribute to others determines our happiness.
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