Me Too !
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
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viber6 I'm sure ricevs is crestfallen that you don't want to do any business with him. Further, if the culmination of your level of musical/natural sound understanding or experience results in the use of zip cord and an equalizer and a lack of warmth or bass, your self-proclaimed expertise is suspect. |
ricevs, The more you post "what a crock" and so forth, I realize I don't want to do any business with you. I guarantee you don't have my level of musical/natural sound understanding or experience, although I have learned about the effects of wires from you. Let your technical expertise speak, which I respect, but don't challenge my expertise in other areas. You don't redeem yourself by professing, "love" and so forth. |
First video of the master tube preamp with solid state monos: https://youtu.be/7_0juodCqY0 24 hours of break-in |
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Jay, It seems like the XLF with neutral, revealing ancillaries is ultimately too irritating for you, so you seem happiest by warming it up with several layers of warm ancillaries. The financial guru Teeka mentioned that a very complex rock piece was superb on your system. Was it with the VAC + ARC ref 6 SE? It would be informative to do a shootout using this piece with the VAC preamp/amp vs mystery preamp/class A amp. VAC might be great for relaxation, but how about for revealing the complexities of certain music? One type of "engagement" is the emotional relaxation type; the other type of "engagement" is being able to follow more of the complexities in the music. The second is for me. BTW, the other day I got one of many financial promotions I regularly get from various services. It was from Teeka! This man is on the move. Rags to riches, then losing big in 1998, and picking himself up again to reach success again. An inspiration. |
Too bad the 30 day trials are from internet retailers that sell only cheap amps. The audiophile willing to spend serious money needs ultra high end dealers willing to loan out expensive products for a reasonable fee. This would dissuade people who are not serious. But for $200, or $500+ for a $50K component, you would take a minimal loss if you didn't buy, much less than the loss and heartache selling on the used market. First, you go to the dealer who plays his well broken in unit, you bring your own reference, and compare. If the A/B is promising, you negotiate, because it is not possible to judge anything unless you live with it at home for at least a week. |
Interesting... YouTube just sent me an email telling me that for this month of October, i have 30,000 users watching me but only 7k are subscribed and that there is a huge opportunity for me to bump it up if i can provide videos such as yesterday's video where i unveiled the new preamp. Such videos are exactly what my audience is interested in the most. Maybe i should go buy a ton of power amps from crutch field and unveile them one at a time and then return them after 30 days lol 😂 |
What do i mean by "sanitize" when it comes to the high frequencies after the Qkore is installed? What i meant was that they are cleansed of all the dirt and artifacts that are found but most of us don’t even realize it’s there because we are used to it. I remember cranking up the volume and at times there was a slight bite but after this Qkore it appears that this has completely left and yet the resolution is still there. Think of the noise as "sand" in your eyes - we begin to blink faster to clear it and keep washing our eyes in order to see better, we don’t really see well until a day or two later. I’m impressed with the Qkore but of course one has to try it to see if the same effect is found in your own system. Some systems are simply "pigs" and no matter how much lipstick you put on a pig, it’s still a pig..you can’t turn it into a Paso Fino... |
Im probably going to bed at 3am... 3 hours of playing with it and I'm in disbelief... MASSIVE SOUNDSTAGE 3D SOUND DEEP MIDBASS The XLF are letting me hear everything that is happening. Why did i take so long to buy this preamp? Having owned many preamps, you should all know that the vac master is EASILY in the tier one group. It's also sooooo different than the REF6SE sonically speaking. Both have great things going for them and i plan to articulate these in the future. More thoughts to come soon on this VAC master. |
Jay, While you wait for the VAC Master preamp to break in, maybe you can address my questions above about the Nordost noise reduction system to close out that subject. About ARC, it's not about price. You found in the past that the ARC ref 6 (or SE version) has a more focused detailed sound than the ref 10. Each unit is unique, so this is just an evaluation of ARC ref 6SE vs VAC Master with VAC amp, and not a generalization about ARC tube vs VAC tube. |
I upgraded to a VAC Master this spring, from the ARC Ref 6 I bought from you a few years ago. It’s significantly more natural sounding than the Ref 6. That said, sometimes the combination of VAC Master with VAC 200iQ monos (and VAC phono) was a little too laid back for my taste. Perhaps the VAC 400 Statement monos might liven things up just right. The Ref 6 was actually a fantastic match to 200iQ monos - very balanced sound. Though perhaps this is an artifact of using ONLY vinyl as my source, with warm MC cartridges - Benz Micro and Koetsu. No digital source in sight here lol. System context matters! But the combination of VAC Master with the "right" amp is by far the best sound I’ve had yet - currently running a pair of Phison A2.120 SE amps, horizontally biwired (they don’t sound as good when bridged to mono). Sublime! I’m happy with my Master purchase, and am keeping it for the long haul. Its internal phono stage option is also amazing, but I already had VAC’s Renaissance SE phono stage, which is basically the same thing. Don't forget to try some sweet Amperex tubes in it! Holland-made 7308, USA-made 7308, and USA 8416 (switch to 12V heater for this) are all fantastic. |
meet my new preamplifier: https://youtu.be/gR_MsRTD1YU as i type this, i have begun to fire it up and whoa... dead cold..omg.. |
@daveyf That post didn't get Jay banned. We still don't know why Jay was banned from WBF. I asked Ron Resnick (WBF's Site Co-Owner, Administrator) in a post on this thread why Jay was banned but Ron chose not to respond to my question. Our issue with keithr is he bad mouthed Jay on WBF then comes on Jays thread posting like all is good. When he was called out on it he gets defensive and tells zprr he doesn't know what he's talking about. |
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@keithr I believe zprr does know what he's talking about. Your statement about Jay in your WBF post did not paint you in the same light as Jay (just a couple of crazy amp guys). Your statement was derogatory towards him. You were complaining about Jay calling Pass Lab amps "mid fi" and the way the hi end has gotten so expensive. Like I said in my previous post to you. 'keithr, don't you think it would be more accurate to say the crazy amp dude placed Pass Labs in his middle tier group based on amps he has personally owned?' You made a mistake and it's time to move on instead of trying to wiggle out of it. And for everyone's pleasure, here it is again. From a post keithr made on WBF "When I hear folks say $15k amplifiers are budget oriented, I feel the hobby has lost its way (see the crazy amp dude's YouTube channel that considers Pass Labs "mid fi"). The average Stereophile reader's system is $19k, but this is WBF after all so I guess it's expected. The reason this hobby has shrunk so much is the focus in the audiophile media and community on high priced bling of the month - I chuckled two years ago when TAS declared the $50k speaker category as "highly competitive." Dagostino is famously designed on form over function. Have you seen the internals of a Constellation compared with the expensive case? Why does carbon fibre and installation lights *on the back(!)* of a Chronosonic impress people?" |
Jay, Can you describe what you mean by "sanitizing" the high freq? You previously described the Nordost grounding system as warmer and more musical. This warmth is what tubes and euphonic SS do, but they do it by subtracting HF content. Rough edges need to be preserved, but there is a difference between HF distortion which is bad, and clean HF which are fully revealed and reveal the NATURAL rough edges. Walking yesterday, I heard the hard clanging sound of workmen hammering pipes across the street 30 feet away. It was still hard 150 feet away. There was no warmth whatsoever, and it was the kind of reaction you get when a great amp makes the music "pop" or "sparkle" on a speaker with clarity. So does the Nordost system preserve or even enhance the pop/sparkle, or does it warm or soften it? So far, you LIKE what the Nordost does, which parallels your love of tube sound. One of your top priorities is long listening sessions without fatigue, but this suggests that the sound is warmer and softened. The last video is soft and pleasant, but I prefer the original XLF sound you presented months ago. I never found it abrasive, but found it exhilarating, especially with the 725 preamp and SS amp. You seem to have a marked sensitivity to any rough edges, and even with the live singer I presented on a video months ago, I was surprised that you found his voice "shouty." Well, that's how such voices sound in real life at close range. You're still entitled to not like it, and you would run away from the singer's 100+ dB raw peaks. The real question is whether the Nordost system is best for people who like softer sound, and whether people who value "warts and all" clarity should stay away. |
@zprr with all due respect you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not being pejorative and as Jay knows, am just as crazy an amp guy as him. In fact, my own amps (Ampzillas) are going his way as discussed previously on this thread that you ignored. And if you have a problem with my wbf thread, stop stalking it and post about it there. |
Didn’t you have a SR grounding system about 8 months ago also? You didn’t seem to think that one was all that great as I recall. Sounds like this one works much better.... You definitely have better speakers now that maybe makes it easier to hear the improvement, I suppose that could be a factor also .... (I don’t think the Alexandria XLF’s are ever leaving, haha) Edit: well of course they'll eventually be sold, but you seem happier now with the system than ever before, and not by a small margin - by a landslide!! |
I guess I really have a hard time listening to computer ( or headphones) speakers and making any kind of judgement when it comes to audio systems. YT videos are a data point to me, but nothing else. I have heard what seems like a good sound on YT videos and then listened live and come away with a totally different impression. |
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@zprr + 1 We may not all always agree with WC's methodologies, decision process or even all of his conclusions. But... we should all agree that WC is doing the best job he can, is working his butt off and is providing a unique perspective. Anyone looking to be derisive towards him in any way should just stay away. WC, thanks for your hard work. We do appreciate it! |
I am happy to announce that last night i had the pleasure of having Teeka Tiwari in my lab. He found me on YouTube and flew in from Puerto Rico to meet me and to have a chance to listen to my system for roughly 5 hours. The interview goes live today at 1130am ET. Hear his thoughts from inside the room. I’m pretty excited to go to Puerto Rico to assemble his first system. This is the beginning of things to come. 2022 should be promising folks! https://youtu.be/2y9JXeORJzg Here is a little about him: https://www.businessandleadership.com/leadership/item/teeka-tiwari-a-financial-pioneer/ |
@maxwave I think you would need to check with Castello about the effect of using two of their grounding units. In addition to what @ron17 said, I use the QKore and a CAD GC1 grounding block. I have found additional benefit of grounding my preamp with both the QKore and CAD, but I am fairly confident Nordost does not recommend using two QKore ground lines, from the same or separate Qkore, to the same component as the effect will not be additive. |