My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!

All-

I have requested for the moderators to close this thread until further notice. I simply do not see any reason for me to keep doing what I am doing on here when there is criticism, negativity and simply "seek and destroy" missions targeted at me.

I need to focus on what is of the UTMOST IMPORTANCE in my life right now:

1. My family
2. My job
3. My Youtube Channel
4. Growing my brand

I want to thank those of you who have been in my corner (you know who you are) for all the support throughout the past 5 years. I also want to let everyone know that I made this decision for my own sanity and health and to focus on what moves the needles in my life the most at this very moment.

I do not know when I will have this thread opened again, but I sincerely doubt it will be this year since I will be entirely too busy with the holidays, my youtube content, my website and other commitments that will carry me through the end of 2022.

If you want to reach out to me, you know where and how to find me. 

Thanks again and happy holidays!

Jay

Too bad there are a couple of posters that are hell-bent to disrupt and antagonize Jay on this thread. It’s sad for us who have been loyal followers and truly appreciate the tireless work he does to have to see it go down this way. I don’t understand why the moderators let this happen. To me it is clear who is attacking who.  BTW I am not referring to viber6

Jay, you said several times during promotion of your website, that you are interested in educating.  If you choose to do more educating to your paying members, that is respectable and your worthy prerogative.  Every business owner expects to deliver more value to customers that pay more.  So I wonder if you have done the disciplined video demonstrations along the lines of what I and a few others suggested, for your paying members.  If so, then I apologize for my error.  That enhances the value of what you offer to the paying members.  If you just offer your opinions and preferences without objective video evidence, that is less value for your members.  Take this suggestion as a way to offer more value to them, and you will increase your numbers that way.

Well the moderators will handle your repeated posts after they delete them. You did me a favor. Much appreciated 

Too many variables.  No reference point.  We still don't know from listening to your videos how the B 3050 compares to the 3060.  It is impossible to make an informed judgment about the new cables.  Different songs.  In order for us to tell anything, you would present the same song on the B 3050 and 3060 (not able to be done if you have already sold the 3060) with the Transparent loom, and then with the new cables.  If you have sold the 3060, present the 3050 and the rest of the system with Transparent, then with the new cables on the same 1-2 songs.

Jay - You may not like the way the message was presented, but that doesn't mean it is wrong.   You have now issued 3 videos on the "New" cables without an apples to apples comparison to the Transparent. 

If one is asking how the cables sound in the videos, that is one thing (Sounds good to me).  But a comparison with another brand is problematic. 

If you have already made an apples to apples (same songs/equipment/amps) comparison of the mystery cables with the Transparent on your website, sorry for addressing it here.

In conclusion, labeling a contributor of $16 and $25 each month as Low-Fi and Mid-Fi appears to be condescending, and is, well, Low.

viber6

What you just said is only your opinion.  What counts are shootouts that people can hear for themselves ... Some semblance of disciplined scientific evaluations are the only valid method of drawing conclusions, even to yourself in your private listening.  What you do is present your opinions only ...

I think that's all you're going to get from Jay here. He's a showman. You'll need to ante up the $600/year subscription to get the whole "show" and "raw" videos.

What you just said is only your opinion.  What counts are shootouts that people can hear for themselves.  That would be worthwhile content, but you haven't presented that even to your "ultra hifi" members.  You presented the new cables in your present system, asked for our opinions on this thread, but you have not refuted my statements that no conclusions can be drawn about the sonic character of the new cables.

Some semblance of disciplined scientific evaluations are the only valid method of drawing conclusions, even to yourself in your private listening.  What you do is present your opinions only.  That is true about the content for members as well as readers of this thread.  In the field of medicine, this is known as anecdotes, which cannot be accepted as truths until controlled studies are done.  Anecdotes have some value to those who trust the opinions of the claimant.  But as Ronald Reagan said, trust but verify.

The content you are requesting is already part of the members only section of my website. Here’s some of the content there:

1. Boulder 3050 & 3060: how do they compare ? Which one to buy ?
2. Aurender n30 & Taiko extreme music server: how do they compare? What are their pain points ? Which one is better ?
3. Audience front row cables: are they any good?
4. Alon wolf goes over his ultimate horn speakers and the reason why they quit making them
5. The worst components I have owned
6. DAC shootout (coming soon )
7. Boulder 866 integrated review. Is it any good? (Coming soon)
8. Which amplifier under 30k would i buy if i were building a system? Is it the m10x? (The answer will surprise you)

Many more videos are also on there...

The YouTube channel will continue to get free content but my members will get exclusive content that will never be on YouTube with my unleashed opinion plus advanced access to videos that won’t make it on YouTube for months.

@viber6

Respectfully, please don’t come back preaching and telling me how or which content i should share where or what is fair or unfair for my audiences. I have been flying this airplane solo for over 5 years and don’t plan to add a copilot - I am good.

Too many variables.  No reference point.  We still don't know from listening to your videos how the B 3050 compares to the 3060.  It is impossible to make an informed judgment about the new cables.  Different songs.  In order for us to tell anything, you would present the same song on the B 3050 and 3060 (not able to be done if you have already sold the 3060) with the Transparent loom, and then with the new cables.  If you have sold the 3060, present the 3050 and the rest of the system with Transparent, then with the new cables on the same 1-2 songs.

Yes - with those speakers

I'm glad to be able to help you out with your amp purchase. 

Jay, I bought the Luxman M10X based upon the results of your shootout.  I had the D’Agostino Progression stereo (old Model).  My speakers are Sonus Il Cremonese.  What do you think the benefits of going to the mono block Luxman be vs Stereo?  Is it worth it?

Agree with chayro.  The Aida looks like a monster which may be too large for your room.  Reading Mike Fremer's S-phile review of the original Aida, he found it diffuse sounding vs his Alexx.  Don't pick your speaker contenders based on high price.  With your modestly sized room, the largest, most expensive speakers are least likely to work out.

In the real musical world of pianos, the most expensive 9 foot grand piano is guaranteed to sound worse in most rooms than a cheap upright piano.  That 9 foot piano is designed for a large concert hall only.

IMO, you should hold off on changing anything until you get your turntable and see what’s what within a known reference. Also, with speakers, I’ve had many really good speakers in my room and, for reasons I don’t know, some clicked amazingly with the room and some didn’t. Like your buddy in PR with the Wilsons.  I could tell from your reaction that they were a different animal from the same speakers in your room. Those S7s just click with your room and I think you heard it from the minute you installed them. I wouldn’t be shocked if the more expensive Magicos didn’t sound better. But you do have a “lab” so you have to experiment.  Sometimes we forget that you are not building a system for yourself like everyone else. You are experimenting with different gear for other reasons. Good luck with the TT.  

Certainly your top Boulder electronics + Stromtank will make any of these 3 speaker contenders sound better than when you last heard them.  The Magico M6 is my prediction for the most disappointment.  The M6 has a laid back sound compared to the S7 which won't change even if your electronics are now tops.  The Wilson Alexx V would be my recommendation to replace the S7.  I liked the Alexx and the XLF for their brilliant HF, and perhaps the Alexx V would be even better.  The Alexx V is not so expensive, another plus.  The Sonus Faber Aida 2 is a new beast which you haven't had before, and might be interesting, but it is the most expensive.  

I am most looking forward to the turntable/digital comparison, on the S7 which we are familiar with.  I doubt any of your new contenders will match the S7 for clarity.

@jays_audio_lab About no motivation to buy anything else... thats what you say now. But there is still options on the horizon.. Apex, Relentless etc.

Anyway grab an m9 or xvx and lets get this party started.

so true rbach. well said

i am thankful as well for his/her constructive, thoughtful, positive comments

"Well I am not going away and I will continue to participate in an active, thoughtful way and sorry to tell you but I will not fix your electrical problems you'll have to do that your self "fella."

We are so fortunate to have such a thoughtful poster on this thread.  Your posts are so uplifting and positive.  Thank you for sharing with us.

jay's_audio_lab:"o clue what you are referring to by saying i deleted a post"

I never said you deleted a post no one here can do that except the moderators or the poster himself. What you do is try to silence, banish, and attack all those who dare question your might, invincible, powerful authority! Here's another example

"Please take that privately. No need to turn this into something else. Maybe go over to the thread where he is posting about me. "

Well I am not going away and I will continue to participate in an active, thoughtful way and sorry to tell you but I will not fix your electrical problems you'll have to do that your self "fella."

Good luck promoting your $50 USD monthly "raw" video offer I'm sure they are quite exciting!

@jays_audio_lab 

Hello. Do you ever talk about what cabling you are using with your various setups ? Thanks. 

@viber6

Please take that privately. No need to turn this into something else. Maybe go over to the thread where he is posting about me. 

Think shite is going to Jays head.

See you later crabass 

roxy54,

You said, "A number of times you have incorrectly used the word objective in the place ofsubjective. Any opinions of what sounds better or worse by their nature must be subjective."

I would appreciate it if you can give examples or quotes of what I said.  This is an important topic for discussion which I'd like to pursue if you can do that.  Thanks.

Sounds good 

jays_audio_lab
 

No worries at all Jay. I wasn’t interested in selling them, I was asking if you heard them or wanted to listen to them at the time you were coming to California this past year when you said you were going to visit the Magico facilities. I have 3 systems at the house and am cluttered as well. I’ve been moving quite a bit of gear as well and holding on the the legendary old school 2 channel Krell and my Boulder system. I’m experimenting with my 6 pair stacking JL Audio Fathom 110 Subwoofers to compare with the 6 stack REL G series. The Fathom and the Gotham 12” & 13” as well as the REL 25, 32, & 33 is an overkill for my system using Wilson speakers. I don’t need the subwoofers but I wanted to setup and experiment to see. Will keep you posted. 
 

Thanks & Best

@decathlon1991 

My apologies for not getting back to you before. I receive a lot of emails and i must have not seen yours or it went into my junk inbox. 

That said, I appreciate your offer and I don't doubt your amps are good and perform exactly as you describe. I unfortunately can not embark on taking gear in here that does not fit the direction in which my channel is going. Maybe in the future we can revisit the idea, but right now I am FLOODED with gear that i need to sell so i can make space for what is coming on an 18-wheeler to me. I can barely walk through my room door at this time and my storage unit is full of boxes too. 

Once again, i thank you. 

jays_audio_lab
 

Hello,

I asked you a question on 7/14/2022 on your YouTube channel and even sent you an email but you never respond. This is what I asked you.

”Hey Jay.

I have a fully restored Monoblock amplifiers I believe can compete with the Mephisto Solos especially when it comes to tight solid bass. Let me know if you want to check out the Legendary Fixed (not bias) Pure Class A amplifier that doubles down on its power all the way to a 1/2 ohms, 3200 watts of Fixed Pure Class A. Krell KRS200 Monoblock 200 watts in 8 ohms Fixed Pure Class A at. Here are some photos. Check it out. These amplifiers were built in 1988, very rare.“

At the time I can understand if you are bias or that you don’t like to compare old amplifiers of that caliper because you only like new amplifiers and most can’t even get there hands on these rare beauties but after reading what you posted on some of the amplifiers here, clearly that’s not the case. Now please don’t take this personal or an attack on you because this is not the case. I have watched your channel a few times, and I wanted to get feedback from you because in some ways, you reminded me of what I use to do (not on YouTube) in comparing amplifiers, speakers, CD Players, etc. I always say the best way to maintain peoples interest is to acknowledge them with a response. For one reason or another, my comments were no importance to you. I have since not watch any of your videos since then. Now, if these comments offend you the you definitely missed the point. People and companies rise and fall, don’t be the later of the two. Being in the spotlight is like being a professional athlete. I understand this Scenario all to well.  Praise’s and negative comments come with the territory. One must except and learn from both to continue success. 
 

Best

@clearthink

no clue what you are referring to by saying i deleted a post. I think you forget that people can delete their own posts and there is no way of knowing... It doesn’t say "post deleted by user "...

As far as my power, you assume too much... But let’s just say if you think i have electrical issues then feel free to fly into town and I’ll pick you up at the airport and let you diagnose my problem and fix it for me and I’ll compensate you? You seem to be so sure of what you are saying so it should be no issue for you to figure out the "mess" i have in here. If you can’t do that then there is no point in going on and on and on. My invite is SERIOUSLY REAL and if you are real then come on in and i will even say it in front of the camera that my power was bad and that you fixed it ? Deal ?

@roxy54 

it's clear to me you doubt my knowledge which is ABSOLUTELY FINE with me. You made this remark on a separate thread so then WHY ARE YOU HERE listening to me? Why are you wasting your time ? It's like i am BAFFLED by this ... 

​​​I'm a waste of time and paying for my advice is questionable so WHY BE HERE? Because it's a free forum and you can post wherever you want ? (Lame answer )

I wasn't going to answer this because i ALWAYS look like the asshole.... But whatever..

​​​​​

@clearthink +1

@viber6 

A number of times you have incorrectly used the word objective in the place of subjective. Any opinions of what sounds better or worse by their nature must be subjective.

smodtactical,

Too bad your posts got deleted.  I remember reading that you said Nelson Pass doesn't like "biased" circuits.  Maybe you meant "high bias" but class A is high bias, so I don't know.  So why does he make true class A amps that run hot?

fastfreight, 

I have no experience with streaming.  I don't have wifi and internet for audio, since I have electrosensitivity, which affects a small % of people with ill health effects.  I only have CD for digital, so I can't answer your question, sorry.

Can your answer my question about what are the sonic qualities you heard from the DAVE vs Tambaqui?  My tastes are neutrality/detail/clarity, which might be somewhat different than yours, but I would still appreciate your objective findings.  Thanks.

I didn’t read your whole post because it is way too long and I lost interest. I explained why WC will likely not test Gryphon Essence versus Boulder, and immediately thereafter WC confirmed that what I said is correct (that the comparison you wish for will not happen). So all of the wishing is probably meaningless, which is what I assume the rest of your post was about.

It looks like Jay has locked up all discussion here. A polite, friendly, thoughtful poster mentioned a problem with how Jay has his components stacked between speakers and the comment is deleted it is the same as when we pointed out some of the problems Jay has with his electrical system that led him to promote expensive battery solutions to AC power and things got nasty fast.

I guess if you pay $50 USD monthly to Jay for audio advise you don't want any challenges and that is very strange why have a forum if others are not allowed to contribute?

kren0006,

I understand your reasoning--

"1. Gryphon Essence has already lost head to head versus Luxman M10x per WC. Ie, that was WC’s assessment, plus the overwhelming consensus of those who voted - 3 to 1. Therefore, why would he go back to a losing (in shootout, per him) amp?"

In terms of popularity contests, you are right.  As for me, I am not a groupie, but I seek some objective truth about what components sound like in the context of a whole system.  I believe that most readers who are here or on other threads want some objective assessment of any component.  To say that listener A prefers X and listener B prefers Y is nearly meaningless to listener C who wants some objective assessment.  For the sake of simplified communication, we often have binary criteria such as neutral vs warm, but the reality is that there are subtle differences and nuances.  In a simplified discussion, Jay and I might say that the neutral camp includes Simaudio, G Essence, Boulder 1161 at that price level, and the warm camp includes Luxman, Constellation.  But go deeper.  From my listening to the video, Luxman is warmer than Constellation.  So Constellation could be classified in the neutral camp, compared to Luxman.  But we don't know whether G Essence is more neutral than Constellation, because they weren't directly compared in the same video or with the same music.  From Jay's and Carlos' comments, we know that the G Essence is more neutral than Luxman.  I speculate that Boulder 1161 vs G Essence would be a challenging fight for the award of detail/neutrality at a similar price.  Even though the prevailing taste on this thread is for warmth, and I do see your point that many listeners who seek warmth wouldn't be interested in this comparison, there are still lots of people who seek neutrality/detail, and they would be interested.

Jay, I respect your efforts and the difficulty of obtaining any product at an attractive price.  On the other hand, it seems like Carlos is an asset to you.  He values some degree of neutrality/detail, and might be interested in whether Boulder 1161 gives him more of what he wants than G Essence.  Mike of Suncoast might be willing to let you borrow his 1161 or even 1160, so you could take it to Carlos' place.  You have given Mike lots of business yourself, and given him more public recognition as a high quality dealer.   Of course, listening at Carlos' place is not as revealing as your system, but when you make good recordings they are useful for comparison purposes.

@jays_audio_lab it is telling that almost all manufacturers don't want to send you gear for evaluation, that you have to buy the gear is proof to me that the magicos and boulders of the world are so confident of their brands and their clients that they don't need to do anything more, perhaps gryphon and pilium as well, and the rest are simply avoiding comparison because they know they'll come up short.

Folks -

The essence may never comeback here. I don’t own it and i don’t plan on owning it again unless someone trades it into me for something i am selling.

With regards to the 3050s being in the middle of my floor, yes they need to be moved back but remember, this is a production to move them. I am a one man show and these amps require your local movers to be removed. I certainly have to accommodate them better but it takes planning - don’t forget that.

@smodtactical

Did you say "at least go back to M6? LoL 😂

That’s a $172k speaker.... You are acting like it’s pocket change or a "whatever " speaker. The M6 has open doors in here but it isn’t knocking at my door so we shall see.

One thing to note is that yes, my electronics outgrew my speakers but to be sincere i don’t want to spend 6 figures on speakers. It is FREAKING HARD to sell expensive speakers and the logistics are insane. If i bring another speaker which will probably happen next year, it won’t be some weird brand or small no name European company.

FACT: it is HARD TO SELL OR GET RID OF expensive speakers and If they are European then it is EVEN HARDER. Most American audiophiles DO NOT want European speakers and if these are expensive speakers then they better be Magico or Wilson. NO OTHER SPEAKER BRANDS sell better on the used market thank those two. YOU CAN TRUST ME.

If i buy a more expensive speaker, more than likely it will be another magico or Wilson. Rockport has been on my mind but they keep escaping me.

If you end up seeing another Wilson or Magico, you now know WHY.

If i get stuck with a speaker nobody wants, Jay won’t be happy and this means I’ll be kicking the hell out of this speaker behind closed doors 😂

I have to be strategic with expensive purchases. The brand name MATTERS because it is one selling point when you want to get rid of it.

Here’s something i didn’t disclose before: l almost bought vivid audio g1 spirit a few weeks ago to replace my s7 and someone beat me to it. Now that i look back, I’m kinda happy i didn’t buy them. I think that is a phenomenal speaker and could have been insane with my 3050s. I had also considered Gamut Zodiacs months ago but again, i need to write my will and find a casket to be buried with it.

Remember, i have to have an exit plan because nothing is here forever and buying something that i know will challenge me to move on from it, is very counterproductive to my efforts and my channel.

Ps: i am ok being buried with the 3050, 3060, 3010 😁 They pretty much trash everything you’ve seen on my channel and they make me look at the rest of the amps i have in my room as if they were puppies or toys... The 3000 series from Boulder makes me have zero motivation to buy anything else.

My mind is like " dude do we have to buy another amp ? We know how that movie will end..."

There's one thing that sucks about the 3050... That is that they make you unrelatable because you won't know of anyone else who owns them. You don't have anyone else to share feedback with. You are playing alone and you have to be ok with that.