2. amps-preamps
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Please tell me.

OK, so I recently got my OLD Harmon Kardon back. It's a PM 655 VXI (20 years old). I currently own a Bryston 4b SST... brand new (a 300/W monster). Why does the HK sound better??? It is SO warm and the bass is sweeter. Reminds me of the Krell KSA 150 I use to own. I can't believe HOW good it sounds on my dyns. WHY????? Is this really as good as it sounds to me????? I'm having a hard time justifying that I spent $2400 on my Bryston when I like the way my OLD HK sounds better. I realize the Bryston is "accurate" and less "colored" but it does not have the sweet warm sound that the HK does... tube like. I'm freaking out on the sound of this unit. Does anyone know anything about it? Please advise.

drum75
drum75
andrewdoan
223 posts
 
Drum75, do yourself a favor by audition some of the switching amps . I listened to an El Cheapo Audiosources amp300 using the pre-out from the low-entry Denon at my work place and it is amazingly good for its price. Class A, A/B, Tubes...no longer the only choices . Some of the D- amps have the open mid-range and liquid HF to die for. If D-class "budget amp" is not your style, try the Halcro MC20, not accurate and high in distortion but one hell of the soundstage with liquid HF and huge vocals. I'd rather have these switching amp over the A, A/B, Tube amps, anytime...the future is here for audio and so is the 1080P in video.
wwshull
157 posts
 
everybody runds their amps before they send them to you, but after they sit dormant for a while they need some break in again. tube amps are put the sound way to far back and you loose detail. if you like that sound that is fine, but the bryston will still need break in again
drum75 OP
7 posts
 
Yeah, I grew up on old school "consumer" level hi fi. I use to have Cerwin Vega AT-15's running off my HK... 20 years ago. So you could say I still like BIG sound with LOTS of low end. I hadn't been exposed to "real" hi fi until I was older so I will always have my roots. I have just come to accept that. I felt like I just didn't know how to apperciate "real" hi fi. I now know that real hi fi is in the eye of the beholder. It's easy to get caught up in all these variables to the point where you loose sight of the main objective... hearing the music the way YOU want to hear it. Not being told the way you're "suppose" to hear it. I'm enjoying my system more than ever now that I've given into this idea. Getting past mental quirks is hard... but once you do you find what it is you really desire.
phd
1,320 posts
 
Drum75, like yourself, when listening to music I don't have audiophiles sitting in my living room evaluating my system each time I fire it up, only on rare occasions. So it really comes down to pleasing yourself. I'm not positive but it seems that musicians, at least the ones I know don't care much about high end gear and are content to hear their music through gear similiar to your older HK. If I could theorize a little bit I believe that musicians are more focused on the music where as most audiophiles are defined by both their gear & the music.
distortion
571 posts
 
What preamp are you using?
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