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Power Amplifier - Maximum Resolution & Detail!

I am assuming some of you have experienced the following.... All else being the same in the chain, you replaced a power amplifier and started hearing more resolution and detail, perhaps a lil more in a track that you have heard a thousand times.

Ime, the higher you go up in price doesn't necessarily guarantee that you could experience the above mentioned. It seems to come down to the nitty gritty of the circuits under consideration, i.e., the black art of power delivery and analog circuit design.

What is a power amp you may have experimented with that provided the maximum detail and resolution at any price? (Not just perceived changes in tonal balance, etc).

I am hoping to shortlist a power amp based on some suggestions here for a future purchase.

 

P.S. If you are an ASR type of guy who thinks all power amps sound the same, this may not the right thread for you, I suppose...

deep_333
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hk_fan
460 posts
 

CH Precision M1.1 did exactly this for my system. I was not expecting such a dramatic improvement with just an amplifier change, but it was there.

voltaicq
7 posts
 

If maximum resolution and the best circuit design is what you are after, perhaps consider a power amplifier from Gilbert Yeung. No one makes a better power supply and every one is hand built to order, so even if you have any special requests, they can be accommodated. A base set of 150w into 8 ohm monoblocs (300 into 4) would be $14k. 

littleman
37 posts
 

Bel Canto Class D range punches way above their price point....a nice used one is a great way to start.

drbay
42 posts
 

Simaudio is great, it always impresses me at Axpona. They give incredible detail, tonality, and midrange with Wilson Sasha. I have Sasha DAW and Hegel 590, very detailed high frequency, very tight clear base, but midrange is not matching perfectly. My next upgrade will be Simaudio, there is something special about their products. I prefer to Dan Dagostino. 

lous's avatar
lous
203 posts
 

Unfortunately all opinions are completely biased, and based on limited exposure. Mine is no exception. Warm means dulled highs, a common preference. I don't go by gear I have not had in my system because only the amps I have had in my system prove themselves. IOW, bright speakers may make a warm amp sound detailed under the right circumstances. That said, limited finances have limited my knowledge. Down to the point, John Curl's amps, Halo amps, are hard to beat and are the JC5 is the best amp I have heard in my system. My system has modified gear, the Lampizator DAC in particular went from impressive to amazing after using an adapter to change the tube to a 6SN7, and bypassing the coupling caps with V-Cap ODAM, AND Teflon CUTF caps in the Amber 3, and in the Don Sachs DS2, I bypassed the ODAM caps with CUTF caps. Source is a computer, and speakers are Caladans. One Caladan owner had previously owned Quad ELS57s, a compromised speaker, but still one of the best sounding speakers in many ways that I have always owned. Bass and volume doomed them in my system, but Caladan addresses that and more.

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