Hi Guys,
I'm testing the waters here at Audionervosa with this post. During my time on Audiocircle i never really told the complete truth regarding different products as i never wanted to start a flame war or upset other members of the community.
A few years ago i built an aksa 100 nirvana plus amplifier from kit form. I used the amplifier and it sounded very good in my system. It wasn't the most transparent amplifier but it really had my foot tapping when i listened to my system.
I decided to sell it and went and bought a few different amplifiers and here are my thoughts on these amplifiers.
Ps Audio hca 2 - In its unmodded form this amplifier is a real stinker imo. Please tell me why it received a class a stereophile rating? I read many many professional and forum related reviews of this amplifier. In total there was 1 negative review and this person was correct with the faults of the amplifier.
I had to modify the amplifier to get it to sound good in my system. Recently it was favourably compared to nuforce ref 9 se but obviously it wasn't quite as good
.
Odyssey Khartago - I bought a brand new amplifier from the australian distributor on the proviso if i didn't like it i could return it for a trade. This amplifier just didn't sound any good in my system at all. It lacked transparency which was my main concern and just didn't sound musical. In my opinion i wouldn't have described it as an audiophile amplifier. It didn't sound as good as my n.e.w. 20.1 ($750us rrp), aksa amplifier or modded ps audio hca - 2.
Spread Spectrum Technologies Son of Ampzilla. This is an interesting amplifier imo. It took me a long time to get used to its sound. It provides transparency, excellent dynamics and bass in my system. It isn't quite as transparent as my ps audio but sounds more enjoyable to listen to and is probably a bit more tubey sounding imo. If i could fault this amplifier its probably not as exciting to listen to as my old aksa but is much more refined.
So after spending thousands of dollars of my hard earned money i finally found an amplifier i could live with.
The question i'm asking is as follows; Why do so many people get these reviews wrong or am i not hearing something?
Thanks
Rod