Author Topic: Bunch O Amps  (Read 25195 times)

Offline spudco

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #30 on: May 13, 2009, 05:24:40 AM »
I've got to agree with Bryan - the best my system ever sounded was with BIG Class A monoblocks and a great tube preamp.

Edward

shep

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #31 on: May 13, 2009, 05:32:57 AM »
Am I the only one around here who has an Ice-based amp? I'm kind of afraid to say I like it a lot. It's a good thing I live to far away from the "real deal"! neither my pocket nor my mind (read obsession) could handle the shock.

Black Sand Cable

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #32 on: May 13, 2009, 11:13:16 AM »
Am I the only one around here who has an Ice-based amp? I'm kind of afraid to say I like it a lot. It's a good thing I live to far away from the "real deal"! neither my pocket nor my mind (read obsession) could handle the shock.

Not at all.....it's all I'm running at the moment and thoroughly enjoy what it does.

Offline richidoo

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #33 on: May 13, 2009, 12:11:47 PM »
John, the newest TAS magazine compares Bel Canto Ref1000mk2 to W4S SX1000 which got trounced. But in the mfg rebuttal, Rick says he has a "reference version" coming out soon which will be even better than current amps. Do you know anything about that?

spudco, what did you have for BIG class A? Do you mean your current Pass X's?  I hope you are enjoying the blooms. This has got to be the prettiest springtime I have seen in Carolina since 95. :D

I listened a lot this morning to AltmannDAC>Pass B1>Spectron. Big loud symphonic music is mind blower. The power is unlimited, the brassy tones and bass drums, string bass, dynamics are best I've ever heard. Massed strings are extremely clear and true, but so intense it feels a little unnatural. I think it might be because of the stage miking is picking up more highs than you would hear in a live concert seat. Switching to rock, I played my wife's Sugarland CD. Volume still set to classical levels, a snare rimshot at the beginning might have killed me if I were any older. The hype about dynamics and 120V rails on the spectron website is NOT a lie. There is no limit to the power or dynamics of this amp. Ushers are extremely dynamic too, maybe too much of a good thing in combination! Mix in transient speed and it can be scary real. I wish they still made sound effects discs like REAL audiophiles used to play back in the day. But after a few minutes of pop processed twang country I couldn't stand it and had to shut it off. The pressure in the presence range was crushing my head. Spectron gives it all to you, no mercy. I think pop producers do that on purpose to sound better on cheap car stereos where the publishing money is really made. Gotta penetrate layers of hairspray and precoffee hangover. I switched to Kind of Blue, and Coltranes sound was a little more edgy than usual, Miles sounded even more vulnerable and extemporary than usual. Instrument separation is intense. I have to concentrate to listen to the band as a whole, unlike the tube amp which just floats the whole sound into consciousness effortlessly. People say this separation an attribute of a fine amp, but can it be too much? Maybe it's because I know the album so well, and I am not used to such high resolution portrayal of it.

Despite the detail and strong presence, the soundstage is still back behind the speakers. This makes intimate jazz and chamber music feel more distant. With that feeling of you are here but they are there, the intense detail as if you are on top of them feels weird, like your ear drum is at the mic while your eyes are out in the concert seat. A very interesting and enigmatic amplifier. An incredible technological accomplishment.

The PassDIY B1 preamp is breaking in well now, it's opened up a lot and seems to be cutting the mustard. I never noticed it holding back or veiled. What a nice surprise from such a cheap little circuit! It will be interesting to hear it all dolled up with fancy selector, VC, wire, connectors, wired P>P. and also compared to a pure tube preamp.


shep

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #34 on: May 13, 2009, 01:37:39 PM »
damn it! the Wyred was on the top of my wish list.

Black Sand Cable

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #35 on: May 13, 2009, 02:51:59 PM »
John, the newest TAS magazine compares Bel Canto Ref1000mk2 to W4S SX1000 which got trounced. But in the mfg rebuttal, Rick says he has a "reference version" coming out soon which will be even better than current amps. Do you know anything about that?

I know a few upgrades are in the works but a completely new version is news to me. I will however look into it.

Black Sand Cable

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #36 on: May 13, 2009, 02:55:01 PM »
damn it! the Wyred was on the top of my wish list.

Don't give up so easily. Just because one guy says one is better then another should not be enough to sway you either way. It's one guys opinion and not much else.

Try it for yourself and see what you think. I have been down the Bel Canto road and based on my own ears, I came up with a completely different conclusion which at the end of the day is why I became a W4S dealer versus a Bel Canto dealer.

shep

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #37 on: May 13, 2009, 03:53:52 PM »
I like his attitude, his product-line and I am looking forward to a review of his ref. pre-amp and the up and coming integrated (especially as mine is pretty much the same conception).

Offline richidoo

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #38 on: May 13, 2009, 06:11:26 PM »
W4S is on my list too shep. Don't get swayed by the magazines, they aren't half the audiophile that you are. I was just reporting the review, not my opinion.  I said trounced only because review was remarkably favored toward the BelCanto, rarely acknowledging the 250% price difference.

Offline bmr3hc

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #39 on: May 13, 2009, 07:53:42 PM »
damn it! the Wyred was on the top of my wish list.

Don't give up so easily. Just because one guy says one is better then another should not be enough to sway you either way. It's one guys opinion and not much else.

Try it for yourself and see what you think. I have been down the Bel Canto road and based on my own ears, I came up with a completely different conclusion which at the end of the day is why I became a W4S dealer versus a Bel Canto dealer.

OK now here's the deal. If you really want to end all discussions and get to audio nervosa to end all further search; bi-amp those Ushers!! Get a 400-500 wpc solid state amp for the bass drivers and a 125-200 wpc tube amp for the mids and highs. Then mate all of this with a great tube preamp just because, you don't want to leave any tube magic not realized. Sure you gonna spend a little more money. But what the heck you going to spend a lot more searching over the next 5-10 years :D :D

Henry
"If music be the food of love, play on."  Shakespeare

Offline Rob S.

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #40 on: May 13, 2009, 09:24:11 PM »
Henry,  I think Rich needs to try something similar to what you're suggesting, and I can say that the RM 200MKII would be a great possibililty for him to try on his mids/hi's.  I've had mine for a whopping 2 days and the sound is glorious from it powering the mid/hi section of my floorstanders (which happen to be powered by a 500w external plate amp.) Sysem and pics over at AC.

Rich, I'll see if I can get mine down there to you sometime for an audition, if you haven't already found the love of your life amp.

Happy listening.

Rob S.
No new money spent on audio!!  but starting in 2012!!

shep

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #41 on: May 14, 2009, 12:53:45 AM »
"OK now here's the deal. If you really want to end all discussions and get to audio nervosa to end all further search; " Good heavens! there's an Audio Heretic in our midst :duh :shock: End all discussion??? End all further search??? You sure you didn't click on the wrong button? Tell the blind to see and the cripple to walk! Tell the bewildered to get their act together...NEVER tell and audioneurotic to end the discussion or stop searching! Might as well close down all audio forums while you're at it. Boys with toys....tis a noble insanity (well maybe the wives would disagree).

Offline bmr3hc

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #42 on: May 14, 2009, 04:44:25 AM »
Henry,  I think Rich needs to try something similar to what you're suggesting, and I can say that the RM 200MKII would be a great possibility for him to try on his mids/hi's.  I've had mine for a whopping 2 days and the sound is glorious from it powering the mid/hi section of my floorstanders (which happen to be powered by a 500w external plate amp.) System and pics over at AC.

Rich, I'll see if I can get mine down there to you sometime for an audition, if you haven't already found the love of your life amp.

Happy listening.

Rob S.

Rob
Sounds like a great idea to help Rich decide. I saw your system set-up on the AC. Very impressive! I am now thinking of playing the lottery full time... in several states!
Shep, you are so right. It was a momentary Freudian slip. To end all is always momentary. But the reality is, we are all crazy. Some more crazy than others (those with more money to spend). We all need a moment of sanity every so often. It usually happens when the wives/girlfriends threatens to buy something of equal value each time you do something crazy.
Henry
   
"If music be the food of love, play on."  Shakespeare

shep

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #43 on: May 14, 2009, 05:28:53 AM »
That's better...you redeem yourself quickly!

Offline richidoo

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Re: Bunch O Amps
« Reply #44 on: May 14, 2009, 01:50:21 PM »
I love to see two Music Reference owners telling me to go back to tubes... Glad you are both so happy guys! Henry turned me on to MR, and I mentioned it to Rob, and so it goes!!! The tubers are grinning! 

Talk about crazy? I drove 520 miles today to buy a pair of GR/Rythmik servo subs. Got a great deal (not counting travel) and met a heck of a nice, well seasoned audiophile, Larry. Holy shit, talk about a nice system. ASL Hurricanes Maggies, exotic tube preamp, I don't remember all the details. He's getting some Merlins this weekend. I wanted to stay all day to chat.  He further fanned my tube embers. He has owned just about every amp  and speaker out there, every flavor of class D including W4S, NuForce, spectron, but he always come back to big tube amps and his beloved Sound Labs speakers. He used to be a professional high end speaker designer, I forget which brand. The subs are built beautifully. Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing these subs and seeing if the bass really is "the best I've ever heard" which his what everybody is saying about these, even Larry. He said he compared it directly to SoundLabs bass and liked them both in different ways. That's saying something.

So two more plate amps add to the amp pile. The subs are destined for Carl's system, but they're MINE for now...  :twisted:  I have some small Feastrex bookshelves ready to sit on top.
Still thinking about yesterday's Shostakovich 5th Symphony with the Spectron. Man that was fun.