One Amp To ‘Rule’ Them All....

I didn't know the MC1.25KW came in a studio version.

I'm getting old lol.

That's a great question but are you talking control room or mastering room? Or all three?

An amp that goes from Control room to Mastering system to a home playback. Some folks are going to say Bryston, some are going to say Crown and a few old schoolers might even throw in Crest or Yamaha. I have my favs.

But to ask this question consider the 3 different types of speakers in the same settings as above. If your taking JBL to all three places that's a big difference than lets say B&W. I think the answer would really depend on your specialty as an engineer. I've built and owned studios that had all 3 room types and system types (I used MGA speakers as well a mix of others), but I have a feeling most here are going to try to lean toward their home audio senses instead of thinking the 3 different areas of purpose.

mg 

The OP has given us one heck of a great question to answer, and there has already been some great answers. These recent threads that are pointing to the HEA bubble popping is starting a new and way over due playback hobby. Watching the one volume control hobby coming to an end is worth the price of admission alone.

mg

Hi Ray

"Go to trade shows and listen. It’s a journey and a lot of fun."

This is another topic that is of much importance right now.

What's going to happen to the HEA trade shows over the next few years will be interesting as the gas runs out of the "only a volume control" hobby comes to it's end. The realization that the professional world has been trying to gently help HEA with is finally breaking through the minds of the HEA audiophile.

When HEA should have turned right they turned left a drove way down a road that makes no sense. Now watching this vehicle try to politely turn around in the middle of traffic is going to be interesting to see.

Can I paint another picture for you guys?

What if you drove to the next HEA trade show and instead of walking into rooms where everything sounded different and there was only a volume control to adjust, you instead walked into rooms where you could sit down and make everything and every recording sound your way?

We could have made that move around the mid 90's, but even though we're slow as a hobby's people, we're making that move now. Now it's more a matter of how fast the conversion will take. The plug & play hobby is almost over. Enter the variable wars :)

mg

Hi Rodman

One thing I have learned from the recent CESs and the news that comes out of them is innovation is our hobby's best friend. It has also helped me when visiting and tuning "gamers" rooms. Tuning rooms for 25 year olds is a trip. Their brains are so fast and hungry for knowledge. While tuning a room this weekend I mentioned something about a PBS show I saw, and before I could push the next pin in this guys fingers were on the keypad pulling up all kinds of videos on the topic I mentioned. He was amazed what I did with the acoustics, but I was sitting there amazed at how quick this guy zoomed in on topics and popped them up on the big screen with like 20 videos on the same topic waiting to load.

The generations have much to learn from each other, and the old school has some very good basics, but the innovation of the new is wild, fresh and smart.

mg

Hi Glupson, good to see you!

"Not everybody likes, or has time and attention span, to tweak and adjust. Some like to press the button and not think about it anymore. They are no worse than those who tweak to the end of the world. They just have different approach."

I have to ask, who are you hanging around?

I read comments up here many times and I honestly feel like I'm visiting the nursing home for music lovers. I've seen guys try to get me to think that people are not "doing", but I think they fail to realize that people get ahold of me every single day asking me about the very opposite. If you saw the questions on my emails just from this weekend I would be surprised you could make the statement you just did.

Your second paragraph is much more to the point and easier to understand where you are at in your thoughts.

Glupson, HEA took a detour that the rest of audio technology didn't. While HEA was pushing the high cost revolving door of "One Volume Control Only" the professional and innovative audio world kept moving forward. HEA magazines became out of touch with what was actually taking place in the hobby of listening and fell way behind the learning curve. Now that $30-$200 amps for example are slapping them in the face the era of one volume control only club is finding itself obsolete. HEA will try to act like they were not out on the island they were and will try to switch gears in front of us to make things look the way they want to, like all generations do as they reach that age of little return. But it's too little to late.

As you my friend have mention a few times you are here because you are wasting time for yourself. Consider those who feel the hobby is not the wasting of their time. You might be surprised to see that not everyone is lazed out on their sofa sipping with only the remote in their hand. Or maybe it's just when I come to visit them they put on a display of activity in front of me to impress and then go back to their catatonic state when I leave.

Kind of reminds me of your taking off the lid of a component to say you did it and that qualified you as a "walker". I can't help but notice the active world today moves maybe a little further along then that description of walking. I do wonder however when I see you now posting if you can see the hobby walking or maybe even running by your older posting. Glupson as you can see it didn't take very much for me to move the direction of this forum with the help of other walkers thinking they too are a part of a more ambitious lifestyle than the talkers.

interesting isn't it, smile

mg

"Yes, I took the cover of an amplifier off and no, it did nothing. Yes, it was "walking" and I apologize that I could not report same findings as you. It may be, at least in part, due to a lack of financial interest I have in listening to music."

LOL

I'm sure that's it.