Subtlety ? do any American amps do it?


Not heard that many but it strikes me that everything from the colonies sounds a bit stark and bleached. Spent a year trying to come to terms with a Pass Labs which is vastly overated ( and I mean vastly), listened a lot
to Mark Levinson and thought Thank God I did not spend a fortune on that - clean, clear, hifi and so bereft of soul that it was like a visit to the Dentist !
I'm not that biased, it's taken Naim years to make something resembling music - PRAT ? until recently bunch of narrow minded PRATS.I know lots of Naim fans and their mindset belongs to the third reich !
UK companies like Meridian and Musical Fidelity have managed to do the bizz for at least 30 years that I've known/used and they still manage to make a noise that at least resembles real music. MF get tarred with a do it cheap brush but anyone who has heard their gear and says it's crap is probably a dealer who wants to sell you something at 3/4x the price.
The Brazilians do it a treat - Heard Audiopax 88s at the last Edinburgh show and if anyone there had ears, they should have packed up and went home - different league does not describe it.
Realise this is antagonistic but want some input.
Even the UK press seems blinkered to the crap - Pass, Krell
- whoah, nice hifi, shame there's nothing remotely musical involved, apart from the laughter as they take our hard earned money !

I have a Quicksilver phonostage - lovely and a great customer focused company, had a Lancelot Camelot, super and amazingly friendly & helpful people but go to the Big boys and it's just a money grabbing frenzy ?
I dreamed of a Pass Labs for years and ? my next amp will be coming from somewhere in Europe !

Si
simon74
I guess I was lucky, I have used Clayton with Supratek Chenin, and that not many 4 times more expensive separates on CES sounded better...
VAC Phi sure did...
But now my British Arcam after 9 years of service died and now I have to temporary use SACD SONY as source, wow it really sound now as $200 boombox :), so good source is a must.
I had a Naim CD player for a while. I had to get rid of it 'cause it kept leaking oil all over my rack!

Marco
I owned a TR6 (motorcycle)in '69. (single carb.650)Yup, never failed to mark its spot;even when brand new. And on to its electrical--designed by Lucas;--the prince of darkness, was the proper term to describe---.
While we're bashing the british cars I would point out that many US built cars of the same era being described were similar turkeys.

While living in the UK I ran a mini for 100,000 miles with no problems at all. I moved to the US and bought a Grand Am and the intake manifold gasket has failed twice in 70,000 miles. Do a web search on GM V6 lemons.

If the US car market were not much larger than that of the UK I predict some of the US "big three" would have gone the same way as British Leyland.

People who live in glass houses .......