Hi Mcbuddah,
Very good to know the M3-600-M's improve over playing time. With my first class d amp, a stereo ClassD Audio 440CS, I recall the amp sounding better and better over an extended period of time before it seemed to stabilize. I tought, at the time, that this was more a case of me adapting to the nuances of class d amplification as opposed to the amp actually 'breaking in'. It's a subtle distinction that's hard to validate one way or the other. I chalked the difference up to the fact I was moving from a class A/B Aragon 4004 to a different class d amp technology.
From my subjective perspective, there was a definite improvement in my system's performance moving from class A/B to class D. This improvement was over a period of about 2-3 months and it was not subtle in nature.
Since my latest change was from one class D amp to another and my ears/brain aural sensing mechanisms have already been indoctrinated to and adapted to the 'class D sound', the change in system performance was less dramatic than it was when I switched from class A/B to class D. Don't get me wrong, there are significant and obvious improvements in several areas with the M-600 amps; it's just that I'm not noticing any clear pattern of gradual improvements in amp performance that I would recognize as the amps 'breaking in'.
To complicate matters, I recently added a multi-sub bass system (described in an earlier post on this thread) that was truly transformational to my system's overall performance. Bass response is now very extended and accurate; measured down to 20hz within 2 dbs and without any measured or noticeable bass modes or nulls at the seating positions. This has unexpectedly resulted in performers/instruments now seemingly occupying well defined palpable and physical space in my living room, the better the recording the better the imaginary affect. My current theory is that this ultra-realism and stable sound staging has distracted me from noticing smaller and more gradual changes in the amps' performance that may be extant over time.
In other words, I'm currently so over-the-moon happy with my system's top-to-bottom rock solid frequency integration and ultra-realism, I've either failed to notice incremental changes in the M-600's behavior or I've ceased to care whether its primary cause is the new amps or the new bass system. All I know for certain is that my system is now functioning extremely well for both 2-channel computer audio and home theater sources. It's hard for me to pinpoint any weaknesses and areas needing improvement. But that won't prevent my continued enjoyment of both nor searching for possible system improvements. I understand that my system is now operating at a stunningly high level and any future improvements will be harder to identify, likely cost prohibitive, less dramatic and more incremental. But this is all just fine with me. I'm going to enjoy the fruits of my efforts and switch my searches to finding some more good music that is well recorded and high resolution. After all, I still have about 1.5 TBs of storage to fill up.
Thanks to all of you who helped me on my long but successful journey,
Tim
Very good to know the M3-600-M's improve over playing time. With my first class d amp, a stereo ClassD Audio 440CS, I recall the amp sounding better and better over an extended period of time before it seemed to stabilize. I tought, at the time, that this was more a case of me adapting to the nuances of class d amplification as opposed to the amp actually 'breaking in'. It's a subtle distinction that's hard to validate one way or the other. I chalked the difference up to the fact I was moving from a class A/B Aragon 4004 to a different class d amp technology.
From my subjective perspective, there was a definite improvement in my system's performance moving from class A/B to class D. This improvement was over a period of about 2-3 months and it was not subtle in nature.
Since my latest change was from one class D amp to another and my ears/brain aural sensing mechanisms have already been indoctrinated to and adapted to the 'class D sound', the change in system performance was less dramatic than it was when I switched from class A/B to class D. Don't get me wrong, there are significant and obvious improvements in several areas with the M-600 amps; it's just that I'm not noticing any clear pattern of gradual improvements in amp performance that I would recognize as the amps 'breaking in'.
To complicate matters, I recently added a multi-sub bass system (described in an earlier post on this thread) that was truly transformational to my system's overall performance. Bass response is now very extended and accurate; measured down to 20hz within 2 dbs and without any measured or noticeable bass modes or nulls at the seating positions. This has unexpectedly resulted in performers/instruments now seemingly occupying well defined palpable and physical space in my living room, the better the recording the better the imaginary affect. My current theory is that this ultra-realism and stable sound staging has distracted me from noticing smaller and more gradual changes in the amps' performance that may be extant over time.
In other words, I'm currently so over-the-moon happy with my system's top-to-bottom rock solid frequency integration and ultra-realism, I've either failed to notice incremental changes in the M-600's behavior or I've ceased to care whether its primary cause is the new amps or the new bass system. All I know for certain is that my system is now functioning extremely well for both 2-channel computer audio and home theater sources. It's hard for me to pinpoint any weaknesses and areas needing improvement. But that won't prevent my continued enjoyment of both nor searching for possible system improvements. I understand that my system is now operating at a stunningly high level and any future improvements will be harder to identify, likely cost prohibitive, less dramatic and more incremental. But this is all just fine with me. I'm going to enjoy the fruits of my efforts and switch my searches to finding some more good music that is well recorded and high resolution. After all, I still have about 1.5 TBs of storage to fill up.
Thanks to all of you who helped me on my long but successful journey,
Tim