I’ve owned the 803d3. They are good speakers and pretty. I was actually offered a great deal on a pair of 800d3 last night. I almost took the deal but right now if I went to another speaker it would be electrostatics. Other than the bass, I don’t have any complaints about the Magico. It’s just that they are expensive :)
I am also not a believer in using subs with full range speakers. I feel like if a full range speaker lacks bottom end then that’s just how the speaker is. I refuse to buy huge speakers and still have to buy two subs to get more bass unless we are talking about home theater.
For example, the 800d3. If I bought them and I still needed more bass, then to me that’s a failure of a speaker. There’s no excuse for a ported speaker to not have enough bass. I’ve seen people buying large ported speakers and still using subs. That’s just not me.
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Alright boys and girls, i may be closing on a deal on the bat 655se... first time using that brand and well let’s see how it does against my heavy hitters. Right now, the Hegels in mono mode are INSANE to say the least. Huge soundstage and current. My Wilsons love them!
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Guys,
i am still trying solid state but that’s only because the 250se go for over 15k on the used market. I liked my gs150 but I’m not sure the 250se is THAT MUCH BETTER than the gs150. I do want to try the ref250s but I will be honest, It is hard as nails to sell audio research amps. I mean, it has to be the perfect timing and you happen to be lucky someone was looking for it but other than that, it’s just too hard.
Thst said, I’m now contemplating the bryston 28b3s Monos, but what’s stopping me is not knowing if they would actually best my h30s in mono mode ? I mean I’d be shocked if the Bryston kill my hegel h30s.
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Thanks Jona for your feedback. Can you elaborate more please on what’s better ? |
I have been listening to my ref10 with the hegels for the last 2 hours and there is no harshness or fatigue of any kind at any volume level. Detail is through the roof and so is the soundstage.
I will switch to the black system later this afternoon. |
Ladies & Gentlemen,
i have been listening to the ref10 with hegel h30s in mono mode for the last 5 hours. i was working away on my laptop and let the music play and play and then finally closed the laptop and began to listen critically. i heard at approximately 87-92db depending on the song. I heard music non stop and had zero fatigue. Soundstage was large and in charge with plenty of detail, mids, highs, bass, EVERYTHING. I wanted to just saturate my hearing with music through the ref10/hegels so that i can then switch to the black system and so when i did switch... The soundstage sounds smaller, less massive wall to wall sound and this is just simply heartbreaking because i have been praising this set up for a long time now. I love it top to bottom, but i can’t deny the ridiculous current and HUGE power on tap from the hegels. Today is a sad day for me because my ears allowed me to just hear the change in sound without me trying to. It felt as if i instantly heard my walls close in when i went to play the black system.
This has been an interesting lesson for me. My gut feeling was that i needed more horsepower to produce the huge voltage that these class d amps were putting out. The reason why the Wilsons were sounding huge and big was because the black system’s monos have massive current/voltage and it took more than 1,000 watts per channel from a solid state amp to give me all the current and voltage to best the black system's huge soundstage. What an interesting finding huh?
But do you see WHY we are all in love with this hobby? WHY we go through countless hours of lifting back-breaking amplifiers?
i had pass labs 350.8, simaudio 860a, hegel h30 in stereo mode and they all lost against the black system. None of them could put up the huge soundstage of the black system. They all got their a$$ handed to them.
That said, the hegel h30s are INSANE with insane drive, dynamics, slam and they don't even run hot at all. I also find them more transparent than many amps i have owned in the past which includes pass labs. Remember, pass labs is tuned to sound more or less like tubes so it will impose its sound everywhere. That is not the case with Hegel.
In the end, i can honestly say i have truly enjoyed every single minute of the black system’s transparency and detail with all its glory and incredible presentation. I expect class D to eventually surpass solid state pieces because let me tell you that the gap is narrower than ever. I am predicting that class d will eventually close the gap and surpass good old class ab components. It is nature, it is part of the evolution of technology. We have to learn to embrace new things as long as they are indeed better than what is already in place.
For now, my reference 2 channel becomes the follow:
ARC REF10
HEGEL H30/MONOBLOCKS
PS: Total price is $70k retail to best the $55k Black System. That is a huge praise to that class d system :)
If you have $55k to spend on a front end, don’t even try to find something else better than the black system. It does not exist.
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So I do believe subs will add more layers of bottom end that certain music can benefit from but again... crazy $ when you already have powered woofers. |
I may go up the ladder in Magico. Stay tuned.. |
Can’t speak just yet because it will take different moving pieces for me to go up the ladder. It takes the buyer of my speakers, him paying, and me coming to a price agreement with the pair I want. |
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Hi guys,
the black system has never been turned off since I received it. The hegels had been on since last Friday and the ref10 was on today for 5 hours.
The hegels are monsters and far superior than one. Trust me, a single Hegel can’t hang with the black monoblocks but two hegels just threw a soundstge as big as an imax screen.
Guys, well I’m also in conversations to bring a pair of bryston 28b3. I owned the 4b3 and I didn’t find it all that ? But I was told the 28b3 are just so far ahead and superior to the rest of the amps that bryston makes that i want to try it. It will be one hell of a shootout between the 28b3 and the h30s... I am now wanting to do massive monoblock shootouts but without the insane heat.
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Air between instruments... hmmm. The 15a and clx are there for sure. Those are special speakers that do things most conventional speakers can’t. I don’t think I’ve heard better mids than what I heard through the clx. They were stunning in that regard. |
I said it a million times, the Plinius Odeon is the best multi channel amp there is. Period.
Krell tas is good but runs too hot. It was a good unit back in the day but there are far better options today. No need to get a tas and having to send it in to get recapped etc. Too much money and no real benefit when you have good amps today.
Try those class d amps. They do a great job in home theater. However, don’t expect the 2 channel experience to be out of this planet. There’s a reason why they are affordable amps with plenty of power. |
Boulder is a great brand to deal with for sure. I just never got my feet to tap when playing the 2060.
Techno: the Magico tweeter gives you nice detail but You must know how to match components with it. There’s zero room for error with it.
I am happy with my s5 mk2. It’s an ultra detailed speaker. I would be totally ok staying with them for many years. They aren’t massive, they weigh a lot but they don’t take over your room with their size. I love that about them. The focal sopra 3 were good for the money but the Magico had more stuff happening between the speakers that I didn’t quite hear as clear with other speakers.
as of today, NOT ONE Magico s5 mk2 has been listed. Why ? Because in order to top it you’ll need to make a serious investment that many just don’t want to do.
I find the Magico s5 mk2 better than the Sonus faber cremonese that I owned.
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My current speakers are the Wilson audio Sasha 2s. They are growing on me. The only thing I can’t get to sound how I’d like is the bass. It sounds maybe a tad too “out of phase” or not how I am used to hearing it. The tweeter is about 4 feet away from the the back wall so they have plenty of room behind them.
That said, my next experiment will probably be the simaudio 650a in mono mode. I just need to find a second one to try this. I will say that a few people told me that my hegels are way better than the Brystons 28b3. I was told the Brystons won’t come close to the h30s in Monos. Who knows ?
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Snafujg: who told you I don’t like revel salon 2? They are awesome speskers for the money. However, I wouldn’t use a Luxman integrated with them. They need something like a gryphon Diablo 300 at the very least. Revel needs quality juice and they sounded their best in my room with the ref10 and the Simaudio 860a amp. That combo was magical. Trust me on this !
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I’m revisiting the Martin Logan Neolith option once again. My fear here is trying something so large and not finding it good for my room. The opinion of the Neolith is all over the map. Some say it’s amazing, the very best and others say it’s not coherent, too boomy in the bass etc.
I’ve heard it twice but I can’t say I heard it the way I need to hear it. It was a fast listening session with that music that they play at Disney. My ears can’t tell a difference if I play material I don’t know.
Bringing that elephant of a speaker, the logistics, the money I need to pay others to help me bring them inside and then not liking them is something that is keeping me from taking them.
Lastly, unfortunately I’m not the type of person that goes to a dealer to audition something and with intentions of buying from someone else. I feel somewhat embarrassed unless it’s magnolia Best Buy then yes I don’t care to go in there.
The pair I have available at a good deal is crated and ready to ship so I can’t hear it.
Decisions... |
The salons need a quality preamp. Bass issues were fixed by using the ref10. It was an immediate improvement. |
Possibly right guys. Right now I can’t say much else other than there are several speaker brands im contemplating.
Focal, Dynaudio, Wilson. |
My room is about 18 feet wide and 24 long, but i sit about 8-9 feet away.
i got confirmation that the focal scala evo is far superior to the sopra 3. i was told it is more refined, more relaxed and better bottom end. Again, i don't really know.
I am going to be looking for an "interim" speaker until i locate a pair of magico m3 speakers. The ones i was going to buy unfortunately sold already so let's see.
My thoughts for "interim" speakers are:
Martin Logan 15a
Martin logan 13a
Focal Scala Evo
Wilson Audio Alexia 1
Dynaudio Confidence 60 (to be released in December)
Revel Salon 2s
Those are pretty much speakers that i can handle in terms of size and weight and not much of a pain to ship once i find the M3 magicos.
i am not really contemplating anything else at this time. |
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Alexia 2s are now on the table... stay tuned... |
I don’t think I’ll be getting alexia 1 unless I find a deal that has never been seen online before.
I’m still in talks about the focal scala Evo. That conversation is still going. I’d love to hear that speaker in my room. |
I have tested one Hegel versus 2 in mono mode only twice and I didn’t need to do it again. With my Wilson speakers, the difference was MASSIVE. A deaf person could have heard it.
Yes I also read that review and I still tried it myself and I can tell you that Wilson audio sounded far better with 1200 watts than with 300. It was impressive and effortless at all frequencies.
Lastly, I don’t trust those punk @ss reviewers. Heck, my current set up is much better than the set up he was running. His preamp was nowhere close as good as my ref10. I don’t believe everything I read.
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I’d like to try the luxmans for sure but I don’t see that happening. Luxman amps sell for far more than my hegels and I don’t think I want to spend north of 20k to experiment with that. I’d like to stay at under 14k used market price When it comes to amps. Pass labs 600.8, bryston 28b3, simaudio 860 Monos are all choices that fall within that price.
As far as what that reviewer said about Hegel monos not being as good as the stereo version, I believe he must have had speakers that are over 95db efficient. That’s the only way I can see why a stereo Hegel should suffice. I’m telling you, Wilson audio Sasha’s truely came from the dead when I strapped on my hegels in mono. Even low level detail came forward and put dead center. I thought well maybe I need to put back a single Hegel and listen again and as soon as I did that, the soundstage collapses and gets narrower.
Actually, I don’t even think a pair of simaudios or pass labs 600.8s would best these hegels. However, i can only find out by trying. I don’t think there’s any other amps that put out 1200 watts into 8ohms and 2k into 4ohms while staying at 14k used market value. I’ve been looking and don’t seem to find them. |
All I can tell you is that specs quite often s just exactly that... specs. You don’t really know how good something sounds until you bring it. Perfect example is the luxman 900u. Only 150 watts per channel and I don’t find it any less strong or powerful than a 350 watt per channel amplifier.
That said, remember the hegel h30 was made to serve as a mono amp first which can also work as stereo. If you go to the Hegel site you’ll see they give you the power ratings as a mono from the get go and then you have to dig in there to locate stereo ratings.
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You all take the crazy reviews from magazines like it’s the Bible. Read them and inform yourselves but don’t assume that because the reviewer said it’s no good that it will also be no good for you. Take reviews with a grain of salt and use them to understand a little about the product. I am about to start charging you all for the advice I give here.
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Tomcy, you’re right. However, there’s one HUGE difference. I don’t make a penny from any of this. Should I be charging you all ? May be I should review a component each month and then charge a subscription. Trust me, with all the money I’ve spent, I think i got a pretty good following now and I can get people to pay to read my reviews and by the time the magazines release their own review, they will be many months behind me.
Anyhow, I am pretty content with how my system sounds right now but of course I want to try the next great or bad thing. What will it be ? Bryston? Gryphon? Agostino? |
People do not appreciate free things. The mind is trained to think that anything you pay for has to be better than free stuff. If you gave your kids a Ferrari to drive to school and they crashed it and then you replace it, they don’t have a reason to take care of it.... it’s free. They didn’t work for it. Same applies to this. My value is indeed diminished because it’s free advice. If I were to take more of my time to write structured reviews with a beginning, a body and a conclusion, then I’m putting more effort to write something more coherent, with proofreading, with logic, etc. That takes time and effort and money. This is why I just put my thoughts down here as I go without being too concerned about perfect grammar or punctuation, etc.
I could totally elevate my reviews to have more meat and potatoes in them. I could add more cabling, try amps in 30 amp outlets, try subwoofers in a 2 channel environment, acoustic panels, different dacs, ribbon speakers vs panels, stillpoints, mono amps vs stereo amps, class d vs tubes. I could do a journey where I go after the best amp for bass control, best for mids and highs,etc
There’s so much more thought I can give this journey, but I’d need a return for more effort and time.
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Thank you guys for the advice. Let’s wait and see where it all leads me.
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Update: there are zero Scala Utopia Evo at this time. They are on a huge back order.
I have a great opportunity on a pair of Wilson Alexia 1 through a good connection of mine. The Alexia 2 I went to see yesterday were just not in good shape. Too many nicks, chipped off paint and touched up in many places with touch up paint. They wouldn’t budge on the price so I walked out. Of course they called me to let me know they will try to work with me but when I’m told by the store manager that they aren’t desperate to sell and that the store is doing a lot of business so they don’t need the money, that kinda leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth that feels painful afterwards.
I feel like if a store can let a client walk out with $40,000 PLUS dollars in his hands and they DONT try to make something happen then hey maybe they don’t need the money and I guess they have a lot of people sitting outside making a line waiting to drop $40k with them.
The funny part is I was the only customer in the whole store... |
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Here is where i am: Do i want to hear an Alexia 1 in MY ROOM to see how it compares to my old Sasha 2? hell yes. Do i want to have to compete to try to sell it once i am ready to move on to the next one? hell no. Unfortunately the market is flooded, but that will soon come to an end and once it dries out then things will stabilize.
As far as the Scala Utopia EVO: i would LOVE to try this new speaker. I want to see how much better it is than the Sopra 3 i had here. Will it get closer to the magico? if so, how much closer? This speaker intrigues me because i know it is a speaker that NOBODY has reviewed which kinda makes me eager to be the first one to write a solid review on it. Of course, some say this speaker is not at the same level of my magico or even the Wilson. Some say it is below. However, you all know me by now. I want to see for myself how good or bad it is. I know THIS SPEAKERS was totally re-worked from its previous version. A lot of new adjustments are not on this model that were not there before.
Alexia 2: I would totally see how this animal would do against the S5 magico. Did this Alexia 2 distanced itself from the magico s5 that justifies its 20k price difference? My only problem is that yes the market is controlled, tight, not a single Wilson Alexia 2 has sold here and so of course prices are crazy high. Let me put it this way, a Wilson Alexia 1 can be had for about 24-26k used right now, but the Alexia 2 comes in 20,000 dollars on top at the very least if you find a dealer willing to do a deal which is not an easy thing to find. So the question is, let’s just say hypothetically speaking i were to buy an alexia 2 for $45,000 vs $25k for the Alexia 1. is the alexia 2 $20,000 better? if i were to hear both next to each other, does the alexia 2 sound incredibly superior that my ears would be able to easily tell a difference? i know Wilson claims it is a totally re-worked speaker, etc. Without having owned the Alexia 1, it would be hard for me to gauge how much better the Alexia 2 is.
Of course i hear people telling me that the Alexia 2 is just a million miles better than the Alexia 1 and then i have others that tell me that it is only slightly better than the first generation and that is it. So yes, this is a tricky move when it comes to the Alexia 1 and 2.
When it comes to other brands, i am just not really that much interested in a brand that i can’t at least recuperate most of my investment from. I can’t go out there and buy Raidho (terrible resale) or brands that i know i will have to bury with me in my casket. I wish i would buy and try everything, but the reality is that what i buy TODAY will eventually be someone else’s gear tomorrow.
On another note, the amplifier market is crappy right now. i have yet to see ONE SINGLE AMP that i want. There is NOTHING listed on here that makes me want it as of today. The only amp i was contemplating was the musical fidelity titan. I want to try that beast, but it was not the right deal for me so i moved on. THIS IS WHY, i am very eager to try the "mysterious" amps i will be trying early next month... DON’T FORGET about those amps because i am going to be trying to take down those rowland 925s. They are still at the top spot for me due to their sheer beauty and immense sound with gobs of clarity. However, i had to do lots of homework and carefully inform myself in order to select those 200 lb chassis with 500 watts of power to be the next contender that i will be throwing in the ring with the Rowlands. November will bring me a new set of speakers and monstrous mono blocks. It will be a hell of a month.
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People kiss up to what he says like he’s the last word to be heard. Yes he has knowledge and sure he has the reputation but I agree with your point: a lot of what John Atkinson says comes with a subliminal message. I’m sure his paychecks are no chump change and the perks must be quite good. I wish I could be a fly on his wall to see what is being said behind closed doors in regards to some of the gear he reviews.
That said, I see the other side as well which is maybe he can’t really speak his mind about how he feels about certain products. Everyone and their mother is suing nowadays. You can’t even fart at a movie theater without getting sued. I actually know someone who got sued by a woman who came with her husband to listen to some speakers he was selling. The woman slipped and fell inside the house and she was fine. They listened to music etc and then all of a sudden he got a letter saying she got home and had chest pain and hurt her back so now she had a bunch of medical bills. This is what this world has come to.
I miss those days when I was a kid That you were able to go to the back patio and fight the kid that had beef with you then after the fight was over we both were separated and went home and that was it. If I got knocked out or he got knocked out then oh well. The beef was over and done with. Those were the good old days.
Those days when you could say to someone “ you gotta a problem with me? Let’s step outside and fix it” and then you told your friend “here hold my watch”.
The legal system has created such an imbalance. It forces people to do what they don’t want to do and also it doesn’t let people fix their own problems by being rational. By talking things out and being fair.
I always try to fix things and being fair. I believe that NOT ONE PERSON here that I’ve sold equipment to can say anything bad about me. I think there was only one guy who I sold the boulder 2060 who texted me this long thing a few days after he received the amp where he stated he was going to call PayPal that I sold him something with problems because the amp was humming and he couldn’t stop it etc. I roll out of bed and see that long text and said “ man you gotta relax. Give me the chance to see what’s going on and troubleshoot. Let’s Skype later etc. So when we get on Skype that afternoon I walked him through several steps and bingo. Problem was solved. It was his crappy Comcast cable box which I’ve known are notorious for introducing humming sound to big amps. Then he apologized to me a million times and said to forgive his ignorance etc.
I told him it’s fine man. Just look at my thread and feedback. I’m not going anywhere.
anyhow, let’s get back on topic |
Interesting. I agree that they only review those products that they advertise. I can’t blame them but that leaves a lot of products off the table. Funny thing is they hardly review McIntosh.
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i have received feedback in regards to the Centaur 2 which is that they are incredible amplifiers. Just very tube-like sound that never gets fatiguing. I have yet to hear them or see them.
The momentum 400s will probably come to me at some point as soon as i locate a deal from a reputable source. At this level, you have to be sure you are getting what you pay for because it won't be cheap to get them fixed.
I will know more tomorrow about the Focal Scala Evo and also a pair of black Alexia 1 speakers that seem to be promising, but i can't assume anything until i see pictures. |
I was offered those viola products but they never made me run to the bank... |
Update:
just bought a wireworld starlight cat8 Ethernet. I used between my lumin and the router. Massive hum. I couldn’t seem to get rid of it. I tried it even using the black system as a source and the humming continued. The hegels weren’t having it.
I then went to just use it in the black system and connected the router to the black system using this cable and zero humming. This tells me that the hegels hated that cable because the simaudio didn’t give me any sort of hum when I replaced the hegels just to try. That said, I proceeded to just connect the hegels in the p20 rather than in the wall and problem solved. All hum is gone. With that said, I’m now playing music and I just started to hear background music that I didn’t know was there before. I don’t know what did it. Was it the Ethernet cable or the fact that I plugged in the amps into the p20? |
so i just proceeded to connect the simaudio 860a back in the system and the soundstage just collapsed. Lethargic, no muscle to it. It almost feels as if the hegels are a pair of blue nose pitbulls and the simaudio is a chihuahua lol. Terrible analogy for sure :) |
anyone ever heard the EgglestonWorks Viginti' loudspeaker?
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Hi Dave,
Great point you bring up. So why don't i review the Rane eq, the tekton's speakers? i simply feel like i am already miles ahead of these products. What i mean by that is simply that i don't want to do a U turn and come back to where i already am. This does not mean those ideas you have are not good. However, i don't want to buy the tekton's knowing that i am going to give them up before 30 days. I said it above, i don't work that way. i don't want to exploit the generous offer that they have for those who are serious about owning their products.
Parasound will always be Parasound, Emotiva will always be Emotiva. They won't turn into magico or audio research overnight. Their business model won't allow them to make the necessary steps that can close the gap with the big players in this industry and they know this.
A Hyundai Equus will always be a Hyundai (although a good car) and won't ever be a Mercedes S550. |
You see why sometimes I don’t answer every question.... people can get sensitive and it’s understood. |
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I don’t understand WHY manufacturers make ugly components. Don’t they understand that pretty stuff appeals to most men? What man likes an ugly, ancient looking woman? It’s like they don’t have any common sense.
Ive said this to several of them too. Stop making hideous stuff!! It’s already hard to sell some of this stuff so making it ugly makes it that much more difficult.
The one thing I’ll say once again is that the Wilson audio Sasha grabbed the most attention in my home and then Martin Logan 15a.
Lastly, this is WHY McIntosh and b&w sell so well too. People love their look and so aesthetics is huge especially here in South Florida. Who the hell wants to drop 2 million dollars for a property on the 50th floor overlooking at the ocean in south beach and walk in and find some ugly rogue audio equipment? |
Simaudio amps are good. I can’t say anything bad about them. I need to try it in mono mode vs my hegels. Speaking of Hegel, I’ve spoken to 3 dealers today and they all told me that I won’t Best the hegels for under 13k. They said it’s impossible. I’d need to spend north of 15k to beat them.
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M900u sold. That person has m900u in monoblock configuration. |
I don’t have the salons. They’re gonea. I suspect dual hegels will also massively improve their sound.
Guy, most of you don’t understand that The Hegel h30 is made primarily to be a monoblock. They just wanted to allow it to be a stereo amp so that the person eventually buys a second one. You all think for some reason that the Hegel h30 is a stereo amp made to work as a mono. It’s actually the other way. I am telling you, the Hegel h30 in mono mode is crazy. It makes me feel I have like I have a massive krell amp with 1,000 watts per channel. |
well guys, i am working on a deal on a pair of Bryston 28b3 monos. I am also working on another deal that i wasn’t contemplating, but i may have to slowly abandon the idea of keeping the black system. I may be (fingers crossed) stepping into a pair of monos that retail for north of 45k dollars.
Let’s see what will happen. I don’t want to talk too soon and then things fall through, but it would be my first time venturing with this brand.
I won’t say much else until i know the deal is done and they are headed my way :) |
hi guys,
some of you have been asking me to bring some more affordable amplifiers to review. With that said, i am going to auditioning the 3k dollar offering from Adcom. i want to give a shout out to Larry from High End Palace for taking time out to come to my home today and making this happen. |
ok guys,
i have been laying low lately, but that is when i am making moves. Anytime you see me go silent, that is a sign of things to come.
With that said, my new speakers will ship this coming Friday. I won't say what they are until they hit my door, but let's just say that hmmm they have been mentioned here a few times. :)
Now i need to head to the gym to get my back arthritis fixed. i will need to feel good for those speakers. Is it scary? yes, will it be alot of work ? yes. have i owned this brand of speakers before? yes. Are they the most expensive component i've owned? absolutely yes.
Stay tuned... i TOLD YOU ALL i was going to make this interesting again. |
hi guys,
i have a nice shootout here with Larry from High End Palace and i need to mention a couple of things:
1. the amplifier was dead cold with only about 10 hours of total use
2. My hegel h30s have been on for about 3 weeks non stop and so is my moon audio.
That said, the amplifier we used was a single gfa 585se.
We started by trying to tax the amplifier and trying to see if we could get it to clip or shut off and it never did. I think we probably listened at levels of close to 100 dbs and the amp was solid and composed.
Here are a few quick notes:
1. Excellent power with good slam
2. i heard great bottom end which reminded me ALOT OF THE HEGEL’s bottom end.
3. Good highs with good transparency
4. Soundstage was narrower than the hegel, but that is expected when you consider the price discrepancy.
The only cons i can recall were that of course the soundstage was not as huge as with my hegels . That is expected because the hegels have crazy amounts of power and current on demand. I will say that there were times that i felt like of course the hegels were superior, but the adcom 585 gives you SO MUCH for VERY LITTLE that you question if it is indeed worth the extra cash for the hegels? That is subjective and no i don’t think the hegels are 5 times better than the adcom. The one thing i told Larry was that i would love to hear these amps in mono mode in order to make a more fair comparison. I suspect if i use them in mono mode, things could get very interesting.
Lastly, i felt that the construction was excellent. i did not see anything at all on the amp that made me feel it was cheap. Actually, if i am being honest, the hegel h30s look cheaper than the adcom 585.
I would totally love to just have a pair here and leave them on for about 1 week and try again. I bet things would be much closer. What is mind boggling is the price point of those 585s versus the hegel h30. If you all heard both together in the same system, i bet most of you would stay with the adcom simply because of how much you get for the money. It was indeed a nice reminder of the law of diminishing returns.
I highly recommend that adcom 585 for most of you out there. Again, i pushed it as hard as i could with my wilson to try to tax it and make it shut off and i failed doing it. I could not make it break a sweat. Very good amplifier. |
Ok guys,
The black system has left my home. I loved everything about it, but i can't hang on to 2 different systems. I want to continue using my ref10 going forward and will continue to review more amps.
Lastly, i am excited to say that next week i should have my next pair of amps which will be the first time i have ever owned this particular brand.
They should be amazing, but for the money i am paying for them, they better be magical and pour me a drink :) |
Remember guys, one can’t please everyone. I am sitting here listening to the Magico s5 mk2 for one last time before they go to their new home. I’m trying to close my eyes and capture as much in head of what this speaker can do as I possibly can so I can compare with what lies ahead.
Although yes I loved a lot of what it can do, but it won’t stop me from pushing forward. The ref10 is possibly the item that has sat here the longest and only because I don’t think that there is anything that tops it for under 50k.
Just remember one thing, the next speaker is a speaker that JUST ABOUT EVERYONE went against it. I decided to say “ I don’t give a d@amn, let me find out for myself” and go from there. I WILL MAKE THAT CALL. I didn’t start this journey being scared or with fear. I’ve bought stuff that people wouldn’t dare to buy and at that time I had my hesitations but I came out fine. This time, yes we are talking north of $50k and it’s real money but I welcome the challenge. I welcome to find out with my own ears how good or not so good this will be.
I will try to film their arrival once they get here and maybe even post a video on YouTube. Maybe that will be the beginning?
We will see ;) |
