My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
Wc, maybe you need to try something better than both the Lumin and the Dave. I have a feeling this would spank the A1 cute little butt: http://aplhifi.com/products/digital/dsd-sr/ |
Wc, as good as the Lumin S1 is , it is still based on Sabre 9018 chip...wich is very good but in my experience is beaten by top dacs out there. The reason I gave you the APL DSd-SR hint, is because that dac has been compared to DCS Vivaldi, MSB select, Ayon S5, and it was clear the APL was the better dac...more analog...the nearest sound to vinyl. So I can be pretty sure it will best your S1 and the Dave. |
WC you saw the light! Welcome to the world of the best digital to analog conversion. Told you some posts ago that your Lumin and DS were not sota... Your newly acquired K1 uses top AKM chips in parallel. Who perfected that design for Esoteric some years ago? Alex Paychev. The owner of APL hi fi , maker of the dac I own ...the DSD-S. These dacs give, among some others, the most vinyl like analog sound on market today. They reproduce more sonic nuances and an overall more organic presentation. Enjoy! |
I don’t think his taste is to the very warm side. Like me, he likes to listen loud and my experience is you cannot listen loud when your system or speakers are aiming just a tad on the bright side...even sometimes on the neutral side makes listening at loud level for long period of times very fatiguing. Specially if you like brass like trumpet, or alto saxophone played loudly. |
Can t wait to read about the Krell vs the new generations. About the new Paradigm Persona speakers ( the passive ones) , I was curious and went to read about them a bit. Sure impressing is the technology used on the Beryllium midrange, did you see that double magnet ! I would like to try a pair on my system. |
I am not tired of reading him. Sure he has his ways, but he can do whatever he wants, it is his money and we can’t judge him. Some audiophiles are very slow movers, some are very fast movers. The rest are in between. The thread tells a lot more than the online magazine reviews that are always positive on most products... I and the majority of us following this thread want to continue reading his feedback, even if it has flaws sometimes...the op is human he is not perfect like everybody else. Life is short, and it is much better with a thread like that than without... |
I’ m with WC on this. Audiophiles with experience know this, power is not refinement. As good as the 700cx will ever be, it is a 1988 Ferrari Countach. Luxman 900u is a 2018 Ferrari Portofino. Technology evolution is the key word here. audiolabirinth is suggesting change the pistons and retrofit a NOS kit on the car. Won’t transform it into the Portofino 2018. As for the 509x, as good as this integrated is it was build to a price point ( amp section like the M700u ) M900u and its preamp brother were build with Luxman best parts and technology... not the same at all. Like a women wich you fall in love with her body...509x. The other women you fall in love with her body, and her soul too...M900u...you get the whole complete package that transcends the experience. |
A dedicated circuit with nice 14 ga is more than enough for me. Would 12 ga change the sound for the better, absolutely not in my case...I don’t care for a little bit more bass...I already got more than I need with the 14 ga wired on a second distribution panel. Using Oyaide R1 outlet and loving it also. |
audiolabyrinth, liking vintage gear and believing it is on par with todays sota is an illusion most readers of this thread have already acknowledged... may it be digital or amplification or pre amplification.This is the reason they come here and read WC to get to know what has come to be the best by todays modern standards. You are free to start your own in the vintage section. |
Please give us, or this thread a break... You are like someone from a car forum that keeps saying his 3 th gen is better than the 9 th gen. Nobody in the 9 th gen. section takes you seriously. But sometimes, only sometimes, someone like WC wants to know and ear what the fuzz was all about the 3 th gen. then. But deepdown he already knows the results in advance, he just needs to experience it...to demystify the myth. To confirm his assumption. |
Your modified Krell 700cx is what I would can an audiophile abomination. As good as it will ever be, it will never be pure and will have lost resale value due to modifying... this is always a fact you can t deny. This thread was always about modern solid state amplifiers. If you guys cannot live with the fact we are testing and discussing the latest and the best here, you can go discuss and compare your older gear ( sooner than later they will need replacement parts) all you want in the vintage section. |
Can’t wait for your report ! No way this thing will beat the Lux, or even less detrone the Rowland 925s. If it is neutral, you will ear your preamp through it , but will not add magic like the big guns. Just to be clear when the report will be given, I pray to God that our little tweak friends will not go full excuses... ...hum you have to let it heat up for 36 hrs you need a better power cable or circuit you need to have the caps replaced you need to have it stand on a 20 kg beryllium shelve |
I find old recordings like Saxophone Colossus ( Sony Rollins) Time out ( Brubeck) very useful to evaluate a system. There is a lot of instruments going on those which I can evaluate... drums , cymbals,... And to evaluate the reproduction of voice, I use Anne Bisson Blue Mind. Very well recorded, and known among audiophiles. There is also drums in this, along with some nicely recorded piano. For ambiance mico details and piano, I use Tord Gustavsen. Good double bass to evluate also. African Magic from Abdullah Ibrahim is a HUGE piano live recording with double bass and drum, I urge you guys to get this one eyes closed and thank me later. :) |
About the speakers. Kef makes the Uni-Q driver, and a lot of audiophiles swear by that design in the Blade 2. Coherent point source philosophy. On the other side, Vivid makes 4 way speakers like the G2 and they swear by that design. More driver philosophy. Both are opposite designs.... Somebody has got to do something right and the other something wrong...?? They can’t be both right in their approach..... I sometime feel we are being framed by a lot of speaker makers, the thing is it is very difficult to know the ultimate truth behind the curtain... |
Maybe there was a problem with the speakers and he is trying to get a return. Maybe he did not received them yet because delivery was delayed or he wasnt home to accept shipment. Maybe he took a little vacation week end for his birthday and his wife said no forum typing please for a couple of days. Maybe something I or someone wrote frustrated him. ( hope not) |
WC, if the Vivid G1 are the best speakers you eard except that they don’t fit your room. Why don’t you just get smaller Vivid G3 or G4 ?? I beleive I already know the answer, there are some other things you don’t like about the G1 you do not wish to share on this thread. I understand this, perfectly normal for reasons that are your business only. We, experienced audiogoners, can read between the lines. We well know that someone experienced like you absolutely won’t make the mistake of buying overloading speakers...it is not rocket science...its room size vs speakers size... surely your conections will give you that information before you buy... also dealers are supposed to know that...it is the reason we pay them huge markup... to guide us in selecting the right 30k or 60k speaker to fit the environment in which it will be playing and getting us satisfaction. |
Good idea ysound. Find you a pair of preowned Q5 at a price you will feel good about. They will work now , and most probably in your future room also. When the room is done, you ll have option to sell or keep depending on your goal of the moment nebob, I think even if the G2 fits his present room, WC will not want to keep them in his future bigger room...because the G1 would be the better speaker for that new room. |
Is the Sasha 2 really in a higher league than the Sopra 3 ? This is a much interesting question and I can’t wait to read WC comments about it ! Sopra , Kanta, Magico A3, Dynaudio Contour 60, B&W 803d3, Revel 228Be. These are the ´´new kids on the block’´, and the big question is always...do they really bring new benchmarks for the money compared to the classic top performers out there. |
I think the midrange should be thicker on the Magicos, thiner on the Focals because their very light cone material ( foam sandwich with fiberglass) have always had that sound signature ( supposed to better and richer with the latest designs...Sopra, Kanta, etc.) I believe the Focals will have more boogie factor , more midrange snap and speed...snare drums twacks should need less power from the amp for the same volume level than the Magico. I think detail and refinement should be in favor of Magico. Bass should be more tuneful on the Magico, sealed design + woofer cone material. I think the Magicos will be easier to set up speakers than Focal. Sealed design, smoother highs...a speaker that behaves better. The Focal are more extreme...highs...bass...ported design. |
WC already knows that shadorne. He just wants to experience it. To know if the Focal or Magico can compete with the G1. To know which of those two is the best in his room. And we, his followers, are looking forward to read his conclusions. Why, because most of us don’t trust reviews of magazines, and most don’t have the connexions or the means to be able to bring all this gear into our rooms to make those tests. |
@thezaks `` The one someone sells is never the one to get``. This statement is true but in an idealistic world, which almost never really applies in everybody `s ( normal guy) audio world. As I wrote, one s inferior will be someone else superior...so this is why things work out in the audio market cycle. |
