Stillpoints and reference-level speakers

Hi Roxy54,
Congratulations on the Audio Note Kit amplifiers, they have a reputation for providing exceptional sound quality. It should be a really fine match for your high sensitivity/efficiency speakers. Of coursr with my bias I believe that you are moving in the direction of increased joy and musical naturalness LOL. What speakers are you using? I'm interested to know your impressions regarding a major amplifier change such as this. Please keep us posted. I think there's a good chance you're going to be thrilled with these changes to your system.
Charles,

Roxy54,
By the way choosing the upgraded Jupiter copper foil capacitors was a wise decision IMO. They've already achieved a great reputation and seem very well priced. Spending a bit more money for them could result in superb long term satisfaction and eliminate the dreaded 2nd guessing syndrome.
Charles,

You guys should look into Urushi caps.

Now 96 hours in with the Audio Points, and I am a total convert to this audio religion.

I'm not sure how they do it, but the affect is that the system has become both more precise AND more musical. The bass is tighter yet with significantly more prominence and slam - a superior foundation has been built. Microdynamics are better, treble is more detailed but even less fatiguing at concert levels, and imaging is both taller and deeper while being more precise, i.e. I can hear players in the soundstage RIGHT THERE.

And yeah, the apparent volume has increased too as Granny noted. The Salon 2s are not exactly an exemplar of efficiency so I've gone with high-current amplification solutions to make them hit hard when I want them to. It's nice to not have to draw so much juice out of the wall as I was before.

Charles,
The amp comes standard with Mundorf silvers I think, and I was underwhelmed when I used them some years ago to upgrade the crossovers in a pair Spendor 9/1 speakers. I have since realized through reading a lot of user feedback that they aren't all that great.
Brian Smith of Audio Note Kits thought that V caps were a good alternative, but again, I had heard that they swayed a bit toward the super high def side, and I prefer a more organic feel, even if a bit of detail is lost.
I was able to have Duelund VSF specially fitted into my AN DAC 2.1, but there was no way to fit them into this amp, and I couldn't afford cast caps that I would have wanted anyway. The advice from Grannyring and others came at just the right time, and they are small enough to fit.
I am pretty sure that I will be happy.
Thanks