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Post by brian2957 on Sept 10, 2014 15:15:56 GMT
Agreed , the Mini-1 is a cracking little amp.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 11, 2014 6:28:04 GMT
Never heard of them, Jerry. Cables are such a black art, I really want to stick with what I'm using for a good long time now - except for Tony/Coherent's 6D power cable, which I'm hoping will be delivered soon. I think a large part of the Atratus III's excellence is the use of silver KLEI bullet RCA plugs - which is pretty amazing in a £100 cable! - wonderful things!
I have 2 pairs - so could loan one pair to you, Martin - but they are RCA not XLR ... ??
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Post by MartinT on Sept 11, 2014 14:02:30 GMT
My system is almost completely XLR. Don't worry, Jerry, I almost don't want to hear another good cable as a period of stability in that department will be a good thing. The Yannis 223.5 silver ConnectLitz are doing the business.
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 11, 2014 14:24:17 GMT
Think another nudge to Yannis to get him to join in here
You want to have a go this time ?
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 13, 2014 6:33:55 GMT
A new amplification device has arrived and been installed .... A Virtue Audio "Sensation" (luv the name) M451 class D integrated amp, see it sitting under the rather larger Ming Da valve amp. Cute, innit. It came with the standard (i.e. cheap!) PSU box - but without proper cabling to connect the two. That's now sorted, at least temporarily, and the amp is up and going. It turns out to be very dependent on power cable into the PSU box - I started off with a Naim mains cable that just happened to be lying around untried. Oh dear, what a disappointing amp - it was "OKish", but not much more than that, kind of bland and a fair bit uninteresting. It was only after a few hours of hoping the amp would warm up and improve that I remembered the power cable being used was not one of my regulars. Swapped it over and - light and life and MUSIC!! A friend had recommended the £30 Naim mains lead a few months ago and I'd never got around to trying it. Sheesh. What a load of crap. Anyhoo - my usual Nordost Magus power lead worked its magic and brought the amp to life. I hear mutterings from the sceptics but I'm a firm believer in the benefits of mains cables, although it's rare in my experience for differences to be quite this obvious. Early days yet, but as usual I am enjoying class D sound - it is quite distinctive, there's a 3D roundness to the imaging that seems real, and a palpability and presence to the sound that just hits the right buttons for me. As usual, it lacks the ultimate in rez, rapid runs on a geetar, for example, tend to blur together. And with the Sensation amp the bass is just a little woolly - quite a contrast to the almost stark tautness of the bass from Amptastic class D amps, for example. But the Word is that the more expensive PSUs available for the amp provide worthwhile improvements, so I'll be investigating those, I think - I've been particularly recommended the battery PSU option. Yep, I may well put in an order.
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 13, 2014 9:06:19 GMT
A £30 Naim lead must surely be very standard, almost certainly an ordinary lead from anyone will be the same
The Naim Powerline is around £300 odd I think
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Post by MartinT on Sept 13, 2014 11:31:29 GMT
It looks cute, Jerry. Do you know what the Class D chipset is?
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 13, 2014 18:39:09 GMT
It's a Tripath chip - beyond that, I know not!
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Post by brian2957 on Sept 13, 2014 21:54:33 GMT
How does it sound compared to the Amptastic Mini-1 Jerry now you've had it up and running for a while .
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 14, 2014 6:22:39 GMT
Needs more listening, Brian - the time wasted with the cr*p Naim cable means I haven't got a proper view on it yet. It's certainly an enjoyable listen, but I need to try a broader range of music.
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Post by brian2957 on Sept 14, 2014 7:50:21 GMT
This amp has been on my radar for a while and I nearly bought it when it came up for sale . However , I need a new set of speakers so saving my dough for that . I'll be keeping an eye on your blog for your opinion of this amp . Your review of the Mini-1 was spot on .
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 14, 2014 11:07:22 GMT
How does it sound compared to the Amptastic Mini-1 Jerry now you've had it up and running for a while . OK, some more hours under the belt now, with a range of challenging music.
Swings and roundabouts, Brian.
Firstly, my M451 is powered by the cheapo standard PSU, but fed from an AG1500 mains regenerator which probably helps things a bit. Other PSUs are available, but all cost into 3 figures. I've not tried those.
Also bear in mind that I don't have a Mini-1 on hand for direct comparison - I'm comparing from memory of the sound, and memory of my reactions to the sound.
Bass - surprisingly, the Mini-1 goes deeper and is more powerful and better defined. The M451 is Good bass-wise, but I'd classify the Mini-1 as VG to Excellent.
However, the Mini-1 does suffer from a lack of transient resolution, common to the TA2020 chipset, I suspect - e.g. rapid runs can blur together a bit. The M451 does this, but to a significantly lesser extent. Both have that 'spang' that helps bring music alive, initial transients are very fast and lively where appropriate, but the recovery time of the M451 is faster and it can do it again sooner. (No tittering at the back. )
Both make great music, that I find enjoyable and engrossing. On balance, I suspect I marginally prefer the M451 for its better resolution, but I think that's down to my priorities as a classical music listener. If I were to put bass-led music first (e.g. a lot of modern pop/rock/dance music) then I suspect I'd go for the Mini-1 for its superior low freq performance.
Of course, better PSUs for the M451 may well give the best of both worlds - I rather think I'll be trying that.
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Post by brian2957 on Sept 14, 2014 12:29:51 GMT
Thanks Jerry , it'll be interesting to see how the Sensation amp fares with a better PSU. I use an AG500 and a Maplins PSU with the Mini-1 , however the improvements when using it with a 12V car battery are claerly audible . I know that the WAF of a car battery in the lounge is minus zero so not many can do this . I'm lucky to have a separate listening room like you.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 14, 2014 15:12:32 GMT
I've just ordered the battery PSU for the Virtue Audio amp. Will probably take a few weeks to get here.
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Post by brian2957 on Sept 14, 2014 15:16:15 GMT
No popcorn emoticon will this do
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Post by MartinT on Sept 14, 2014 15:47:05 GMT
Here you go...
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 8, 2014 6:46:05 GMT
Oops - I see I have a bit of catchup to do on my Blog ...
Well, the Virtue Audio battery PSU arrived and, as promised, it upped the performance and was a worthwhile upgrade.
So, I now had 3 fine amps to choose from .... the VA Sensation, the Ming Da KT90 amp and my NAD S300.
All great amps, imho.
Choices, choices!
At the end of the day, I only really need and want 1 amp at any one time, if at all possible.
The Virtue was ajudged by me to be just a little too 'nice' - it's great to listen to, very musical indeed, but it seems to have a bit of a nice-pass filter on it - it has a bias for only letting pleasant sounds through, nasty horrid coarseness in music tends to get filtered out leaving a bit of a Golden Glow to the sound. It reminds me greatly of the Unison Research Unico series of valve/ss hybrid electronics - exactly the same sort of euphony. Some folks will absolutely fall in love with this sort of sound - but I want more of the music's badboy grunge to be passed through.
So if anyone fancies buying the Virtue Audio amp with its battery PSU, just let me know!
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 8, 2014 6:55:23 GMT
Which leaves the Ming Da KT90 valve amp and the solid state NAD S300.
The Minging One --- Well, tbh, it's difficult to fault, really. A most impressive sound that I really enjoy. And curiously (as it's a valve amp) it's the quietest of the three in terms of transformer hum (zero, where the NAD has a little) and background silence on its audio output.
So why have I sold it? --- yep, it's on its way! Well, I think it's a slight warts&all starkness to the mids - I want a bit of Golden Glow, just not as much as the Virtue Audio amp gives! Some people are never happy.
- Ah, but I am happy with the NAD S300 amp. At least for the moment. It's got a bit of transformer hum, that any music masks - but it's still there, which is just a bit annoying. These NADs have a bit of a rep for it, according to several forum posts I have seen. But it gets the music spot on, for me. Shedloads of hi-rez detail but without hype, lovely 3D soundstaging, excellent stereo focus, and just a hint of added niceness to the mids which gives an almost Quad II-like fruitiness to the sound. Oh, and more than enough power to rattle the windows when required.
So, the NAD S300 is staying for the nonce, the Ming Da is sold, the Virtue is up for sale (anyone? ).
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 8, 2014 6:58:06 GMT
Well, this CDP arrived as a perfect match for my current amp de jour .... A NAD S500 CD player. Sadly, it was not to be. It sounded seriously good. But only when it managed to read a disc, which was rarely. Must have been bumped and jostled by the courier or something. On its way back for a refund. But this has now arrived to brighten up my day ... A Wyred4Sound DAC1. WOW it's a hi-rez device! Yet another veil has been discarded from my system's sound. A friend popped around and brought with him a TOSLINK cable he had been on about. TOSLINK? Meh, they always sound drab. But this little beastie was a glass TOSLINK cable. Ooo - another ballgame entirely! Allowed even more hi-rez texture through. Yum. I am now on the lookout for some glass optical cables to try. Anyone got one to sell or loan? (see my classifieds Want ad ).
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Post by Sovereign on Nov 8, 2014 20:47:58 GMT
I had this DAC as a loan DAC when I fried my MDAC, I really liked the Wired for Sound DAC, was such an excellent DAC I loved the way the music just hung in the air, I was sad to give it back .
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