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Post by jandl100 on Aug 17, 2019 19:14:41 GMT
Hmm, yes. I had a brain misfire when I bought the Krell 400xi. In what passes for my mind I had it on my Want List. Only after I'd had it for a short while and was thinking that it sounded kind of familiar did I come across some forum posts of mine from about 5 or 6 years ago when I had the same model! No wonder it sounded familiar. So, it went the way of all mortal flesh after that, I like exploring new ground not revisiting previously owned gear!
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 17, 2019 19:15:59 GMT
.... and yes, I agree, I wouldn't recommend the springy supports for lighter gear if used by other members of the household.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 19, 2019 11:49:05 GMT
New and not quite so new DACs
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Post by MartinT on Aug 19, 2019 12:32:28 GMT
Any thoughts on the Audiobyte, Jerry? It reads like a good bit of kit.
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Post by mattspl on Aug 19, 2019 14:20:10 GMT
They look good, how do they compare?
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 19, 2019 16:36:10 GMT
Early days, of course, I've only listened to the Audiobyte for about 20 minutes, but I am a bit in awe of the 3D layering, never heard owt quite like it before. Listening to a violin sonata and the violin was very clearly positioned in front of and to the left of the piano. I've not heard 3D done as well as that before. Excellent clarity and transparency, too.
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Post by mattspl on Aug 20, 2019 11:28:21 GMT
Early days, of course, I've only listened to the Audiobyte for about 20 minutes, but I am a bit in awe of the 3D layering, never heard owt quite like it before. Listening to a violin sonata and the violin was very clearly positioned in front of and to the left of the piano. I've not heard 3D done as well as that before. Excellent clarity and transparency, too. Sounds very good. I’d not heard of the Audiobyte before reading your posts.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 8, 2019 18:28:28 GMT
So, the end is nigh? I've had my 'destination' speakers for nearly 10 years. Good old MBL 116f. I'm sorted on interconnects. Epiphany Acoustics Atratus III. Headphones - Been well and truly round the houses with headphones over the last 2 or 3 years. Beyerdynamic DT 250. Check. It now seems I have reached my destination amplifier. It just sounds right to me. I really can't imagine anything suiting me better. I've had it a month or so now and have just bought another for my 2nd system, installed that today. It's an integrated class D amp. Marantz's first ever class D amp, or so they say. 35wpc doubling that into 4 ohms. It even has a DAC onboard, but tbh that's not much cop. I'll carry on using my separate DAC du jour.
Mine's black and it seems impossible for me to take a decent photo of it, so here are stock images. Marantz HD-AMP1. It even has tone controls! But you can switch them off with a source-direct mode. No, I'm not saying it's perfect for everyone, but I have a strong suspicion that it's a long term keeper for me. It just nails how I'd like the system to sound. Maybe Marantz will bring out a mk2 which will be even better? Only DACs and speaker cables to play with now. .... and maybe further explorations into power conditioning, USB cables and de-jittering. Although I am happy with what I have. Some new speaker cables are in the post to have a play with, but they'll have to go some to beat my DNM bi-wire setup, and I have a choice of 3 excellent DACs already here. I suspect I'll be leaving DACs alone for a while. Maybe go the whole hog with Townshend speaker supports? Blimey, I'm going to have to start listening to music soon rather than fussing about with the gear!
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Post by MartinT on Sept 8, 2019 18:52:45 GMT
Well, if you had to settle for an amp, that seems like a nice hunk of jewellery. Well done if you've now 'closed' the amp! Does that mean the preamp goes, too?
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 8, 2019 18:55:10 GMT
Yes, it's a true integrated, you can't separate pre and power sections.
I've had integrateds for a while now - Krell 400xi, Crayon CFA-1 and now the Marantz. It seems odd to me, too!
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Post by brian2957 on Sept 8, 2019 19:09:49 GMT
Eh.. Who'da thunk it . Not too much to swap now mate That amp looks very tasty Jerry
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Post by ChrisB on Sept 8, 2019 19:18:57 GMT
An amp so good, you bought it twice! Gosh, the end of another ear 'ole.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 8, 2019 19:24:28 GMT
A review I'm well in tune with by Andrew Everard -- andreweverard.com/2015/12/21/review-marantz-hd-amp1-is-a-classic-in-the-making/".... its ability to develop that broad, deep, yet precisely focused soundstage between and around the speakers, thrilling you with the impact of instruments and voices, and allowing you to hear elements of mixes previously thought familiar, with the effect that almost every track listened to comes up fresh. And yet all this is achieved without any sign of effort or the smoke and mirrors involved in creating the illusion of a three-dimensional performance – the music just happens before the listener, and it’s hard not to be swept away in the performance." Yup, that's what I hear, as well.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 8, 2019 19:25:13 GMT
An amp so good, you bought it twice! Exactly.
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Post by julesd68 on Sept 8, 2019 20:16:34 GMT
And available for just 620 quid - quite some VFM!
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Post by MartinT on Sept 9, 2019 6:08:26 GMT
If it drives your MBLs well, sounds like the perfect solution.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 9, 2019 7:11:24 GMT
It seems to have taken the class D sound, that I have always liked, to its logical conclusion in many ways.
It excels at the 'saturated tonal colours' that the best of class D does well, along with the imaging precision and solidity. And it has the leading edge precision that can be another class D trait. Tbh, it makes pretty much all other amps I have heard sound flat and uninteresting to my ears. It has the sense of "palpable presence" that makes an audio system sound real. Very very rare, in my experience - most often found in the best valve amps, very rarely with transistors, ime.
Another 100 watts would undoubtedly come in handy some of the time, if it has a fault in my system it is that it doesn't have a huge sense of scale on large complex music. I appreciate that would rule it out for some folks, but I'm OK with that. Most of my listening is small to moderate in scale. It isn't bad on big music, it just doesn't blow your socks off, although it does seem to perform much better on rock than on classical (unfortunately for my tastes!). A full symphony orchestra going hell for leather is quite a challenge for any system. Or maybe I am just more critical about classical.
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Post by Firebottle on Sept 9, 2019 7:49:18 GMT
Well blow me down. Has this thread been taken over by an impostor?
Never thought I'd hear it said. Better even than the Crayon (best amp ever at Jerry towers)?
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 9, 2019 8:04:33 GMT
Yep, the new Best Ever It just sounds like I want it to.
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Post by MartinT on Sept 9, 2019 8:51:37 GMT
Another 100 watts would undoubtedly come in handy some of the time, if it has a fault in my system it is that it doesn't have a huge sense of scale on large complex music. I appreciate that would rule it out for some folks, but I'm OK with that. Exactly my findings so far, Jerry. I can hear good Class D doing great things in the midrange, but the models I've heard so far (including a prototype in my system) don't do the welly or scale of my Belles. I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
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