15+1 KT120s

From your posts Ray I think you're happy with the ART's.:P How are the Maggies doing with those tube watts?

I was always dead set against low impedance speakers with transformer output tube amps. I'd always known Maggies in general while low impedance, where as everyone always says mostly resistive load...which would have made it less of an issue, but the facts be damned, no tubes for me.

I have no excuse other than me being pig-headed about this. I guess it was a weak moment on my part, and several other Maggie owners with tube amps saying it works fine. Still though, as I mentioned, I was ready for it not to be to my liking simply due to amp/speaker miss-match.

In the end at this point it's a non-issue. Bass is tight and deep, I suppose if I were to critically compare the JC-1 Bass with ART, the JC-1s would have to win by a nose, overall though in every other case the ARTs are way out in front. And in reality, I've not detected any deficiency even in low bass, but I'm a Maggie lover, so ultra powerful gut pounding bass is lower on my list of needs.

Soundstage overall is as wide or wider, but an overall increase in depth. Strangely enough, up front instruments and voices seem closer, which typically always seemed to mean they were more detailed and sometimes etched. In this case, they are reach out and touch closer, very detailed, but not a trace of harshness. I've never, ever, heard this amount of detail without those traces of harshness on marginal or crappy recordings. In this case, even pitifully recorded over-etched recordings are a bit easier on the ears..but at the same time, no softening or loss of detail.

And, I still don't quite understand my sense of there being more "punch" now. No way I can accept this in reality, so it must be my imagination and/or some other factor at work. Recordings that I've listened to many many times are now sounding substantially different in this regard. I'm a firm believer in psychological factors affecting what I think I hear, so I'm putting a big "BS" qualifier on me thinking somehow the ARTs are more "dynamic" sounding.

In the end, at this point in time, I couldn't be happier, Only issues are what one gets when joining the tube-power-amp-club, heat & cost/maintenance for tubes over the years.
 
Ray,

You are oh so correct. These ART monos are something to behold. We are nowhere near broken in and can you imagine what these will be like in another month or so. OMG! There is not a trace or hint of harshness. There is just a natural, un-electronic clarity that I have NEVER received from any other amp. It's like we are directly plugged into the mixing console and the music unfolds in front of us.
 
haha I made it until about 5AM. :) hmm, seems humans (assuming I qualify as one) do in fact need to sleep sometimes. :rofl::snicker:

About the same for me too. With CJ ART monos, sleep is very difficult. Usually a great system puts me right to sleep. Not these babies, I am up listening to every note.
 
About the same for me too. With CJ ART monos, sleep is very difficult. Usually a great system puts me right to sleep. Not these babies, I am up listening to every note.

Put those Revel's back in the mix ..........:exciting:
 
Ray, I don't think it's BS. If you get tired of those Art's in a year or so let me know.

If I get tired of these in a year, someone needs to give me a swift kick in the buttttt maybe more than one swift kick. :roflmao:
 
Thanks for the feedback Ray. I'm glad your system is going above and beyond your expectations.

I think in this day and age you, meaning everyone, have to throw conventional thought and wisdom aside and decide for yourself what works in your situation. Now we know that tubes can work with speakers such as this. Do you need to be picky about which amps will be the better fit, sure but it is possible.

Another perfect example is Mike's quest to find an amp for his Raidho's. From 1000w SS mono's to 100w tube amps. Who 'da thunk?
 
Ray,

The ART monos are the best amps we have ever heard. Time check :( Talk about audio crack? This is it my friend!
 
Last night ended up being a night of sleep, sleeping at night is for wimps I wimped out big time last night.

I noticed yesterday, or I at least imagined, a bit of edge and "2d" effect creeping in. Not unexpected I guess, but still made me scared! By this morning the holography is back and my nervous twitch from yesterday is gone. :happy:

Surely I'm in for a few more of these episodes. I'll hit the 40 hr. mark later today.

Disclaimer: I never could much distinguish between the reality my mind presents to me and what might be a "real reality" that only exists outside my mind. :what: :wacko:
 
Last night ended up being a night of sleep, sleeping at night is for wimps I wimped out big time last night.

I noticed yesterday, or I at least imagined, a bit of edge and "2d" effect creeping in. Not unexpected I guess, but still made me scared! By this morning the holography is back and my nervous twitch from yesterday is gone. :happy:

Surely I'm in for a few more of these episodes. I'll hit the 40 hr. mark later today.

Disclaimer: I never could much distinguish between the reality my mind presents to me and what might be a "real reality" that only exists outside my mind. :what: :wacko:

Ray - give it several hundred hours. Things will yo-yo. But you know there is a rainbow at the end!
 
About time for a quick update on the ARTs......

Just passing 50 hours today. Thank goodness, and a bit surprising, I've only had that one incident where I felt the magic was gone.
At this point they sounded wonderful initially, took a bit of a dive after 15ish hours. The magic returned by 20 hours and things have been very good since. I'm hard pressed to detect any significant change since 20 hours. We'll see.

I have decided to go cage-less, I'd had them installed and removed a few times Yes, the cages are a PITA to install/remove. It would help a little if the captive screws were cross-point instead of just slotted...but the cages are packed away in the shipping boxes now and that's that. I like the looks of the AMPs both ways, so, cage-less it is if for no other reason that a bit better cooling.

I've been trying to detect any down-side to the ARTs as compared to the JC-1s, I can't. Even the bass in my opinion is every bit if not more enjoyable on the ARTs. In short, the ARTs in my opinion meet or beat the JC-1s in every category, and of course considering the cost difference, they damn well should. :bonkers:

In an effort to not do the typical Audiophile thing of using words like huge, massive, extreme etc. to describe an improvement that likely couldn't even be measured, I'll simply say that I'm very much enjoying the ARTs, to me, the sound character they seem to add, or, maybe extract, is very pleasing. I'm keeping them, and, as I say about the GAT, the ARTs will remain here until they are stolen or pried from my dead hands.

Actually, there was another down-side to the ARTs. Since I'm a DIY guy, and just love making cables, my previous RCAs just were not quite the correct length to accommodate the ARTs, so I had to whip up a new set, oh wait, I like making cables, so I guess it really wasn't a down side after all.

Enjoy your music every day!

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