Rayooo
Member
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2013
- Messages
- 422
- Thread Author
- #1
As is often the case, the "day job" gets in the way. No exception today.
As luck would have it, I was 16-1 KT120s for the weekend. Listening to one Magnepan 20.7 just doesn't quite cut it. Mono Sucks
So, the spare KT120s were due to be delivered today (Monday) and I'm stuck in NYC late...but not too late.
I rush home and thank goodness the Fedx Box from TubeDepot is sitting there!
For about 12 nanoseconds I figure I'll just wait till Wednesday to pop in the 16th KT120.
Nope! In goes lucky #16.
I fire the 2nd amp up, do the initial bias setting and throw on some music.
The first thing that strikes me is that the system sounds dramatically different. Not even considering better or worse at this point, I'm literally amazed at how different things are sounding. Now in reality, I've had 3 DACs installed in the last couple months (D-07X, W4S DAC2DSDse and Meitner MA1) I like them all, the D-07X and Meitner beat the W4S unit, but, since they both cost about 3 times to price of the W4S, It seems like they should.
So I've pretty much settled on the MA1, and, all of the gibberish below is with the MA 1 and ARTs.
I'll just make a couple comments on a few of the differences that stood out.
Piano (Melody Gardot, My one and only thrill CD-FLAC)
Stunning, it's as if some of the harmonics of the notes had been missing. full bodied piano that sounds dramatically different.
I've listened to this recording 50 times minimum, tonight it was a different experience.
Her Voice
Absolutely lovely, extremely detailed, can sound "etchy" the detail is there in full, but it sounds natural, ssssssibilance that sounds natural. is pleasing, vs raspy over etched like is so often the case, brutally annoying!
Dynamics
Ok this is BS, I know it's BS, I read crap like this in audio reviews and I always say something like "the reviewer is an idiot, modern electronics can't affect things like dynamics"
In this case, I'm the idiot, pure & simple. Somehow, there's an extra bit of "bloom" and/or dynamics to voices and instruments.
Sarah Jarosz, Build me up from Bones
Her voice just blooms up and echos away, perfectly.
Lastly, call it "euphonic coloration" or a pig in a poke, ALL recordings sound better, great recordings sound stunning, bad recordings while still bad, are less bad. I always hated an expensive upgrade where you went from X to X-100 recordings that were listenable due to bad recordings sounding worse with each "improvement" in the system.
I was fully prepared to hate these Amps, hell, they cost a small fortune, 7 Amps @ Idle, all heat, 16ea. KT120s to deal with.... I'm an idiot for ever considering them. I figured I could sell'em, get most of my $$ back, and go back to JC1s or some other SS amps... and no one would ever know.
I may still be an idiot, but I'm a happy idiot listing to music tonight. :exciting:
As luck would have it, I was 16-1 KT120s for the weekend. Listening to one Magnepan 20.7 just doesn't quite cut it. Mono Sucks
So, the spare KT120s were due to be delivered today (Monday) and I'm stuck in NYC late...but not too late.
I rush home and thank goodness the Fedx Box from TubeDepot is sitting there!
For about 12 nanoseconds I figure I'll just wait till Wednesday to pop in the 16th KT120.
Nope! In goes lucky #16.
I fire the 2nd amp up, do the initial bias setting and throw on some music.
The first thing that strikes me is that the system sounds dramatically different. Not even considering better or worse at this point, I'm literally amazed at how different things are sounding. Now in reality, I've had 3 DACs installed in the last couple months (D-07X, W4S DAC2DSDse and Meitner MA1) I like them all, the D-07X and Meitner beat the W4S unit, but, since they both cost about 3 times to price of the W4S, It seems like they should.
So I've pretty much settled on the MA1, and, all of the gibberish below is with the MA 1 and ARTs.
I'll just make a couple comments on a few of the differences that stood out.
Piano (Melody Gardot, My one and only thrill CD-FLAC)
Stunning, it's as if some of the harmonics of the notes had been missing. full bodied piano that sounds dramatically different.
I've listened to this recording 50 times minimum, tonight it was a different experience.
Her Voice
Absolutely lovely, extremely detailed, can sound "etchy" the detail is there in full, but it sounds natural, ssssssibilance that sounds natural. is pleasing, vs raspy over etched like is so often the case, brutally annoying!
Dynamics
Ok this is BS, I know it's BS, I read crap like this in audio reviews and I always say something like "the reviewer is an idiot, modern electronics can't affect things like dynamics"
In this case, I'm the idiot, pure & simple. Somehow, there's an extra bit of "bloom" and/or dynamics to voices and instruments.
Sarah Jarosz, Build me up from Bones
Her voice just blooms up and echos away, perfectly.
Lastly, call it "euphonic coloration" or a pig in a poke, ALL recordings sound better, great recordings sound stunning, bad recordings while still bad, are less bad. I always hated an expensive upgrade where you went from X to X-100 recordings that were listenable due to bad recordings sounding worse with each "improvement" in the system.
I was fully prepared to hate these Amps, hell, they cost a small fortune, 7 Amps @ Idle, all heat, 16ea. KT120s to deal with.... I'm an idiot for ever considering them. I figured I could sell'em, get most of my $$ back, and go back to JC1s or some other SS amps... and no one would ever know.
I may still be an idiot, but I'm a happy idiot listing to music tonight. :exciting:
anic: