Centaur Stereo Amp

MDP said:
Day 3, and nothing is bothering me one bit. This amp may be staying.
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Great to hear, Mark! Do they do anything more/better than your Classe's?

Are you demoing the Stereo or Monos?
 
+1 Mark. All kidding aside, if you are impressed, it must sound fantastic.

Enjoy the journey my friend!
 
Well, Jock came today and picked up the Constellation Centaur stereo amp. He left me a couple of other amps to play with, but I already miss the Constellation !

I will be doing a in-home demo of the Magico S3's in the next week or so, thanks to David Baskin and a certain one of our members.
If the S3's don't better the Salon 2's, I will most likely be buying a Constellation stereo amp. It's hands down the best solid state amp I've ever heard in my system.
And here is the list of amps I've heard with the Salon 2's;

Mc 402
Mc 501 monos
Anthem D1 monos
Accuphase 6100
D'Agostino stereo
Mark Levinson No.53's
Bryston 14b SST
Solution 710
ARC 450 class D
Classe' CA M600's
I'm probably forgetting a few more, along with some good tube amps.

The Centaur is without a doubt, the best amplifier I've ever heard on the Revel speakers !! If I'm honest, I simply cannot find fault with it. That's not to say it's perfect , it's not. But it's as perfect,to me, as anything else I've heard.
I reminds me of the Lumin music streamer, it doesn't play music, music just flows out of it in the most beautiful and natural way. Its really quite hard to explain it.
I think that I read that they design their circuits a little differently than others, I don't know if that matters, but I do know that I miss it already.
 
Mark...very cool. What happens if you also like the S3s will you replace both speaker and amp at same time or will it have to be one or the other at first?
 
Mark - that is great! I'm sure Darrin will agree to the exceptional sound of the Constellation.
 
If that happens, his head will explode. Tough call .....


cmalak said:
Mark...very cool. What happens if you also like the S3s will you replace both speaker and amp at same time or will it have to be one or the other at first?
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MDP said:
Well, Jock came today and picked up the Constellation Centaur stereo amp. He left me a couple of other amps to play with, but I already miss the Constellation !

I will be doing a in-home demo of the Magico S3's in the next week or so, thanks to David Baskin and a certain one of our members.
If the S3's don't better the Salon 2's, I will most likely be buying a Constellation stereo amp. It's hands down the best solid state amp I've ever heard in my system.
And here is the list of amps I've heard with the Salon 2's;

Mc 402
Mc 501 monos
Anthem D1 monos
Accuphase 6100
D'Agostino stereo
Mark Levinson No.53's
Bryston 14b SST
Solution 710
ARC 450 class D
Classe' CA M600's
I'm probably forgetting a few more, along with some good tube amps.

The Centaur is without a doubt, the best amplifier I've ever heard on the Revel speakers !! If I'm honest, I simply cannot find fault with it. That's not to say it's perfect , it's not. But it's as perfect,to me, as anything else I've heard.
I reminds me of the Lumin music streamer, it doesn't play music, music just flows out of it in the most beautiful and natural way. Its really quite hard to explain it.
I think that I read that they design their circuits a little differently than others, I don't know if that matters, but I do know that I miss it already.
Click to expand...

Glad you enjoyed it. I agree it is the best solid state amp I have heard and I cycled through a number of them too. Its ability to drive the woofers with grunt and the treble/midrange with set like delicacy is unique. With S3s that would be a killer combo.
 
Darrin,

You were way ahead of the curve on the Magico/Constellation combo. Look at all the aggravation we could have saved if we had only followed your lead. Thank you for showing us the light.

Dpod4 said:
Glad you enjoyed it. I agree it is the best solid state amp I have heard and I cycled through a number of them too. Its ability to drive the woofers with grunt and the treble/midrange with set like delicacy is unique. With S3s that would be a killer combo.
Click to expand...
 
cmalak said:
Mark...very cool. What happens if you also like the S3s will you replace both speaker and amp at same time or will it have to be one or the other at first?
Click to expand...

Cyril, I don't know if I can pull off getting both at the same time, we'll see !
 
joeinid said:
Darrin,

You were way ahead of the curve on the Magico/Constellation combo. Look at all the aggravation we could have saved if we had only followed your lead. Thank you for showing us the light.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Joe. Wouldn't have gotten there without your encouragement and example! Darrin
 
joeinid said:
Darrin,

You were way ahead of the curve on the Magico/Constellation combo. Look at all the aggravation we could have saved if we had only followed your lead. Thank you for showing us the light.
Click to expand...

You're right Joe, Darrin had it from the get go. I wish Darrin would give us his opinion again after owning them for so long !
 
Great news Mark! Maybe it was a self-preservation safety mechanism to split the two auditions apart to keep your head from exploding :lol:
 
MDP said:
You're right Joe, Darrin had it from the get go. I wish Darrin would give us his opinion again after owning them for so long !
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Will do. And will compare constellation/Arc to my air tight gear driving the S5s.
 
Mark - the classe CAM600's (Stereophile Class A rated) have been the champ in your system for a while now. In what ways do you feel the Constellation stereo betters the classe monos? Lastly, in Fremer's review, he talks about the lack of slam of the Constellation. Have you noticed this or do you think this is perhaps a characteristic of the Constellation amp and Constellation preamp when run in direct mode rather than balanced?
 
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