New amplifier: SST Son of Ampzilla II

Randy Myers

Randy Myers

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Joined
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Location
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I have been reading a lot of really great reviews on the new SST Son of Ampzilla II. 6moons loved it... another reviewer was comparing it against Bryston, Pass, among others, but all in the $10k-$15k range.... so I decided to try one...

Playing not even an hour yet…. But DAM, this is one sweet sounding amp…. immediate and obvious difference… open, imaging, separation, smooth… high end is vastly better…. bottom end is very tight and controlled… but of course it needs a couple hundred hours to settle in…..

It seems like it stepped the system from a very nice system to a high end system! Great first impression but will need to give it a good 200-400 hours to really settle in!
 
Re: New amplifier

Yea, SST is EJ's other brand. They are hand made in the same facility as W4S, except they are 100% made by EJ and staff. A/B Class amplifiers. At this point considered their higher level line but that may change when the Statement series is released.
 
Re: New amplifier

jadedavid said:
OK, you had me worried that you would not be able to shill for W4S anymore.
Click to expand...


Never :).... bottom line is when a company or product proves itself to me I am not afraid to let others know.

I do not have to own a particular item to talk positively about it also... For example, just because I can't afford MBL I will still say how wonderful the equipment is. One of the members in our audio club has a full MBL setup. Maybe the most amazing system I have ever heard :D....
 
Re: New amplifier

Thanks Chris. It definitely gets a whole lot hotter than the Class D amp :). I think I have enough clearance in the rack, but I may consider moving the power conditioner to give a tad more space above the amp... currently I have it below the amp, which gives a couple inches above. The amp is heavy, over 40 pounds, so definitely want to keep it down low :D....
 
Re: New amplifier

I had someone ask me why I chose the SOA2 versus listening to other amplifiers in it's price range... this is my reply that I gave him....

It is next to impossible to listen to a variety of equipment for me. Therefore I read a ton of reviews and do a lot of research. I take the console of friends and forums friends.

In this situation my wife said she wanted to buy me a turntable for my birthday. She has seen me researching and reading reviews, etc. I told her that I have decided that vinyl is just probably not in the cards for me now. I remembered what a pain caring for them was and since I have no albums at all at this point, collecting yet another media would not be a great choice.

I told her I think I would prefer an upgraded amplifier. I think my MC speakers are dying for a higher end amplifier! Since EJ and Tony at Wyred are friends and we belong to the same audio club I wanted to talk with them first.

I did a ton of research and it appeared that every single review raved about the new Son of Ampzilla that was co-designed by EJ and James (prior to his passing
frown.gif
). Many were rating it with the big boys but with a price not quite with the big boys.

That is right up my alley!!!!

The amplifier is amazing so far. According to EJ they build the entire thing, from the ground up, at their California facilities. They also back them with a full 5 year warranty!!!!

These are very solid (40+ pounds), fully balanced class A/B amplifiers with one of the finest heritages in the industry.

In am very glad I pulled the trigger and went with the Son of Ampzilla II amplifier. I highly recommend anyone looking in the $4000-$10,000 range to consider these amps!!!!
 
Re: New amplifier

If they are still available go for it. These really are very special amplifiers....
 
Re: New amplifier

Ok, so after a very long day driving to Sacramento and back (11 hours driving) for a funeral, I just sat down and listened to a few songs.... all I can say is DAM, this Ampzilla really is fantastic.

EJ told me he is very proud of this amplifier. He has uncountable hours into finishing the design and feels he has put his heart and soul into it.

All I can say is I would be willing to stack this amplifier against virtually anything out there at 2-3 times it's price and I would be willing to speculate that the sweet, famous heritage, up to date design and sound of the Son would probably win!

EJ should be proud of this because DAM this amplifier is good!!! :D
 
I'd love to hear comments from anyone who directly AB tested this amp vs. the one it replaced SST/Ampzilla 2000 Son of Ampzilla (designed by Bongiorno.)
 
That last post was a very long time ago. The Son of Ampzilla was definitely a fine amplifier. My friend and I compared them to several different amps and they faired well. The small T+A was definitely a better sounding amplifier in both our views as an example... but again, all of these comparisons were done many years ago.

We have both moved on. He now has a Luxman setup and I have a McIntosh setup.
 
I have reluctantly decided to sell my SST Son of Ampzilla II amplifer after moving from a big house to a small condo. I have consolidated 4 separate boxes into one Hegel H590 Integrated Amp. I will miss my SST Abrosia 2000 Preamp, the Son of Ampzilla II amplifier, and my two PS Audio Directstream boxes. Sad day but the H590 is no slouch. Two big thumbs up for the SST components!
 
The SOA 2 may be a good match when I pull the trigger on the Maggies? I cant decide whether to get the 1.7 or 2.7. My small room is a big factor in this decision. Cheers.
 
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