Top Tier Amps

The way I understand this tier thought is - a tier manufacturer 4 amp might very well out perform a tier manufacturer 1 amp that's any where close to the same cost

There is a sweet amp / speaker / anything in any manufacturers line up.
 
Lucidear said:
Mike
Caelin Gabriel in this thread:
https://www.audioshark.org/general-...component-you-just-love-18463.html#post305822
Seemed to rate the Ayon Crossfire much higher than tier2.
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I recently purchased an Ayon preamp. I was so impressed with it, went ahead and bought the Ayon Epsilon Evo monoblock amps. I had narrowed it down to Arc, Vac and Ayon and mostly due to personal preference chose the Ayon. I am sure I would be ecstatic with any of these brands having listened to all of them at different times. I found the Ayon build quality and attention to detail is right there with my experience with Rowland equipment I have owned. One of my concerns with Ayon was all the ads on Audiogon, I am not a fan of gear that people constantly offload. However I found finding used Ayon gear was not readily available in the US and the abundance of ads where from a dealer selling new gear. I ended up buying new. Based on my experience I'd put Ayon in tier 2 but this is limited to my experience with 3 pieces of Ayon gear. I agree with Mike when he says Ayon does not have a big presence in the US.

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TheGemState said:
I recently purchased an Ayon preamp. I was so impressed with it, went ahead and bought the Ayon Epsilon Evo monoblock amps. I had narrowed it down to Arc, Vac and Ayon and mostly due to personal preference chose the Ayon. I am sure I would be ecstatic with any of these brands having listened to all of them at different times. I found the Ayon build quality and attention to detail is right there with my experience with Rowland equipment I have owned. One of my concerns with Ayon was all the ads on Audiogon, I am not a fan of gear that people constantly offload. However I found finding used Ayon gear was not readily available in the US and the abundance of ads where from a dealer selling new gear. I ended up buying new. Based on my experience I'd put Ayon in tier 2 but this is limited to my experience with 3 pieces of Ayon gear. I agree with Mike when he says Ayon does not have a big presence in the US.

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Ayon could be a great brand here in the U.S., but unfortunately they fall into another category mentioned above.


Speaking of that distributor, did you see the shit show they caused here in the US for Avantgarde (and why I’ve been so quiet on Avantgarde lately)?

Read the bottom part (in bold):

Avantgarde UNO XD | Full-Range | Audiogon

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
It sucks when a well regarded brand has issues such as these with distributers.

From my understanding something similar happened with T+A, and the bad distributer actually told Stereophile as a revenge act, that a particular model was discontinued, when it wasn't, and it was removed from their A+ ratings (it was later added back in when the real scoop was told to Stereophile). This distributer really hurt the brand in the US, which is hopefully now gaining back its reputation.
 
TheGemState said:
I recently purchased an Ayon preamp. I was so impressed with it, went ahead and bought the Ayon Epsilon Evo monoblock amps. I had narrowed it down to Arc, Vac and Ayon and mostly due to personal preference chose the Ayon. I am sure I would be ecstatic with any of these brands having listened to all of them at different times. I found the Ayon build quality and attention to detail is right there with my experience with Rowland equipment I have owned. One of my concerns with Ayon was all the ads on Audiogon, I am not a fan of gear that people constantly offload. However I found finding used Ayon gear was not readily available in the US and the abundance of ads where from a dealer selling new gear. I ended up buying new. Based on my experience I'd put Ayon in tier 2 but this is limited to my experience with 3 pieces of Ayon gear. I agree with Mike when he says Ayon does not have a big presence in the US.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk
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Hmmmm!
I should have paid attention to Mike’s OP, that it’s mostly about Perception and not necessarily Performance...
The two Ps don’t always correlate, that is IMHO...
 
Mike said:
Ayon could be a great brand here in the U.S., but unfortunately they fall into another category mentioned above.


Speaking of that distributor, did you see the shit show they caused here in the US for Avantgarde (and why I’ve been so quiet on Avantgarde lately)?

Read the bottom part (in bold):

Avantgarde UNO XD | Full-Range | Audiogon

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

That really sucks, a good brand can easily be destroyed by bad distributors.
 
Mordante said:
That really sucks, a good brand can easily be destroyed by bad distributors.
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My experience with distributors has convinced me to now only buy made in the US products. Lots of excellent manufacturers to choose from. No service hassles. More dealers or buy direct options. Good resale. Its my patriotic duty to spend lots of money on audio equipment. :celebrate008_2:
 
Dizzie said:
My experience with distributors has convinced me to now only buy made in the US products. Lots of excellent manufacturers to choose from. No service hassles. More dealers or buy direct options. Good resale. Its my patriotic duty to spend lots of money on audio equipment. :celebrate008_2:
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I think in Europe even if the dealer is next to the manufacturer it often still goes through a distributor. I'm not aware of any brand that does direct sales. Direct sales are good for the customer but the death of dealers.
 
Mordante said:
I think in Europe even if the dealer is next to the manufacturer it often still goes through a distributor. I'm not aware of any brand that does direct sales. Direct sales are good for the customer but the death of dealers.
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I purchased my Hattor gear straight from Arek. I know that Goldmund used to sell their Job line direct. I would think there are others but I could not name anynow.
 
Mordante said:
I think in Europe even if the dealer is next to the manufacturer it often still goes through a distributor. I'm not aware of any brand that does direct sales. Direct sales are good for the customer but the death of dealers.
Click to expand...

I purchased my Hattor gear (Pre-amplifiers, amplifiers, tube active stages, etc. - Poland) straight from Arek. I know that Goldmund use to sell their Job line direct (Amplifiers - Switzerland), Rothwell (Attenuators, phono stages - UK). I would think there are others but I could not name any now.
 
It's bad enough when the distributor isn't very good

It's worse when distributor doesn't even have inventory to distribute.

It's even worse when the distributor is also a dealer (like Audionet). Why would a dealer get involved with a line when the distributor is also a dealer that steps on the line twice? No wonder arrangements like Audionet have in NA make the line a nonstarter that basically has no fundamental support with quality dealers.

Add to it that many of these distributors are dicks and you have a plate of no good.

Ultimately these arrangements limit us audiophiles to these brands.....
 
Mikado463 said:
and a good dealer knows to be mindful and stay away from bad distributors ………...
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True... but again that really hurts good brands... after finding out a distributer is bad it may take the company a long time to gain back well deserved confidence and reputation. Unfortunately this almost always hurts resale value which in turn damages a companies reputation even more. Again T+A is a really good example. Tremendous equipment... in Europe extremely highly rated... but as The Music Room told me it is extremely hard to sell. So, additive effects make it hard to find pre-owned and dealers.
 
wow, great thread, amazed to see Spectral, up there, by some as tier 1, as a spectral owner love the sound, but agree can't get my head around their distribution, and worldwide thinking, still no thread on here though, mike and i, had a talk a few years ago, Spectral is a volatile subject, great gear but name calling was apparent, by many, in England, we seem not to be as driven as the usa, into hifi, but still have understanding of A+ brands even if we can't afford them or even listen to them, heard FM acoustics at a show waited all year to hear this brand, i know it was a show but the sound was UMM ok, with their own speakers, price was shocking, would not touch them, dealers in England want to sell you something every time you walk through the door, NO come for a talk or listen, hard sell or don't bother me, some exceptions obviously, and they are the ones that get my money, can't buy new anymore as the price is truly shocking, and used, is still a painful experience, even more so now we are out of the EU, but we can dream, :rolleyes:
 
greystoke4 said:
wow, great thread, amazed to see Spectral, up there, by some as tier 1, as a spectral owner love the sound, but agree can't get my head around their distribution, and worldwide thinking, still no thread on here though, mike and i, had a talk a few years ago, Spectral is a volatile subject, great gear but name calling was apparent, by many, in England, we seem not to be as driven as the usa, into hifi, but still have understanding of A+ brands even if we can't afford them or even listen to them, heard FM acoustics at a show waited all year to hear this brand, i know it was a show but the sound was UMM ok, with their own speakers, price was shocking, would not touch them, dealers in England want to sell you something every time you walk through the door, NO come for a talk or listen, hard sell or don't bother me, some exceptions obviously, and they are the ones that get my money, can't buy new anymore as the price is truly shocking, and used, is still a painful experience, even more so now we are out of the EU, but we can dream, :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

What about Chord Electronics? How are their amps? Certainly probably UK's answer to Swiss precision and very similar to Spectral. Switching amp, low distortion, high resolution and extreme neutrality.
 
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