Tizman

A three pound crappie! Where I live, three pound bass are hard to come by.

Sometimes a hijacking is a good thing.

Yes. Mono recordings sound best on a mono setup.

miketn: Nice setup!

I need to try multichannel music. It’s something I haven’t gotten around to yet although I’m already set up for it. What are your all time favourite multichannel recordings?

I’m going to go out on a limb, and say that what makes most recorded music sound “real” is done better by horns than by DR speakers. Real music, heard in person at a concert, just doesn’t have directional cues as distinct as a stereo recording most of the time. I love stereo recordings, but they don’t really correspond to my real life concert experiences.

While this is true, I find that the imaging and soundstage from my heritage Klipsch speakers is still pretty good. It seems that the Heresy II are the best in this respect. Maybe because their more compact size time aligns the drivers better?

Yes. He probably gave her a list of the must have features he and every beginner audiophile require, and there is no other amplifier with that feature set. So McIntosh it was. I’m pretty sure that my wife loves me, but not that much. Let’s hope all the beginners out there have thoughtful and generous wives as well. Otherwise, no crucial mono switch, metres and balance knob for them. Oh well, what to do? At least every amp sounds the same and they won’t miss out on audio quality...

Pretty much any amp, including some truly crappy ones, make the cut as set by Clark. ODS123 has much higher criteria. He has a much more refined inability to hear differences between amps. Here are his criteria based upon his posts, since all he seems able to do is refer to Clark’s article, even though Clark’s criteria for the test are looser than what ODS123 finds acceptable. 1. Any great amplifier must have a balance control. An accurately calibrated dual volume pot is not enough. Perhaps two seperate volume controls and a balance control together would be best? ODS123, any thoughts on that? 2. An amplifier must have a mono switch so that crappy early stereo recordings can be converted to mono. This is deal breaker and, unfortuneately, only McIntosh provides this critical feature that is so highly sought after by audiophiles the world over. This is especially true for beginner audiophiles, many of whom are upset that this important feature is not provided by lesser manufacturers than McIntosh. 3. A amplifier must have wattage metres. This is very important. Without this critical feature, an audiophile who is wearing earplugs during his testing by Clark might not notice that his expensive high quality MDF speakers are being overdriven to the point of destruction. When earplugs aren’t being worn, it is still amusing to watch the metres barely move because your excellent, sensitive speakers use less than 1 of the 200 watts available. Only an amplifier of the highest quality will provide these must have features (albeit not audio quality since a crappy quality $100 receiver sounds the same). Conclusion: Begginers, go out and buy a $6000 McIntosh receiver. No other amplifier provides the features required by a budding audiophile. Thanks for the sage advice ODS123. Beginner audiophiles of the world rejoice! Finally, some advice you can actually use. Oh, also, spend most of your money on speakers. A good budget for beginners is around $6000 for the amp and, well, more than that for your speakers since you are supposed to spend most of your budget on your speakers, right?

ODS123: What is a “modern amplifier designed to be linear”? In your words, not Clark’s words, and with the specs required by your Objectivist stance. Clark’s criteria include amplifiers that you have rejected, and slagged, in this thread, so referring to the Clark test link doesn’t cut it as a reply. Beginners everywhere, and ignorant somewhat more experienced folks like myself, await your reply with baited breath. I can’t believe you forgot your Cornys’ birthday by the way. Unforgivable. Hey! What’s that dog doing back there behind the Cornwalls?

ODS123: I was worried when you didn’t report in on your Cornwalls yesterday. I feared for the worst. Perhaps an errant candlestick fell off a nearby table and chipped a chunk of the veneer covered fibreboard off a corner, or maybe one of your dogs had a bad day and made an unnoticed pee on the back right corner of one of the cabinets, causing the particleboard to swell and the veneer to delaminate. Thank God all is well. Happy belated birthday Cornies! I’m sorry that your owner missed it, but he was busy dreaming up an insidious plan to mislead newbies with vague, unsubstantiated, and unsupported claims that all amps sound the same. It’s not his fault though. Some guy called Clark made a really dumb test with too many questions and your owner got confused by it and went on a rampage. If I was your owner, I would have bought you a nice SET amp for your birthday, so you could sing in your best voice.

I went to web sight and read what was there. That’s not what I asked you. Clark’s criteria include amplifiers that are not included in YOUR criteria. So what are your criteria? Specifications etc. Once again, define “a modern amplifier engineered to be linear”. You are the one giving advice, and although you refer to it repeatedly, your advice doesn’t correspond to the Clark test criteria. Pointing to the test is not answering the question posed to you. Again.

Horns sound better than FR speakers, but the amps I sold in the last batch sound good on any sensitive speaker. Not just horns. They read the ad and knew the output wattage of all amps for sale. None of them owned horns, but all of them had speakers of 95 DB/W/M and up. I demoed on La Scala II and on Heresy II. I always offer a full refund if people don’t like the amps once they put them in their system at home. They all said that they liked the amps that I sold them and all of them kept them. Months later, they are looking to get the horn speaker experience in their own homes.

I sold a bunch of my amps a few months ago. Of the three buyers that demoed the amps on my La Scala II and Heresy II, one has bought a pair of Heresy III, and another is presently shopping for La Scalas. Just one 30 minute listening session on an all horn Klipsch speaker is all it took.

It appears that ODS123 went to bed without reporting on the state of his Cornwall III speakers. I hope they are okay...

Slowing down...

The McIntosh MA6600 requires 12000 hours of break in before it sounds good. Before that it sounds the same as a cheap AVR.

te·di·ous /ˈtēdēəs/ adjective adjective: tedious too long, slow, or dull: tiresome or monotonous. "a tedious ABX test" synonyms: boring, dull, monotonous, repetitive, unrelieved, unvaried, uneventful Fighting fire with fire. Sorry All.

Here it is again.

I will use the same trolling technique used by IDS123. What is your reply ODS123? What is your answer ODS123? Do you have one, or are you just a boring troll?

There is too much attention paid to different DACs and data rates, and not enough on the quality of the source’s output stage. There is an amp at the output of most line level source components, including DACs, CD players, etc.. This amplifier varies in quality. Some are bad and some are good.

Backpeddling time ODS123? Don’t have to change tubes? Seriously? After 51 pages of Objectivist “advice”?

Clark sets the bar pretty low. You set it much higher, and are willing to dismiss certain topologies outright without having heard them. Quantify your choices and advice to beginners as an Objectivist. Clark’s criteria include amplifiers that you don’t include.

So what is your problem with tube amps?