Reactions to HP's review of Antique Sound Lab amp?

Zaikesman.....Hi, read your comments.....wasn't that Scarlet who said that??? I'm here at work and will comments back to you all.......thanks!

Zaikes, loved your response!! Thank you, especially "...surprise, intoxication, confusion, ennui." Very funny and good writing BTW. I think you said it all there, not just accurately, but with..."communion", if you know what I mean. :0)

Yes, I knew you meant wistfully, not so volitionally. What followed were my views. I should have been clearer to avoid the implication. Oh, and you are hardly a novice, although I appreciate the gesture of feigned humility, really. You wouldn't "feel" this if that was so. As I said somewhere, can't remember where, this all becomes less of an accumulation of accuracy after awhile, and more of a...quest, for lack of a better word (mystic-haters can go back into the closet now, although, if it makes them feel better, they can yell "Stone the Witch!! a few times before they go back in). When that happens, when your means of percieving what is happening becomes more than a sum of its collected parts, becoming integrative of the parts, then you start "feeling" these things. It happens in every area of knowledge, but it is difficult to explain to those still caught in the accumulated web of ideas, in this case coming from a King, or, er, Audio Guru. Its like you can sense some underlying current to what's going on, right, like about these amps? We all know the end-point truth is in the pudding, but reading the mags, at some level, becomes more of an art of seeing between the words, through them. It still has value, relatively speaking, but you are more on your own (as you always were...). We all want someone to tell us what is what or who to be - we want the King as father - but sometimes, to go farther on the quest, as opposed to rotely following each word in conformism, you have to look ahead yourself.

On these amps? I know what Zaikes is saying, and he has said it compellingly, but the "convergence thing" is happening with TAS and he is getting older. If he finds a nice amp for a nice price in a world of greed, and he now favors to an even greater degree full bass structure as a bias, that's OK with me. As for whether just another KT88-based amp has suddenly hit the levels of "continuousness" that Harry has been looking for, is another matter [I mean, if he didn't appreciate it in SE's - saying that he considered their popularity attributable to a harmonic band-aid to the digitally bound (an accurate statement in some places, but certainly not exclusive), then how could he suddenly see it now in some KT88's, and not even NOS Lions at that?].

I think ASL makes some nice stuff and I appreciate their effort to bring their nearly-kit-like amps (remember, SF started out with kits, and McCormack was a mod guy at first)to a higher level, allowing those who have harder to drive speakers, or need more power to assure a more wall-of-sound foundation for more energized works (rock and classical), yet can not afford the behemoth, exorbitantly priced tube amps to power them, to go to the next level. In that context, and considering all the other really bad bull that is passed on in mags, its a "good" thing.

On the other hand, when those KT88's start going in two years or so, and guys don't want to retube the set, and the cache of Harry's most recent incarnation has faded from memory once more, and the amps start hitting the market, I hope that the people who chose to take a chance - and it may very well be a good chance if they know what is - then I hope they are still happy with the music, regardless of who said what, or even what I say right now...

RWD all I can say is I do not think you will be disappointed. I have tried many other far more expensive highly regarded SS and Tubed designs , including OTL's, SET's and I find the ASL's superior. Could be my 50 year old ears, except that the ASL shines in the areas where other amps failed by commission, in other words- where other amps failed the ASL's sail through rough sonic seas.They seem far more powerful than their rating . Faults previously attributed to recordings disappear or are ameliorated to an extent that I no longer have the anticipation of a particularly difficult passage that will test my system and force me to shut down my ears or reduce the listening level in the imminent face of the unpleasantness caused by too stern a test.Coherent, great soundstaging, powerful and detailed among other attributes.

Asa: No gesture, no feigning - I did not say total neophyte, I said relative novice, as in relative to many other A'gon regulars, for instance. And that's alright - it's actually the way I want it, and it's the way it will still be 30 years from now too. My attitude will never be one of a true believer (concerning...anything!).

Anyway, it's not that I can sense anything about *these* amps, it's just that I will never buy into the concept of *the* amp (or whatever else). As a worthless example of what I'm saying, imagine sitting Harry down in front of all the amps he's loved over just the last ten years, for in-depth auditions at his leisure, with the only handicap being that all the amps are cloaked in identical plain-jane chassis. What do you think the chances would be that he would come to the same conclusions right down the line? Yet the fact that such a stunt can't or won't ever be pulled on any writer, eventually, inexorably leads to at least a little unchecked hubris (which eventually, inexorably leads to at least a little self-delusion), in that several years on they often feel perfectly comfortable in extrapolating conclusions about the ranking of phantoms. And this despite the context having changed practically beyond recognition, which all by itself should invalidate the already invalid idea of absolute rankings. It's clearly a false construct, but one which is probably better than trying to be more philosophical (not to mention intellectually honest) if you want to sell magazines (or maybe even more to the point, have audiophiles listen to the things you say). So what I understand, if anything, is that one must proclaim in order to be heard above the fray.

(As for accumulations of accuracy, I'll address that in the other thread we're involved in right now... :-)

Judesonic....thanks for your reply. I am anxious to get these into my system Currently I am using the ARC VT 100 mkll to drive my mid/tweeter (EMIM-EMIT) on the RS 1-B's.
When I go to the concert and hear a symphony orchestra in action (both ppp and FFF) I realize the effortless of the actual (or should I say...absolute) sound. It is this effortless or freedom of mechanical sonic's that I wish to eliminate. Anyway, I felt that a more powerful tubes amp could bring me closer to this realistic experience. I looked for the VT200 or VTL 450's etc. When I read Harry's comments and saw the ridiculous price (for NEW) I decided to go for it. I hope my reaction will be similar to your!!!

Anyway, I am keeping my ARC 100 for a bit to see what happens.