Tubegroover,
Thanks a lot for the nice comments. I appreciate it.
SMcTigue,
I suspect that a great deal of this is, in fact, about the synergy between a particular amplifier and a particular speaker. There are so many variables here, including one's room acoustics, listening habits and preferred musical material. It's been said a million times, but what floats one person's boat may not do anything for another person. I still think the De Capo's are fabulous and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to others.
Mapman,
Your question about whether I feel differently now about the quality of the Manley Mahi mono-blocks that I used to have is an interesting and useful one. Here's what I would say:
I would say that I have experienced 2 realizations in the course of my equipment changes over the past few months.
The first one is that I love SET amplification. Paired with my Reference 3A's, The Kit 1 smokes the Manley Mahi's in all of the audio parameters that I find the most compelling, personally: tonality, sound staging, imaging and above all, coherence, that sense that I am getting a complete sonic picture that is not chopped up into pieces; a "performance," if you will. Once I heard the kind of music that poured out of the Kit 1, there was no turning back to my old amplifiers. In this regard, I find myself in league with Charles and the Tribe of SET. :-)
The second realization came from listening to the Tekton Lore Reference. As I mentioned previously, I had absolutely no idea that the Kit 1 could sound as big and powerful and, above all, "relaxed" as it did through those Tekton speakers. It opened my eyes to the wisdom of pairing the Kit 1 – or any low powered SET amp – with a more efficient and easy to drive design. That was a real game changer for me and I am grateful to the fellow who lent me his Lore Reference.
Let me make it clear that I still do not believe that the Reference 3A and the Kit 1 are a poor match! I was listening to some Steely Dan last night and stayed up way too late because it sounded so good. But, on the other hand, my experience with the Lore Reference has taught me that the Kit 1 can deliver a bigger, "beefier" and more dynamic presentation than I have been getting with the De Capo. And I learned that I like those qualities more than I realized.
Rob,
Life is short and I don't take these things personally, but I think your use of the word "disingenuous" is a little harsh. In any event, I'm guessing your judgment may have to do with the fact that I sent you a pretty ecstatic personal message after living with the Lore Reference for a few days. I praised their musicality, their large and engulfing soundstage and their ability to dig deeper than the Reference 3A De Capo. That was how I felt about them at that time. "Wow, this is so amazing! These things cream the De Capo's in every way!"
As I'm sure many of us have experienced in the past, it's not unusual in this hobby to make a change and get very excited about something, labeling it as "better." Sometimes, with more experience, we realize that what seemed at first "better" is more "different:" perhaps more pleasing in some ways and not as pleasing in others.
I think that is what, in retrospect, tempered my original, effusive reaction. As a beloved (and sadly no longer with us) graduate school professor of mine used to like to say, "Every situation has the advantages of its deficiencies and the deficiencies of its advantages." There are always trade-offs, and I suspect that is true even if you have the financial wherewithal to throw tens of thousands of dollars at this hobby.
Based on my limited exposure, with my equipment in my room and reflecting my own listening biases and priorities, I believe that the Lore Reference is a terrific bargain and that it does a lot of things – tone, dynamics, low end slam and retrieval of musical information – extraordinarily well. That is to say, it is great in many ways. The Reference 3A De Capo is also great in many ways and deservedly regarded by many as a classic design, but its greatness lies in different areas: resolution at lower volume levels, pinpoint imaging and that elusive quality of "coherence." I don't find myself in a position, at this point, of saying that one is better than the other in every way. YMMV, as they say.
Everyone enjoys being agreed with completely and sometimes we find it aggravating when people don't see things our way. That's not evil – it's just human. I also note that I like making decisions in a slow, thoughtful and deliberate manner and I like sharing my thought processes with other people. I am not looking to troll or bait anyone.
I will close this lengthy comment with one, additional example. I owned a pair of Merlin TSM-mmi monitors for about 18 months. There are many, many fans of Bobby P. and his products. It is not hard to find people who believe that the TSM is the apotheosis of stand mounted speakers. I think Bobby is one of the greatest people in high-end audio – a truly fine and delightful human being. But in the end, the TSM just didn't do it for me. Were I to list the reasons that I eventually sold them, people who revere Merlin would be eager to jump in and tell me all the reasons I was mistaken. What can you do? Ultimately, your system has to please you – it's that simple.
