2. amps-preamps
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Subtlety ? do any American amps do it?

Not heard that many but it strikes me that everything from the colonies sounds a bit stark and bleached. Spent a year trying to come to terms with a Pass Labs which is vastly overated ( and I mean vastly), listened a lot
to Mark Levinson and thought Thank God I did not spend a fortune on that - clean, clear, hifi and so bereft of soul that it was like a visit to the Dentist !
I'm not that biased, it's taken Naim years to make something resembling music - PRAT ? until recently bunch of narrow minded PRATS.I know lots of Naim fans and their mindset belongs to the third reich !
UK companies like Meridian and Musical Fidelity have managed to do the bizz for at least 30 years that I've known/used and they still manage to make a noise that at least resembles real music. MF get tarred with a do it cheap brush but anyone who has heard their gear and says it's crap is probably a dealer who wants to sell you something at 3/4x the price.
The Brazilians do it a treat - Heard Audiopax 88s at the last Edinburgh show and if anyone there had ears, they should have packed up and went home - different league does not describe it.
Realise this is antagonistic but want some input.
Even the UK press seems blinkered to the crap - Pass, Krell
- whoah, nice hifi, shame there's nothing remotely musical involved, apart from the laughter as they take our hard earned money !

I have a Quicksilver phonostage - lovely and a great customer focused company, had a Lancelot Camelot, super and amazingly friendly & helpful people but go to the Big boys and it's just a money grabbing frenzy ?
I dreamed of a Pass Labs for years and ? my next amp will be coming from somewhere in Europe !

Si
simon74
driver's avatar
driver
750 posts
 
Looked at your system & think you should treat the room, as it looks pretty hard. An audio bud has Audio Physic & they took awhile to place, so maybe try repositioning? Didn't look to see if you've done anything with the AC or not but it can be blamed for other ills in the system.

I've heard a lot of good things about the newest version of the Pass amps, which have the .5 designation. Most of my listening has been with the Aleph series, so can't comment on what you have.

BAT, Ayre, McCormack & Manley are just a few amps made in the USA that come to mind that sound excellent.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
Your version of Subtlety as you generally slam people's choices within the context of your post makes me wonder what sound you like---Finger nails and chalkboard??? (Hum,I wonder what wires go with that??) I know it has been arond 230 years__You still pissed about loosing that war???--Sounds like it. Is that Subtle enough??
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I'd agree with Driver, but don't just stop at treating the room, go ahead and treat the whole damn country. I suspect there is quite a bit of bloating and congestion right in the area around where you live. Could be all that warm beer you blokes drink! Did you have a few pints before composing your post?

Marco
sean
6,231 posts
 
Pass amps need to be left on 24/7 and you need real speaker cables if you want them to work their best. Having a subwoofer firing directly into the chassis of the amp also can't help things much. Sean
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lousyreeds1's avatar
lousyreeds1
286 posts
 
Personally I throw most of Musical Fidelity right in there with your Krell/Levinson views. Personally I am not a fan of modern British hifi. B&W epitomizes everything you hate about the electronics companies you mention. Personally, if I had to choose a single country of origin for my entire system, I would consider France and then choose the US. That system might consist of:

Magnepan
VTL
Lamm
VPI

I think that's pretty damn musical.
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