Hi Tom (Mac),
Thank you for inviting me into your home to hear the Double Impacts and I really appreciated your very gracious hospitality. Tom and I first listened to the speakers driven by the LTA MZ2-S. Well I finally heard this "1" watt component in action. It does in fact drive these speakers and furthermore the resultant sound quality is good. I just wanted to confirm that point.
We then listened to the same recordings using the MZ2-S as a line stage and the mono block Frankenstein MK II 300b SET. In a very short period of time Tom and I simultaneously heard the quite noticeable difference the amplifiers made. Essentially more of everything, air, more fleshed out tonal body,weight and harmonic color and richness.
Relatively speaking the music came alive with increased drive,energy dynamic contrast and definitely more emotional involvement. Piano and the drum kit in particular were clearly more present, powerful and believable. Miles ' trumpet and Coltrane's tenor saxophone became more tactile and realistic. I was very impressed with the music reproduction in Tom's room, it just opened up and came alive!
As I told Tom there's room for further improved IMO. Using the 8 ohm tap of the amp driving the 4 ohm Double Impacts is not the ideal connection (despite the really good sound we heard). I believe that a Frankenstein with the 4 ohm speaker tap is going to sound superior with the better impedance match.
It was a very enjoyable afternoon and Tom is a friendly and easy to like person. My belief is that if Tom buys the Frankenstein or any "high" quality SET amplifier he is going to have a genuinely top notch home audio system to cherish for many years.
To be very clear, his current sound using the M2Z-S as an amplifier quite good. Unquestionably there is a sizable step upward with the insertion of the 300b mono blocks.
Charles
Thank you for inviting me into your home to hear the Double Impacts and I really appreciated your very gracious hospitality. Tom and I first listened to the speakers driven by the LTA MZ2-S. Well I finally heard this "1" watt component in action. It does in fact drive these speakers and furthermore the resultant sound quality is good. I just wanted to confirm that point.
We then listened to the same recordings using the MZ2-S as a line stage and the mono block Frankenstein MK II 300b SET. In a very short period of time Tom and I simultaneously heard the quite noticeable difference the amplifiers made. Essentially more of everything, air, more fleshed out tonal body,weight and harmonic color and richness.
Relatively speaking the music came alive with increased drive,energy dynamic contrast and definitely more emotional involvement. Piano and the drum kit in particular were clearly more present, powerful and believable. Miles ' trumpet and Coltrane's tenor saxophone became more tactile and realistic. I was very impressed with the music reproduction in Tom's room, it just opened up and came alive!
As I told Tom there's room for further improved IMO. Using the 8 ohm tap of the amp driving the 4 ohm Double Impacts is not the ideal connection (despite the really good sound we heard). I believe that a Frankenstein with the 4 ohm speaker tap is going to sound superior with the better impedance match.
It was a very enjoyable afternoon and Tom is a friendly and easy to like person. My belief is that if Tom buys the Frankenstein or any "high" quality SET amplifier he is going to have a genuinely top notch home audio system to cherish for many years.
To be very clear, his current sound using the M2Z-S as an amplifier quite good. Unquestionably there is a sizable step upward with the insertion of the 300b mono blocks.
Charles