The mcintosh c1100 and 601s is a great light show for the 4th of July.
Not to mention, there is a 6 month waiting period to get anything fixed at Mcintosh. i remember ordering just the front glass for a preamp and they told me to make a line and wait about 6 months... Yep...
As far as the entire class d vs class a vs class ab:
Look, at this price point, it is all about how "ripe" you want your music to be. Some people like their steak to be rare, medium, medium-well, etc and that is essentially what this is about. To say that class d has not closed the gap is just stupid. Class D has made a HUGE improvement that i am actually the owner of Rowland 925s for a reason. That said, the better performing class d amps are NOT cheap because those few manufacturers that know HOW TO BUILD a class d amp are right now making their money for the time invested into building a better design. It is no different than when Viagra first came out: Pfizer made a killing from it because they needed to pay for everything that went into research and development and make money of course, but now you can get generic viagra for less.
My point is that eventually more manufacturers will begin to make cheaper class d that will sound outstanding and this will indeed end up making other manufacturers jump into the class d world.
The Merrill 118s are AMAZING, but one could argue that maybe the 116s are just as good and cost you 14k less? Granted, i am one of the few people that would need the 118s because of my massive Neoliths.
i am telling everyone that i am in deep thinking mode and over the next couple of weeks i could end up with Merrill amp?
The one thing i can disclose to ALL OF YOU is that Merrill is obscene bang for the buck and it has made me wonder HOW MUCH are we being ripped by other manufacturers charging far more money for something that does not even outperform it.
I had 2 people come over this weekend and i had them listen to the rowland 925s and the Merrill and both said that they cant justify paying 60k for the 925s after hearing the Merrill. I would totally agree.
I know Jeff is currently cooking up a new top end up which should be out by the time Axpona 2020 comes around. oops...you did not hear this from me... :)
What amps do i miss right now? the block audios and the Constellation Centaur 2s. However, this Merrill actually makes me VERY NERVOUS and do you want to know why? because i am afraid of it beating other amps that i have personally owned and knowing that that is Merrill costs FAR LESS money.
Unfortunately, there will always be those critics that do not believe in class d which is totally fine. There is also the potential issue of poor resale value with a class d amp, but i suspect the Merrill Element amps won’t suffer from this simply because it could very well be the very best class d right now.
I have also spoken to Merrill and gave him my .02 cts and criticism (which i won’t disclose) and he totally agreed with me. One criticism was that they should have included aftermarket powercords which he said he thought about, but that it could have made the price go up by $10,000 because each power cord retails for $5k.
I hope to keep trying these amps while in my possession and use several powercords and xlrs and finally strap them to my Neoliths to see what the outcome is.
Not to mention, there is a 6 month waiting period to get anything fixed at Mcintosh. i remember ordering just the front glass for a preamp and they told me to make a line and wait about 6 months... Yep...
As far as the entire class d vs class a vs class ab:
Look, at this price point, it is all about how "ripe" you want your music to be. Some people like their steak to be rare, medium, medium-well, etc and that is essentially what this is about. To say that class d has not closed the gap is just stupid. Class D has made a HUGE improvement that i am actually the owner of Rowland 925s for a reason. That said, the better performing class d amps are NOT cheap because those few manufacturers that know HOW TO BUILD a class d amp are right now making their money for the time invested into building a better design. It is no different than when Viagra first came out: Pfizer made a killing from it because they needed to pay for everything that went into research and development and make money of course, but now you can get generic viagra for less.
My point is that eventually more manufacturers will begin to make cheaper class d that will sound outstanding and this will indeed end up making other manufacturers jump into the class d world.
The Merrill 118s are AMAZING, but one could argue that maybe the 116s are just as good and cost you 14k less? Granted, i am one of the few people that would need the 118s because of my massive Neoliths.
i am telling everyone that i am in deep thinking mode and over the next couple of weeks i could end up with Merrill amp?
The one thing i can disclose to ALL OF YOU is that Merrill is obscene bang for the buck and it has made me wonder HOW MUCH are we being ripped by other manufacturers charging far more money for something that does not even outperform it.
I had 2 people come over this weekend and i had them listen to the rowland 925s and the Merrill and both said that they cant justify paying 60k for the 925s after hearing the Merrill. I would totally agree.
I know Jeff is currently cooking up a new top end up which should be out by the time Axpona 2020 comes around. oops...you did not hear this from me... :)
What amps do i miss right now? the block audios and the Constellation Centaur 2s. However, this Merrill actually makes me VERY NERVOUS and do you want to know why? because i am afraid of it beating other amps that i have personally owned and knowing that that is Merrill costs FAR LESS money.
Unfortunately, there will always be those critics that do not believe in class d which is totally fine. There is also the potential issue of poor resale value with a class d amp, but i suspect the Merrill Element amps won’t suffer from this simply because it could very well be the very best class d right now.
I have also spoken to Merrill and gave him my .02 cts and criticism (which i won’t disclose) and he totally agreed with me. One criticism was that they should have included aftermarket powercords which he said he thought about, but that it could have made the price go up by $10,000 because each power cord retails for $5k.
I hope to keep trying these amps while in my possession and use several powercords and xlrs and finally strap them to my Neoliths to see what the outcome is.