Jay,
I am stepping up to the plate, and will happily send you my stock Rouge Audio Studio N10 DM Ice Edge 1200 AS1. I decided about this a few days ago, wrote klh007, and he strongly encouraged me to do it, since we both believe that the group will find this productive and valuable. He owns the Mivera modded stereo Ice Edge version, thinks my dual mono Rouge is probably a little better, although he still prefers his flagship Frank Van Alstine SS for its relative warmth.
My Rouge has about 450 hours on it. It is quite neutral, and is close to my Mytek Brooklyn Amp original version in its neutral tonality. When I switch back and forth between them, sometimes I hear the Rouge sounding a little warmer, but at other times more crisp in HF. The tonality depends on the power quality in my NYC apartment, which can vary by the minute, whether AM or PM. But the Rouge is definitely much more authoritative and dynamic, especially in the lower midrange, bass, while the Mytek is leaner. My handicap is that my electrostatic speakers with their limited bass and dynamics don't enable me to properly judge the amp's bass and dynamics, but my impression is that the Rouge rates tops in this area. At 600W/8 ohms, 1200W/4, 1000W/2 per channel, it ought to be impressive. It has similarities to the PS Audio M1200, which Mike Fremer raved about for bass, HF extension and overall excitement. By sending you the Rouge, I figured I would learn a lot from the assessments by you and the group in this area, using the unmatched XLF speaker for bass and HF both. Of all my amps, I think the group would like the Rouge the best. At $1700 with the better WBT speaker connections, anyone could afford this. Even if your rarefied equipment is more glamorous to talk about and hear, the fact is that most people cannot afford those items, so I believe they would find my Rouge most worthwhile to evaluate.
In order to make this a meaningful endeavor, I make only the following requests. To see how the Rouge compares to your best for transparency, clarity, tonality, dynamics, I ask that you make an A/B shootout with the Rouge vs your best amps in these areas, so that we can all hear it for ourselves, blinded to keep everyone AND ME honest, open minded and unprejudiced. People would vote their preferences and objective findings, the way you conducted your legendary dac shootout. Only 1 or 2 well chosen songs could tell the story, in just 1 round. Of course, in your own private time, put the Rouge through its paces and have fun. I know you will, and especially call your budget minded friends over. Boy, I miss those shootouts. No VAC amps for comparison, please, since I am not interested in tube sweetness or romance, but rather the other parameters I mentioned. How about the Soulution 725 to use as preamp for both amps? The 725 is the preamp which is most revealing. See whether your new SS amp (Block?) is more neutral and transparent than the Constellation. Too bad you don't have the G Essence now--that would have made for a great value shootout between the 2 high value amps.
If this goes well, the next step could be if you bring my Rouge to Mike's place, and do it with either the Boulder 1161 (probably a high value proposition) or the 1160 if he doesn't have the 1161.
I want this to be a great learning experience for all, not to be a vendetta against expensive stuff. If you agree, I'll send you an email with my contact info. I could ship it as early as this Wed, my usual day off. I don't mean to rush you, but if it is convenient, you could email the shipping label tomorrow so I could print it out at work. The following Wed 9/29 at noon, I am getting a dental implant, so I probably won't feel too comfortable that afternoon, so I could definitely ship it in 2 weeks, Oct 5. My most convenient shipper is Fedex, which has the best rates. This $1700 unit won't cost much for insurance.
Thanks, looking forward to this project.
I am stepping up to the plate, and will happily send you my stock Rouge Audio Studio N10 DM Ice Edge 1200 AS1. I decided about this a few days ago, wrote klh007, and he strongly encouraged me to do it, since we both believe that the group will find this productive and valuable. He owns the Mivera modded stereo Ice Edge version, thinks my dual mono Rouge is probably a little better, although he still prefers his flagship Frank Van Alstine SS for its relative warmth.
My Rouge has about 450 hours on it. It is quite neutral, and is close to my Mytek Brooklyn Amp original version in its neutral tonality. When I switch back and forth between them, sometimes I hear the Rouge sounding a little warmer, but at other times more crisp in HF. The tonality depends on the power quality in my NYC apartment, which can vary by the minute, whether AM or PM. But the Rouge is definitely much more authoritative and dynamic, especially in the lower midrange, bass, while the Mytek is leaner. My handicap is that my electrostatic speakers with their limited bass and dynamics don't enable me to properly judge the amp's bass and dynamics, but my impression is that the Rouge rates tops in this area. At 600W/8 ohms, 1200W/4, 1000W/2 per channel, it ought to be impressive. It has similarities to the PS Audio M1200, which Mike Fremer raved about for bass, HF extension and overall excitement. By sending you the Rouge, I figured I would learn a lot from the assessments by you and the group in this area, using the unmatched XLF speaker for bass and HF both. Of all my amps, I think the group would like the Rouge the best. At $1700 with the better WBT speaker connections, anyone could afford this. Even if your rarefied equipment is more glamorous to talk about and hear, the fact is that most people cannot afford those items, so I believe they would find my Rouge most worthwhile to evaluate.
In order to make this a meaningful endeavor, I make only the following requests. To see how the Rouge compares to your best for transparency, clarity, tonality, dynamics, I ask that you make an A/B shootout with the Rouge vs your best amps in these areas, so that we can all hear it for ourselves, blinded to keep everyone AND ME honest, open minded and unprejudiced. People would vote their preferences and objective findings, the way you conducted your legendary dac shootout. Only 1 or 2 well chosen songs could tell the story, in just 1 round. Of course, in your own private time, put the Rouge through its paces and have fun. I know you will, and especially call your budget minded friends over. Boy, I miss those shootouts. No VAC amps for comparison, please, since I am not interested in tube sweetness or romance, but rather the other parameters I mentioned. How about the Soulution 725 to use as preamp for both amps? The 725 is the preamp which is most revealing. See whether your new SS amp (Block?) is more neutral and transparent than the Constellation. Too bad you don't have the G Essence now--that would have made for a great value shootout between the 2 high value amps.
If this goes well, the next step could be if you bring my Rouge to Mike's place, and do it with either the Boulder 1161 (probably a high value proposition) or the 1160 if he doesn't have the 1161.
I want this to be a great learning experience for all, not to be a vendetta against expensive stuff. If you agree, I'll send you an email with my contact info. I could ship it as early as this Wed, my usual day off. I don't mean to rush you, but if it is convenient, you could email the shipping label tomorrow so I could print it out at work. The following Wed 9/29 at noon, I am getting a dental implant, so I probably won't feel too comfortable that afternoon, so I could definitely ship it in 2 weeks, Oct 5. My most convenient shipper is Fedex, which has the best rates. This $1700 unit won't cost much for insurance.
Thanks, looking forward to this project.