2. amps-preamps
  3. 174804-126036

Kudos to my audio pusher. What’s your experience?

I’ve been having some challenges with my system.   I was thinking it was my Innuos Zen Mini Mk3, and it may be….  But My audio pusher lent me a Matrix DAC to try which really revealed how weak the DAC in the Innuos is, not what I was expecting…   Well, that was educational.   Then, incase the problem was with the input section of my Primaluna HP integrated amp, he lent me a Krell K300i integrated amp.

These loaners just were just given to me to try.   No paperwork, no deposits, no begging, just great customer service.

I am now totally screwed,   This Krell amp made my system just come alive.   The upper extension, midrange smoothness, powerful palpable base and tight 3-dimensional imaging just blew me away.   It’s like I’m hearing my music for the first time again.

So, a shout out to Ben Olson and his team(Marty, Tom, and others) at Olson’s HiFi (www.OlsonsHiFi.com) in the Seattle area.   What a down to earth audiophiles and customer service oriented people.

My new system is: Innuos Zen Mini Mk3 -> cheesy USB cable -> Krell K300i -> GR Research 24-strand cable -> XStatic EC/X.   It used to have a Primaluna HP Dialogue Integrated with KT150 and SR Orange fuse in place of the Krell.   I can’t go back now…   BTW, new non-cheesy USB cable is on order…  and incase it wasn’t obvious, the Krell has the internal DAC.   Someday, I’ll add a Denefrips Pontus II NOS R2R DAC to this chain - unless Ben lends something else to me that changes my mind.

Has this audio revelation happened to you?   Did you unexpectedly rediscover your music and love for music reproduction?   What’s your story?

 

noodlyarm
fiesta75
1,378 posts
 

I don't have an audio pusher!

chayro
2,996 posts
 

Having a good, knowledgeable dealer is a great thing and far more helpful than the scattershot method so many people turn to when buying. I remember going to one of my dealers “knowing” I needed to upgrade my amplifier, but I was absolutely shocked when he showed me that upgrading the preamp gave me much more of what I was looking for. Now you know. 

whart's avatar
whart
3,043 posts
 

A good dealer is something be cherished. Jim Smith wrote about this at one point- his standards were extremely high and my experience, say from 1970 to date, has been mixed. I did work with Bill Parish at GTT for a number of years -- fabulous, knowledgeable, not dogmatic and got really good sound. I already had a path for the latest main system and Bill helped me get it to a much higher level over the course of a few years.

Now, in Central Texas, very little compared to NY metro- but even NY is not as robust a market as it once was, though there are still a lot of people in the retail, consumer side.

I was also spoiled by experience as a youth- there was an audio salon in Pittsburgh, where I grew up called Opus One. Tasso Spanos had enormous passion and vision--great taste. A very classy, quirky guy. That was 50+ years ago, though.

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