Joe, try the Amperex out. I'm anxious to hear your impressions. Also, Victor gave me the go ahead to post his e-mail regarding phase:
Hello Sherod,
Many preamps and many amps reverse the polarity. This becomes a problem only when the preamp does, as Joseph's does, and the amp does not. This issue surfaced only recently when Cedar got a new amp and unlike his previous one, it did not reverse polarity. Joseph had never mentioned this matter to me before or I would have added it to the owner's manual and the specs.. I will be sending out a notice to all past customers on this matter when Joseph returns and sends me all their email addresses..
Sometimes the amp manufacturer indicates this fact and sometimes the manufacturer does not. I recently revised the owner's manual to note this fact and will add it to the specs in the ads shortly.
The simplest way to tell is to reverse the polarity of your two speakers. When a system is out of phase, the sound will appear a little flat; imaging will also wander rather than snap into focus. On most quality systems, it is not hard to tell. a minute's listening will disclose whether you are in or out of phase.
I suggest that you reverse the polarity of your speaker leads and see what happens: if the sound seems dull and less alive and imaging wanders or is ill-defined, then you are out of phase.
Best regards,
Victor
