I know this thread was for amp evolution, but I mad the mistake of posting my impressions about a newly acquired MA-1, and felt compelled to update whoever read it. Here goes:
The Meitner MA-1 has forced me to reconsider my former statement, "Although I like the new DAC, and it'll take some aural adjusting to fully engage the new sound, I could've lived with the dCS stack and been happy." The MA-1 is leagues beyond my previous dCS Purcell/Delius stack. The spatial information that I'm experiencing now is unprecedented in my system. The height, width, depth and weight of each item in the soundstage is the closest to "real" that I've had in any of my previous efforts. This feels goooood, and it's getting better each day.
The Meitner MA-1 has forced me to reconsider my former statement, "Although I like the new DAC, and it'll take some aural adjusting to fully engage the new sound, I could've lived with the dCS stack and been happy." The MA-1 is leagues beyond my previous dCS Purcell/Delius stack. The spatial information that I'm experiencing now is unprecedented in my system. The height, width, depth and weight of each item in the soundstage is the closest to "real" that I've had in any of my previous efforts. This feels goooood, and it's getting better each day.