The speakers I have in my system are Focal Profile 918s. I can't be sure but I would guess that they are not hugely unlike the Triangles that were in my friends store and that we hooked up to my amp. I was sure to do the test on speakers that were efficient enough to work with my amp, and as it turns out the Triangles had a very similar impedance to my Focals. While I am pretty sure my Focals are more to my liking than the Triangles, I can't attribute the outcome of the test to this discrepancy. I typically use an arcam cd36 or a project turntable as a source. In the store we used an esoteric cd player (I don't recall the model, but it was current). Also I use Cardas Golden Reference interconnects and Acoustic Zen Hollograph speaker cables in my system, as well as Shunyata power cables and a Shunyata Hydra for my cd player. Finally, the drive over was about 15 min and since I live in Canada and park outside my car was really cold, about -5 or -10 for most of the ride.
While there were many variables I could associate with what happened, we did our best to interchange many cables as well as sources and in total I ran the unit for nearly two hours in the store, all of which which did help to level the playing field a little. I should note that while the Signature 30.2 did produce a much better sound over the two hours period, it was still disappointing. When I first hooked it up it sounded worse than I care to talk about. I was truly stunned.
Anyway, with my tail between my legs I returned home and hooked it back up to my system and, bingo, it was great sounding again. I really do like my amp, but I can't explain what happened during the test at the store. The outcome led one store employee to refer to my Red Wine as an amp "for kids". Exactly what that means, I don't know, but, well, ya.
In the end I am siding with the positive comments left by you all since I know what my amp can do when things align and it's damn great sound.
While there were many variables I could associate with what happened, we did our best to interchange many cables as well as sources and in total I ran the unit for nearly two hours in the store, all of which which did help to level the playing field a little. I should note that while the Signature 30.2 did produce a much better sound over the two hours period, it was still disappointing. When I first hooked it up it sounded worse than I care to talk about. I was truly stunned.
Anyway, with my tail between my legs I returned home and hooked it back up to my system and, bingo, it was great sounding again. I really do like my amp, but I can't explain what happened during the test at the store. The outcome led one store employee to refer to my Red Wine as an amp "for kids". Exactly what that means, I don't know, but, well, ya.
In the end I am siding with the positive comments left by you all since I know what my amp can do when things align and it's damn great sound.