Congestion, clarity problems gone: M.R. RM-9

Background: Just thought I'd post a followup. I was posting a couple months ago about my 8B, PV-5, ProAc One SC system being "congested," "not open enough," "thick." I got a lot of good suggestions here, including getting better wire (will still get some Mapleshades but never did yet), and trying a less colored preamp. I did try a SS amp, a B&K ST-140. It did not solve there problems, and was actually a lot like the 8B but without the smoothness and palpability of tubes. I still thought a different amp might be the answer, but kind of decided to stay away from an SS amp for now, and decided to go the route of trying a passive peramp, to see if the PV-5 was the limiting factor. I started researching the Slagle and Lightspeed stuff.

One amp that I had concluded might be a good candidate was a Music Reference RM-9, which had a reputation of being more neutral. They were way above my budget and I'd never seen one for sale anyway.

What happened: However, I did see one for sale, locally only in DC, Mk I, for a very good price. A week later he emailed me that he was willing to ship, and a couple weeks later, I am listening to it for the second day.

The congestion problem, in the same system, is just gone. I no longer feel that when the band all kicks in, especially with a lot of midrange stuff (vibes, guitar, keys), that everything gets congested, thick, or mushy and jumbled all together. Instruments aren't getting in each others' way. All instruments are always clear. They come from a black silent place, fixed in space, each filling the space, but each separate. I had some Vienna Acoustics speakers and with them it seemed like the instruments were separated into their own little spaces, like I could draw a few circles in front of me and the sax was in one, isolated, the vibes in another, etc. With this system they are all in the same space, but still separate, clear, clean, natural, accurate and pretty. I can hear details of any instrument I want to focus on, many that I could not hear before. I seem to be hearing all of the drums, not just the snare and a generalized tom. I hear the drummer hitting a sequence across all the drums. Cymbals that I thought were indistinct because they were quiet and in the background now are clear and separate and fully present from brass strike to shimmer, so I no longer need the cymbals to be out front as much. there is overall a timbral realness. The RM-9 is just a new level for me. Things are less lush than the Mac or 8B, certainly, but they are still warm and sweet and palpable, it just seems that they are not colored any more. Like a delicate desert without the honey, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. Lush, fat, romantic tube sound is not essential to tube palpability. I like really warm jazz guitar, and the 8B, and even more the Mac, made all jazz guitar seem more warm. But now I hear what's there. On some CDs (Peter Leitch, From Another Perspective; Peter Bernstein on Ryan Kisor, Awakening) the archtops are as tonally warm, even hot, as could be, but on Peter Bernstein's Stranger in Paradise his archtop is more acoustic and wooden. It sounds accurate, like a real archtop guitar with its rich wooden resonance. Peter is in my opinion the best player currently out there. He does usually use a leaner, more acoustic sound. Heart's Content however is his electric warmest, and IMO best, CD. I have to get another one, as I gave mine to my teacher, so can't report on that.

For the first time Paul Chamber's bass sounds like distinct, clear vibrating bass notes all the down his walking lines on Kinda Blue: So What (Macero and Keyes). It's always kinda mushed into some indistinct soft bass energy before. What a thrill. This, on my ProAc monitors. Kinda Blue is the most beautiful I've ever heard it. The horns are clear but sweet and creamy. The brashness of the horns at the beginning seems smoothed out. Everything is like beautiful sweet colors on a black velvet background dimensional space. It seems to go back beyond my room.

I could go on and on. What an amp. What beautiful, sweet, crystaline clear music. I have no thoughts of further changes. Well, maybe some real wire :-).

Jim