2. amps-preamps
  3. 1353688456

Merrill Audio VERITAS Amps: Any other experiances?

Despite the Sandy Hurricane interruptions, Merrill was kind enough to provide me the opportunity to audition his Merrill Audio Veritas Mono-block amps with my system. He delivered the amps and I listened for approx 48 hours over a period of three days. It should be noted that never once in this time frame did I or anyone else listening experience listening fatigue.

The Veritas units were temporary replacements for my ARC VTM200 MONO-blocks and other than a short experience with my neighbors ARC 610 Mono-Blocks which really brought my Maggies to life, it was a reawakening as to what my Maggies can do given sufficient power. It's not that the VTM200 don't do a good job, its that financially, moving up with more powerful tube amps is out of the question.

Basically , I was overjoyed with what I was listening to. With the Veritas supplying 700 watts per channel vs the 200 tube watts, which is fundamentally 3 and one half times the power I had been feeding them, it was the first time I heard the Maggies with the power they were recommended to be supplied with other than the 610 experience. It should be noted that every piece of electronic audio equipment I have is TUBE centered. The presentation of the Veritas into the system was the first time a pure solid state unit had been introduced to the system and the lasting impression was WOW...just like the web site stated!

We listened to vinyl as well as CDs...Jazz and full orchestration as well as solo piano, cello and violin. Beside myself and occasionally my wife, the listening panel included Blaine Handzus of the NJAS as well as an interested neighbor along with Merrill.

If and when I replace the ARC VTM200s, the Veritas would be at the top of the list.

Having heard Class D amps at other systems, I had never been totally satisfied with what they delivered but the Veritas units presented a completely satisfying and different audio presentation. In short, the 'you are there' effect the Maggies are famous for with the proper watts was stunning.

Simply put, the Veritas are an audio achievement, with extremely accurate front to back definition as well as a superbly accurate soundstage presentation. The holographic effect of instrument position within the orchestra was excellent.

But more to the point, the sounds of the instruments themselves were very accurate. My wife, who listens to live music on a daily basis, both strings, keyboard and horns made the comment that she "could hear the cellos and violas breath".

It was a sad hour when Merrill came back to take his amps away!
128x128jafo100
dan92075
23 posts
 
I was curious so I looked up Brostrom (Abletec) patent applications

Earlier these were touted as a new revolutionary class D design

Here are some of my observations:

1). the design clearly still relies on feedback, contrary to earlier assertions
(as a side note, is it even possible to do something as nonlinear as Class D without any feedback?)

2). it appears the design still relies on pulse width modulation

3). it does seem that he is using some similar principles to ncore in not allowing his feedback filters to saturate - he is doing it a slightly different way - limiting the gain - cant say which technique is best but they both are addressing the same key issues it appears

At the end of the day, this seems like an improvement over the existing art but certainly not as revolutionary as was claimed earlier - and also would not jump to the conclusion these are better than ncore - definitely a listening test would be in order
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Hi Dan, you just pointed out the crux of the matter... Listening tests are in order. Furthermore, a module to module comparison may be meaningful only for very basic amplifier implementations, where little is done around the Abletech or NCore NP1200 modules.... More complex amps are likely to have a sonic signature of their own, which may depart to a lesser or greater extent from the bare performance of their underlying processors.
audiozen
831 posts
 
Dan92075...you are incorrect and did not read cleary regarding the topology with the Abletec amps. His name is Patrik Bostrom, not Brostrom. On the Abletec website it decribes the ALC1000 amplifier using phase shift modulation, not pulse width modulation. Even though it still is a class D switching amp, pulse width modulation is not used at all in the amp or the other newly designed Abletec amps that have been out since 2010.
audiozen
831 posts
 
Regarding bio info I mentioned earlier on the history of Hypex/Ncore which I extracted from sites such as HiFi+ and Test Seek, which turned out to be inaccurate. The best source for this info is the in depth interview with Bruno Putzeys and Jean Peter in the February 2012 issue of 6Moons. Just Goolge Hypex/6moons and it will give the link to the article. Jean Peter started Hypex in his attic in 1996 and first met Bruno in 2001 while he was working for Philips Digital Systems, at which time he developed the Ncore power module. Read the article. Very informative.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
AudioZen, per the detailed 6moons article at:

http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/ncore/1.html

the development of the Ncore module started in 2008 at Hypex, rather than during 2001 at Phylips. In 2001, Putzey was working on the development of UCD at Phylips instead. Putzey commenced development of Ncore technology only in 2008, well after leaving Phylips. This is a good thing for Mr. Putzey and Hypex, because otherwise any of the Ncore-related patents that have been granted since then, would be owned by Philips, and not by Hypex.

G.
More to discover