I have to report back to let everyone know how impressed with the A2700 I am - I bought it, and its partner, the Elipson P1 preamp (sans DAC + phono card). Originally I had it paired with a LAB12 Pre1, and some music sounded great but other stuff didn’t… the dealer insisted I try the P1 alongside it. I left the shop with the P1 as a demo, not very excited at all to try it after work.
I installed it via XLR and then from P1 to A2700 via 18” RCA cables. I cannot describe accurately how big of a difference this Elipson combo has made to my speakers, other than to say that I am extremely happy with everything about it other than a few small things relating to the functions of the preamp and some minor design choices on the A2700. I really like that this combo is understated and under the radar, but I would be doing everyone a disservice by not saying how pleased I am. I bought this stuff purely because it sounds *so damn good*. It has increased the soundstage, clarity, speed, detail, and of course the bass as with most modern Class D from my understanding. When I say increased soundstage, I mean it is bigger and better, with more information than even the full tube pre/power combo I also own. I also have a modern (think Series 2 just released..) 350+wpc Class A/B integrated amp that this class D combo bests in pretty much every way that is important to me. I run a Gustard U18/R26 combo as the front end.
The match between my Monitor Audio Gold 300 and Elipson’s pre/power combo is simply wonderful and I can’t imagine many not saying it sounds proper. I don’t find the system bright or anything of the sort, it is improved in every way, there is tons of detail, great dynamics; its all there. I have had four amps now and this has convinced me the speakers are very revealing of the quality of electronics in the chain. I can very easily hear every equipment change. I’m not going into cables or anything other than to say that I believe that maybe thicker, well designed speaker cables are better than some others…?
If anyone is at all curious about high end Class D, I would really appreciate a comparison against something like the new NCx500. To my knowledge, the Elipson unit is Pascal-based, not unlike the incredible amps from Aavik. Whatever their make up is (I have not cracked either unit open yet but maybe I will one day), Elipson has - to my ears - a bit of a hidden gem here, albeit an expensive one at ~$5k USD for the combo. Unlike some other stuff I’ve had, this actually sounds like $5k, whatever that means lol.
Hope I haven’t rubbed anyone the wrong way. Thanks.
