tvrgeek
Major Contributor
Almost convinced. I upgraded from my own MOSFET design that was getting quite old to a Parasound 2125 which I am not at all happy with. I would call it "edgy" My Asgard works fine, unlike the Toping and SMSL I tried based on this site testing, so maybe a Vidar to match?
DC offset on the mains and transformers are a bad combination no matter the brand. A solid state relay anywhere on the same phase can cause an amp to hum. I know this from experience. Should we expect an amp maker to protect us from this? Yes but only at a price point that can support it. Yes, some electronics have issues that creep in after time. Again, at what price point can you expect a unit to be burned in? What is the bottom of the bathtub curve? 1 Hour? 100? We are talking a $700 amp that sounds better than many I can think of for 3 or 4 times the price.
Schiit and JDS are my new favorite companies. March seems to be trying to hit the same market in amps, but as class D, I am not going to risk it.
Atoll, SimAudio, and Hegel are rapidly rising in my esteem. Unfortunately on a whole other price platform!
Specs are fine, but we still don't really know what to measure. That was sort of proved back with the Hafler null test. I can guarantee you on a 120, modifying the input CCS and change to Miller Compensation made a HUGE audible difference. There are still unresolved dynamic questions and many very difficult to drive speakers out there. If it were only specs, then a Doug Self "Blameless" would be the best amp out there. ( Think Cambridge. Great specs, but totally lifeless to listen to.) Or many of the new class D, which so far have left me cold. I have been told the Lyndorf would change my mind. The testing herein is a tremendous help to narrow down the choices, but the end-all is still your ears. Not mine, not Amirm's
Now, if you are lucky enough to have poor hearing* or just don't care, by all means, Denon, Yamaha, Marantz, and so on. Lots of features, cheap prices, reliable. Drive your very reliable Corolla with all the steering feedback of a video game. Some of us it is only about the music for serious listening. Very small differences. Probably 80% of the amps I have listened to , Julian Bream's bass strings sound metallic. Why I don't know, but I know what I hear. Joni Mitchel can destroy a less than excellent tweeter. Harry James trumpet can send my wife running from the room, but live we can sit 10 feet from the stage.
*Generations of Who concerts stoned, disco clubs, and now ear buds, we have three generations almost deaf!
DC offset on the mains and transformers are a bad combination no matter the brand. A solid state relay anywhere on the same phase can cause an amp to hum. I know this from experience. Should we expect an amp maker to protect us from this? Yes but only at a price point that can support it. Yes, some electronics have issues that creep in after time. Again, at what price point can you expect a unit to be burned in? What is the bottom of the bathtub curve? 1 Hour? 100? We are talking a $700 amp that sounds better than many I can think of for 3 or 4 times the price.
Schiit and JDS are my new favorite companies. March seems to be trying to hit the same market in amps, but as class D, I am not going to risk it.
Atoll, SimAudio, and Hegel are rapidly rising in my esteem. Unfortunately on a whole other price platform!
Specs are fine, but we still don't really know what to measure. That was sort of proved back with the Hafler null test. I can guarantee you on a 120, modifying the input CCS and change to Miller Compensation made a HUGE audible difference. There are still unresolved dynamic questions and many very difficult to drive speakers out there. If it were only specs, then a Doug Self "Blameless" would be the best amp out there. ( Think Cambridge. Great specs, but totally lifeless to listen to.) Or many of the new class D, which so far have left me cold. I have been told the Lyndorf would change my mind. The testing herein is a tremendous help to narrow down the choices, but the end-all is still your ears. Not mine, not Amirm's
Now, if you are lucky enough to have poor hearing* or just don't care, by all means, Denon, Yamaha, Marantz, and so on. Lots of features, cheap prices, reliable. Drive your very reliable Corolla with all the steering feedback of a video game. Some of us it is only about the music for serious listening. Very small differences. Probably 80% of the amps I have listened to , Julian Bream's bass strings sound metallic. Why I don't know, but I know what I hear. Joni Mitchel can destroy a less than excellent tweeter. Harry James trumpet can send my wife running from the room, but live we can sit 10 feet from the stage.
*Generations of Who concerts stoned, disco clubs, and now ear buds, we have three generations almost deaf!