Speakers came before the amps, so you could say I did. Not everyone is a genius level like you are, Pogo. Some of us only learn the hard way, because not all of us understand how to read an EPDR curve.
-Ed
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Topping B100 Amplifier Review
- Thread starter amirm
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-Ed
pogo
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I felt the same way.
So you definitely should give the Aperion Grandis GR8 Bookshelf speakers a try. More oomph than the LS 50 Meta
But even if you are 50% subjectivist, the 50% of you that is objectivist must recognise that someone else's subjective impressions will probably have nothing to do with your subjective impressions - because both sets of impressions are .... subjective. IE Specific to the subject - you. Or The other person.Without relevance to anyone… but @bYOndo and me (an at least 10% subjectivist)
If you don't share the exact same personal beliefs and feelings (or are not listing in the same system with the exact same volume mismatch, in the same place with the same degree of comfort and same level of inebriation
) you are unlikely to share the same subjective "impressions"They have a unique look.So you definitely should give the Aperion Grandis GR8 Bookshelf speakers a try. More oomph than the LS 50 Meta
I don't care how good they are: aesthetically not in my home.
Maybe: IF they are truly great AND I had a place that I thought it would work visually for me (as 85% of all speakers that I have seen in person do)...
But probably not.
But in double blind tests before a new medicamentation goes through the panels of FDA…. Placebo effect can range up to 50 % of the effectiveness!
And: if I „feel good“ to trust @bYOndo or a subjectivist YouTuber who I like, then it will change something in my brain… other expectations, other neurons are firing, so there is a tiny difference in the real, the „physical“ world between knowing what @bYOndo has to say and simply not knowing this.
And at least in that regard I may accept that I share this kind of subjectiveness of someone else (at least partly (or even not))!
If only it were that predictable.
DSJR
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A TOTALLY subjective thing follows (with apologies to those who've never heard a difference) - Can you invert the phase on the B100s only (just swap the speaker + and - over at the amp end only)? You may hear no difference at all and that's absolutely fine, but if you do, it might possibly just help close the gap a little. Leave the connections alone with your other Hypex based amp, just the speaker connections to the B100s only...I tried B100s for your SAME exact reason; I already have an Hypex NC252MP, but I wanted to see (ehm *listen) if I could spot any difference between a Class D and a Class B amp. To my surprise I actually can and very easily, in a bad way for the Topping: I cannot give any quantification, I didn't measured them, but to my ears B100s "blurred" my stereo presentation.
My audio chain is Tidal Connect to Wiim pro to optical input of SMSL SU9 to XLR inputs of the amp to a pair of Kef R3 (non meta).
Take this very famous aria from Mozart "Don Giovanni" (I adore operas and in general symphonic orchestra and choral music):
Luca Pisaroni - Mozart: Don Giovanni, ossia Il dissoluto punito, K.527 / Act 1: "Notte e giorno faticar"
Listen to Mozart: Don Giovanni, ossia Il dissoluto punito, K.527 / Act 1: "Notte e giorno faticar" on your streaming servicetidal.com
With my beloved Hypex I can literally "see" by ears the 3 singers position and movement, in a nice forward "in front of me" stereo image. I a/b same track, roughly same volume (side note: from "50" with Hiypex I had to go up to nearly "80" with the medium gain setting on B100, it's fair and expected that): the B100s put everything behind the speakers and stereo separation was "meh..". I sincerely don't know why, maybe my low impedance Kefs are not happy with Toppings, maybe it's the bad BTL implementation, maybe any batch mismatch between the 2 B100s. Finally I repacked them and sent back to Shenzhenaudio (loosing a lot of moneys with customs taxes, returning shipping and 10%"restock fee").
Not happy at all, BUT I learned a very important thing (as other wrote in this thread): my audio chain is just nice and perfect to my ears and I must not change anything (if not broken)
p.s.: I swear that, when a/b the amps, I double checked everything, from cables insertion to speaker position (though it's difficult to move them accidentally
p.p.s.: B100s ergonomics are just bad to me, because the (double) big external power bricks and those touch sensitive on/off switches (but without a remote! why?)...
ok, I'm fine with it, I hope it's the same for you. My B100s could've been even defective (or maybe not perfectly matched, could it be?), who knows, I don't have them anymore. I'm just reporting my "subjective" experience. My present hifi system's components were chosen only after reading ASR reviews (and they are all STELLAR quality), maybe I was just unlucky with these amps
no cinch adapters, I don't need them, just straight (and short) XLR cables
thanks for your suggestion, but I can recognize an inverted phase channel. And it would sounds completely different with any source
Sokel
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I have given you this chart (EPDR) long before the B100's I think.
There's no blame here,but I would like to understand your reasoning behind choosing this amp (it's related to another thread,too).
What exact quality made you push the button?It's not price,I imagine you would have got Purifis after the succession of the amps you got.
You can ignore it of course but your response could be of community service.
ok but is it correct to label "placebo effect" anything I could not properly test and report? I had an entire one month to try them and God knows how much I wanted to keep them (even only for the wasted money to return them). I know they're just my humble unverified words, so take them "as is".
If it does PEQ, does that automatically mean one can find a way to drive mains and sub separately? Personally, I have zero need for a DAC that can't function as a modern preamp (sub out etc).
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Another new set of speakers in this house and my wife will send me out the doors with the KEFs.So you definitely should give the Aperion Grandis GR8 Bookshelf speakers a try. More oomph than the LS 50 Meta
-Ed
My reasons for auditioning the B100s will bring out the anti-subjectivist pitchforks again—no thanks.
As for choosing the IOM Ultra NC252MP over a Purifi solution or an nCoreX option, the reason is simple: the IOM Ultra is a perfect visual match for my WiiM Ultra. I got Sipko to make me one with both, XLR and RCA inputs.
-Ed
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Sokel
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When it comes to visuals I'm your ally,there no way something passes my door if I don't visually like it,no matter its performance.
I'll stick to that.
Something you listen to and hear is not always bias. The problem is that without controlled listening it is impossible to know if it is bias or not. So your reports of uncontrolled listening "impressions" have little value. They might be real differences - or they might have been created in your brain.
Combine that with the fact that you are claiming big differences between two bits of kit that measure audibly transparent - and that makes it pretty unlikely you are hearing anything real. Or the difference was just from that most basic of controls - failure to level match accurately, rather than an actual quality difference between the two amps.
On the other hand if you describe (for example) the difference tone controls make - where we know tone controls make massive and audible differences to the frequency response, then it is more reasonable to assume that you are hearing something real.
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