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RE: Help me pick SET monoblocks

If You're going to go with AN speakers it's probably best to start with AN amplifiers since they are designed to work together. Further, unlike virtually everything else - in 5-10 years you will get your money back on them should you sell them.

If you start fiddling with virtual no names, or DIY - it just becomes a tough sell and then you wind up keeping it because you can't sell it.

I liked my LM 219IA a whole lot and it sounds really wonderful but again - the US list price is $7500 and you can buy from Chinese outlets for $3500. Sure it may not be the same exact amp but then who says?

I owned the absolute best model of the 219IA as I had it upgraded to silver caps and had better casework (and the case affects the sound). So even with the absolute best sounding 219IA I still only got half what I paid.. Why? It's Chinese. It has little resale value.

To me there should also be some pride of ownership here - and when I see $15,000 MingDa amplifiers and look inside and see Rudicon instead of Rubycon (the counterfeiter was dyslexic apparently) then it's just not a product worth buying.

US companies do it too. Wadia buying cheap Chinese stuff under their name, Theta Data putting an entire Philips Machine they paid $299 for and selling it for 10 times the price and on it goes.

I generally prefer Audio Note for many reasons but one of them is I know I get the best parts for the money, the parts aren't fakes, the parts are often made by hand and by them and when something is outsourced it is typically outsourced to one of the absolute best makers of the thing being sourced like Rubycon, or SEAS.

So to me - I would just get a 10-15 year old P1SE or P2SE power amp second hand for around $1500- $2k which is probably what they sold for and be done with it. I would not get too caught up in which tube or how much power. For most people the P1SE and P2SE is good enough to be an end game product - most entry level AN stuff is that good. Their level zero stuff is killer for the money as well. I zero with CD1 DAC 0.x and AX Two speakers or AZ Two or three floorstanders. That kicks some serious butt.

One reason I have not run out and bought some pretty expensive gear is because I say to myself well does it beat an AN J and an OTO and basic CD player and cable package from them. In other words does X system beat an Audio Note level 2 system and in what ways does it beat it? At something important or some hi-fi nonsense that doesn't exist in real world live music settings?

Looking at generalities
At CAS the best 4 rooms were all Horn or High efficiency speakers. Three of the rooms use non oversampling DACs. Two used AN transport and DAC and the other a CEC transport. All computer based sources were inferior even with the same music. The exception used a $25000 4 watt 2a3 Whammerdyne amp and i had to project that it would be better with the NOS digital.

Speakers and amps can't save a bad source.


Edits: 08/23/17
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