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RE: Help me pick SET monoblocks

Posted by morricab (S) on August 25, 2017 at 07:40:07

In Reply to: RE: Help me pick SET monoblocks posted by RGA on August 24, 2017 at 17:03:01:

"No you are welcome to your OPINIONS but for some reason your massive ego can't allow that other people are allowed theirs. "

Yes, I gave the opinions of I and my audio buddies and you challenged them...so what? Going on some pointless tirade against Odeon and Einstein...

"Your reply to the OP wasn't even REMOTELY on topic."

It was, I suggested he try SET OTL monos...totally on topic.

"No your retort is. Once again appeal to the mid-fi to make a point about the pinnacle of audiophile companies. Sorry your reply is stupid. Sony and Yamaha are big midfi/lowfi makers of a vast array of equipment. Perhaps you have not heard but Yamaha makes motorcycles and pianos, and Sony makes a thing called a Playstation and things called Smart Phones. These are major companies "

Its simple, you were equating the expansion of the company and it's financial success as a direct correlation to the sound quality of AN's products. I pointed out, rightly, that commercial success has nothing inherently to do with sound quality even with small high end companies...otherwise Magnapan, who you so despise, would be a GREAT loudspeaker. B&W would be world beaters and better than AN because they sell A LOT more speakers than AN and they are not a midfi/lowfi company. Is that apples to apples enough for you (I noticed you didn't touch B&W in your sensless retort). The very best amp maker I know of, Aries Cerat, is a very small company but by your definition they must suck because they have only 7 employees and a small factory. Like I said, what you were saying was stupid. Does that mean that AN sucked when it was only a small workshop and it is only good now that they have quadrupled in size? You see your argument is totally illogical...

"But there is a thing called system synergy "

For devices with significant flaws there can be a benefit of balancing one device against another. For devices with relatively few or minor flaws then they tend to work very well regardless of the system they are put into...no synergy required.

"Just auditioned Marten Speakers - really didn't care for them with Audio Note or Cary but I quite enjoyed them with Zesto. "

I haven't heard Marten speakers sound really good with any amplifiers and heard them sound bad with quite a few.

"They went out of business in the United States. "

No, they no longer have representation in the US...their business is based in Germany. They are successful there and in Asia or then they would disappear completely.

"but other companies you always support like Apogee"
Look around, Apogee has been out of business nearly 20 years and there are a lot of peopl who still own and love them and spend large sums restoring them. I have a friend in Holland who makes a nice income from the restoration of these speakers using drivers made in Australia (who has the rights to the Apogee name). There are pro restorers in Germany and US as well. This company died for business reasons not product reasons. There is a strong love for their sound still today.

Reference 3a made some amazing monitors in the past (I particularly liked my old MMCs and the Royal Virtuoso) but I cannot speak of the rest of their lineup. It seems Tash Goka is not taking things in the right direction but I thought the Be tweeter was a nice upgrade for my MMCs...it brought additional transparency...something you seem to be afraid of. My time with this brand though was relatively short so don't make too much of it. My affair with Odeon is much stronger and enduring and the sound far more realistic in their big models. From the little Orfeo monitors (I would put them up agains an AN J anyday) to the big La Bohemes or No.38 they breathe life. A friend has No. 32s with a Golden Atlantic DAC, Aries Cerat Incito preamp and Lamm M1.1 monos (soon to be Aries Cerat Concero 65s). The bass power and control is stunning and my friend's profession is live concert promoter and demands live bass power. The mids and highs are typical, ultra transparent, no apparent coloration Odeon.

"$30k Versus $15k is not a fair comparison. Should be in the ballpark.
"

IMO, a factor of 2 is the same ballpark. As I said, I would love to compare a Jinro to a KR Kronzilla SXi or Aries Cerat Diana Integrated. That is all in the 20K class, which is for me an upper limit of reasonable price to spend on an amp. Ok, the 90K Kondo GakuOh is such a beautiful machine that I would have to think about it...if I had that kind of cash and Living Voice Vox Olympian speakers.

"Lastly it is not the size of the power transformer but the quality of the transformer that acts on sound quality "

We are talking about output transformers and not power transformers, right? You are both right and wrong. For SET, size really matters. Core saturation really matters. All else being equal then the materials really matter and the winding concept really matters. A lot of designers shy away from huge cores because it is difficult to wind them correctly to get good HF response. Having thin laminates and exotic materials can help with low level resolution and responsiveness but it cannot overcome too small a core, which will limit bass resolution and pollute the rest of the spectrum with harmonic distortion from saturation. The review in Stereophile shows that the Jinro has a good sized output transformer as there is no significant increase in distortion at bass frequencies. I agree with JA that it measures pretty well for a SET.

"Not everything is about massive loud dynamic impact and scale"

Dynamics are vital to sounding live. Not just loud to louder but very quiet to less quiet. The ability to startle when it would do so in real life...it is rare and only a few pieces of gear can do it. Of course subtle resolution and tonality is vital to a real experience as well one cannot igore either part of the equation.

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