This update may cause the computer screen you are reading to spontaneously burst into flames. About a week ago, Elliot G drove to my home in NJ immediately following the CAP Audio Fest at my request and picked up the CH M10 Amps I purchased not that long ago. Yes, that is correct. I decided I simply could not live with them any longer. Their limitations have been detailed previously and there was nothing that I could do, conjure, or pray for that changed my opinion of these amplifiers. I simply found the bass wholly unsatisfactory with the important caveat that I could not justifying turning up the feedback setting to a level whereby the midrange and top end was not significantly penalized. I simply could not accept that as the price to pay for decent bass performance. To make things even more incredulous, Elliot brought me the Parasound JC1+ amps that he used the show, which will now serve again as an interim amplifier while I await the arrival of yet another amplifier that I hope will ultimately be satisfactory (and more!). After Elliot and his team of NFL linebackers removed, packed and loaded the M10s onto his van, we unpacked. and hooked up the JC1+. OMG. The bass was back in spades and I was smiling for the first time in a long time. It's worth repeating two things. First, want to know how good the JC1+ is? Read Heillbrun's excellent review which is spot on. I cannot improve upon it in a meaningful way except to say that the JC1+ bass is superior to the Soulution 701as well as the M10 (not even close). Second, this does not mean that the JC1+ is a better amplifier than the M10. There is no question that the magic of the M10 midrange and top end that I was able to achieve with 14% feedback was somewhat decreased with the JC1+. Thus the net overall effect is that while the M10 may be considered the "better amp" in some important ways, the JC1+ was the far more satisfying and preferred amp for overall music listening in my system. It may have been possible to increase the feedback of the M10 to improve the bass further, but that would only result in further diminished midrange and treble performance thereby making it impossible for me to justify their expense over the JC1+ which costs 90% less than the M10. Read that again. 90% less!!
I was amused by some reports which said that Elliot's sound at the show was excellent, yet would have been significantly improved had he only used better amplifiers than the paltry JC1+. And you wonder why audiophiles are nuts? To be honest, after this fiasco, I'm wondering if the amount of money I will spend on the next amp is worth it at all, or is this yet another stupid audiophile move. I guess we shall see.....
I'll conclude by saying that surprisingly, for the moment, I will miss some of that magic midrange the M10's provided at low feedback. But as far as their bass performance, it might just be, as some have already mentioned, that this could simply be a mismatch with the Alexx V, which is capable of excellent bass performance with the right amplifier. However, the counter argument is that it may have nothing to do with the speaker at all since by CH's own admission as stated in their user manual, that one should increase the feedback if you seek "greater bass grip". There's a legitimate reason they say that, and this clearly suggests it is a speaker independent phenomenon.
