I've decided to home audition the Viola Bravo II amp and the Krell 600e monoblocks. I should have both next month. I may start a new thread if folks are interested.
Dartzeel vs. Ayre
- Thread starter caesar
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Maybe I shouldn't have picked on Class A amps.
I would say that I am not a fan of amps in general that don't have at least a low enough noise floor to fully resolve a 24bit digital file. For example, if you look at JA's test on the Pass xa30.5, the A-weighted (best case) noise measurement was like -87db. OTOH, if you look at the Soulution, the noise comes in at -96.8db down. Assuming all other things equal, the greater the bit depth of the recording, the greater the dynamic range and lower the noise floor of the recording. If the amp doesn't have a low enough noise floor, then those extra bits in a 24 bit file are basically not heard.
class-a amps have reduced or elimitnated notch distortion over ab, something that can be measured but not easy to hear. in practice -87 vs -96 isnt going to mean squat even with hirez sources, thats what the volume control is for
you dont listen to music at 5, 10 or 50 db at 80-100 db listening levels its totally inperceptable. the best you'll see with LP is -60 to 70db down (and someone will dispute that) yet its compared to hirez digital all the time and comes out on top in many cases (in all cases if you're an analog stalwart ).
Not sure about the possible additional noise floor of class-A amps (it could be true), but the best amps I have had or heard are preciesly designed on that topology.
Ditto...my favorite amps of the last 20 years are: Forte 4, Krell FPB 600, Gryphon Antileon, Boulder 2060, Gryphon Colosseum.
That is insanely low noise measurement, personally I would want to see that verified by a third party. Isn't that greater than 32 bit resolution? Also the Boulder amp does not have that much heatsinking for a stereo amp that is running 600 watts pure class A...
Alright I found this quote from a Positive Feedback review:
Does this mean it is sliding bias like some Krell amps? I'm not sure it's fair to call it a "pure class A" amp if that is so. Though Boulder themselves do not use that term in their literature.
Maybe I shouldn't have picked on Class A amps.
I would say that I am not a fan of amps in general that don't have at least a low enough noise floor to fully resolve a 24bit digital file. For example, if you look at JA's test on the Pass xa30.5, the A-weighted (best case) noise measurement was like -87db. OTOH, if you look at the Soulution, the noise comes in at -96.8db down. Assuming all other things equal, the greater the bit depth of the recording, the greater the dynamic range and lower the noise floor of the recording. If the amp doesn't have a low enough noise floor, then those extra bits in a 24 bit file are basically not heard.
Thanks for clarifiying your position , for some reason I never saw your response when I had originally replied. Are you able to hear the difference with the lower noise floor between amplifiers when playing 24bit ..?
Does this mean no Tubes on 24bit material .....
The Soulution 710 is a keeper. There's nothing I have heard that is like it. The Soulution really controls the YG without making things sound articial like a class D. It is pretty close to perfect. Strangely enough I have to thank Jonathan Tinn and many others that counseled me in he right direction. Thank you!
I liked the ASR very much. I had an issue with my unit that was driving me crazy so I gave it back to the dealer. When it worked, it was very good. The sound is a little more on the tube side of neutral. The Soulution is much better.
Hi don't want to argue what you heard, I am sure you did....but those MXR's take a few days to warm up and if the amps had less than 5-800 hours on them, I'd say the same thing....you may not have heard them at their best. Also if you plugged em into a power conditioner (they don't like my Shunyata which is great everywhere else..)
Dallas justice , great comparison good luck with the purchase , unfortunately no boulder try out yet , i am curious what you think , i had krell evo 400s before , and the boulder 1060 is a step better , kinda like going from hifi to music , also extremely powerfull , the boulder sounds more in control/effortless although its " only" 300 watts.
More neutral and more music , i never heard the darts unfortunately.
Its class AB and its audiojewelry
SN ratio - 127 db, and it sounds like it too, a lot of detail comes through
More neutral and more music , i never heard the darts unfortunately.
Its class AB and its audiojewelry
SN ratio - 127 db, and it sounds like it too, a lot of detail comes through
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comparing amplifiers is not easy without considering loudspeaker and room.
the matching of speaker and amplifier is a big factor.
both Ayre designer (Charles Hansen) and Dartzeel designer are well regarded.
the list of my favorite solid-state amplifiers:
Vitus Audio MP-M201
CH Precision M10
TAD M700
Symphonic Line 400
Dartzeel 108
Ayre MX-R Twenty
Lamm M1.2
Robert Koda K160
Neodio A2
ASR Emitter II
Yamaha B2
Sugden A21
Firstwatt SIT
and maybe Spectral Audio DMA-400
the matching of speaker and amplifier is a big factor.
both Ayre designer (Charles Hansen) and Dartzeel designer are well regarded.
the list of my favorite solid-state amplifiers:
Vitus Audio MP-M201
CH Precision M10
TAD M700
Symphonic Line 400
Dartzeel 108
Ayre MX-R Twenty
Lamm M1.2
Robert Koda K160
Neodio A2
ASR Emitter II
Yamaha B2
Sugden A21
Firstwatt SIT
and maybe Spectral Audio DMA-400
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