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Manly amps can also be sissy
however - in last several years (decade , in fact) I know just one thing for sure , regarding amps - I'm simply not even thinking about anything above , say , 30W
everything is based in that realm - big spks , under 30W amps , big ears ...... big Green
😉
Manly amps can also be sissy
however - in last several years (decade , in fact) I know just one thing for sure , regarding amps - I'm simply not even thinking about anything above , say , 30W
everything is based in that realm - big spks , under 30W amps , big ears ...... big Green
😉
Since completing the BassZillas I found out that my clones of the Aleph 2 and Krell KSA-100 have way more power than I need. The Krell KSA-50 and Aleph 5 clones seem to be just right. I listened to the Aleph J clones for 5 months until I finally finished the case for the F5 using Peter Daniel's boards. It gave me the bass that I was missing and softened the glare which sometimes made vocals a bit annoying. It has been my main listening amplifier ever since.
For the past 3 years I drive my amplifiers directly from the output of two Musical Fidelity DACs: M1DAC and V90-DAC. The former is a little punchier in the bass, the latter extremely well balanced and gets to be breathtaking with some recordings.
So now I am interested in the sound character of different amplifiers since, as you mentioned, 30W per channel seems to be plenty for the BassZillas.
For the past 3 years I drive my amplifiers directly from the output of two Musical Fidelity DACs: M1DAC and V90-DAC. The former is a little punchier in the bass, the latter extremely well balanced and gets to be breathtaking with some recordings.
So now I am interested in the sound character of different amplifiers since, as you mentioned, 30W per channel seems to be plenty for the BassZillas.
The glare is from the Fostex full range drivers used in the BassZillas. The Aleph J makes it more pronounced, the F5 less.
Jose - Interesting! I would expect the opposite, as the Aleph is the more romantic of the two in my opinion. The F5 is so breathtakingly neutral that it can seem dry. (When compared to other FW amps, it's quite beautiful compared to other, more mundane amps.)
As mentioned above, I am not blaming the Aleph J. Its association with the BassZillas brings up, on occasion, that undesirable effect. On the other hand, the Aleph J connected to the Sound Dynamics 300 TI makes them sound awesome.
That's part of what makes this hobby so fun and aggravating at the same time - the interactions between the various widgets can be, well, "interesting"... 🙂 🙂 🙂
Im sorta crazy. I hear someone say that their speakers have a glare when an AJ is driving them and I want to suggest selling the speakers and keeping the amp. Different strokes for different folks.
Please everybody, take a deep breath and stay calm. I did not say anything about selling the Aleph J. Buzz, you're talking crazy, man!
Besides, I have never heard any other Aleph J, the original or a clone. Mine could have an issue. If I attend Burning Amp this year I will definitely bring it with me to find that out.
Besides, I have never heard any other Aleph J, the original or a clone. Mine could have an issue. If I attend Burning Amp this year I will definitely bring it with me to find that out.
Hopefully you do attend BA this year, I will likely be there and we can finally meet! 🙂
And we know you are not going to sell the Aleph J... That's just silly.
You are supposed to sell your speakers. 😀 😀 😀
And we know you are not going to sell the Aleph J... That's just silly.
You are supposed to sell your speakers. 😀 😀 😀
I first connected the BassZillas to the Audible Illusion M3a driving the McCormack DNA-1. They sounded so forward that I opened one of the crossovers to verify if I had made a mistake in the PCB layout. I then tried Mauro Penasa’s LM3886-based amp and they sounded better. Next was the KSA-50 clones and they sounded awesome, bringing back the bass I had not
heard since my early 20’s, last time I had speakers with 15” woofers.
Keep in mind that there are differences in the way people are sensitive to sounds. I read an interesting post a few months ago.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/244651-actual-np-speakers-auditioned-ba-2013-pass-room.html#post3676591
Notice in post #1 the part in which he describes the sound as "...a white-hot needle through my eardrums". I hope I can meet Wrenchone in person in the near future to compare notes. His comments describe accurately how the BassZillas sound to me some times.
I don't want anybody to get the wrong impression about the BassZillas. I like them very much and, except for this idiosyncrasy which affects female vocals and brass instruments, they do everything right.
heard since my early 20’s, last time I had speakers with 15” woofers.
Keep in mind that there are differences in the way people are sensitive to sounds. I read an interesting post a few months ago.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/244651-actual-np-speakers-auditioned-ba-2013-pass-room.html#post3676591
Notice in post #1 the part in which he describes the sound as "...a white-hot needle through my eardrums". I hope I can meet Wrenchone in person in the near future to compare notes. His comments describe accurately how the BassZillas sound to me some times.
I don't want anybody to get the wrong impression about the BassZillas. I like them very much and, except for this idiosyncrasy which affects female vocals and brass instruments, they do everything right.
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My experiance is that the better the system, the narrower is the playroom with the ballance of the sound. That's to say that the faults (bass muddynes, high freq peaks etc.) stick out more. It takes more work to get that ballance right.
When everything starts to be pretty good, one needs to take a look at one's cables. There will always be those who say cables make no difference but, well, that's their problem - lucky them. 😉
Grimberg says there is some harshness in the BassZillas. I had something like that too with my Ascendo C8 Renaissance speakers. It wasn't the speakers though, it wasn't the amps, it wasn't even the interconnect or speaker cables. But when I put in a good power cable things changed quite a bit. Belive it or not, much of that 'whiteness','hazyness' and even some harshness comes from the power. 😱
If you haven't already, try a good power cable - you might be supprised. 🙂
When everything starts to be pretty good, one needs to take a look at one's cables. There will always be those who say cables make no difference but, well, that's their problem - lucky them. 😉
Grimberg says there is some harshness in the BassZillas. I had something like that too with my Ascendo C8 Renaissance speakers. It wasn't the speakers though, it wasn't the amps, it wasn't even the interconnect or speaker cables. But when I put in a good power cable things changed quite a bit. Belive it or not, much of that 'whiteness','hazyness' and even some harshness comes from the power. 😱
If you haven't already, try a good power cable - you might be supprised. 🙂
That's so true, they are indeed lucky. Not burdened like me in having to have cables as good as possible in each setup 😱
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If cables do not mater then how does anything else . This ask the question what does mater ?
😱
