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Aksa amp -How far can it go?

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I am considering upgrading the rest of my system and I just wondered how far can the aksa go?

It goes well with my 1000 pound speakers but would the aksa be outclassed if the speakers were say 5k or 10k pounds?

What about the cd player? How much of a difference can I expect from the portable I'm using now to something like a benchmark dac?
 
Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
I doubt that, but we will never know, will we
But dont overrate the importance of CD players
Important fore sure, yes
Speakers are exstremely important
They determine what your hear
Use all the money on speakers, and save up a bit fore the rest:p
 
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Hello

I have done comparaisons of CD players, using Dynaudio speakers, wen you use low and mid prices CD players you loss most of the soundstage, as example I compared a Sony cd player with my Denon cd player and the Sony was life-less with a bad soundstage, the Denon was so much better.

If your CD player do have an optical output you can use an external digital-analog converter. I will made my diy digital-analog converter to use it on my
Denon cd player.

All parts of a sound system need to be of equal quality or the lowest quality part will limit the overall quality.

Bye

Gaetan
 
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Hi All,

Refer to Hugh's web site with attention to the amp shoot-out. That article will give you some idea of how Aksa amps perform against very expensive equipment.

Likewise Hugh's VSonic speakers punch well above their weight too, they are well at home in the $A8000 to $A10000 bracket. And if you want more bass, then there is BEN the transmissionline bass extender which puts punch to the bottom end particularly to pipe organ, electric bass guitar and slam to the kick drum.

Food for thought,

Cheers,

Tliner.
 
It's not about dollar matching but component matching.... synergy. Get the system combination right and you have a system that really sings, get it wrong and it sux and dollars have nothing to do with it. You can build a fine sounding system without breaking the bank and it's surprising how little you need to spend, if you get it right.

There are a lot of components that have been dimissed or have had bad reports due to this reason.

The AKSA is very flexible in mating with other components and over 5 years+ have only had one pair of speakers out of scores that didn't mate. Never had an issue with any source as a good source is a good source and a good amp should not get in the way. The only problem I ever had was to get a pre that could do the AKSA justice and not degrade the performance on offer.

I tend to place most of my efforts in speakers as that's my thing so I can tailor to suit the amp etc.
 
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Ex-Moderator R.I.P.
Joined 2005
I have a 300EUR digital television receiver with build in harddisc
I doubt the DA converter is anything special

But I can tell you, some of the life concerts I have recorded lacks NOTHING
I have a quite ok 2000EUR Advantage CD player fore comparison
But I will never buy anything that expencive again

I expect a cheapish DVD recorder to be sufficient to get quite good sound
And btw, my Luxman radio tuner does ok too

I dont doubt a Zanden player will be very special, but I surely would feel strange sitting listening to a 22000USD CD player

Synergy, sure
There are some cases where special lucky synergy makes a system sound much better than could be expected
But I wouldnt put all too much weight on this synergy thing
Ofcourse proper matching is always required, but thats not what I understand as synergy
Synergy is mostly luck, and not to be expected

To repeat, look at your speakers, they are the key
 
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I'm interested to know whether the aksa colours the sound at the expense of neutrality and transparency such that it wouldn't be suitable for use in a studio monitoring environment?

Hello Professor smith

The Aksa do have a warm sound like tube amp but it is not at the expense of neutrality and transparency, and it is not colouration of the sound.

Bye

Gaetan
 
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Others have commented on the soundstage of the aksa. It can go deep or wide or high depending on the source material. I cant remember hearing this kind of variation with my previous amplfier. Is the soundstage of the aksa typical of high end amplfiers?
I wouldn't know because I've never owned a high end amplfier.
 
Hello Professor smith

I've done lot of listening in high end audio stores and the Montreal audio show, to ear a variety of high end amps, preamps and cd players. I can say that yes the soundstage of the aksa is typical of high end.

Did you seen this article ? They compared the Aksa amp to some high end amps and the Aksa was the winner.

AVHub - Hi-Fi - News Articles - Audiophile Society of NSW - February 2009 meeting

Bye

Gaetan
 
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Hello Professor Smith

I agree with tinitus, theres a much greater chance to find a good small 2 way than a good 3 way.

For myself, my favorites loudspeakers that I have eard in my region, are Dynaudio, Monitor Audio, and Spendor. Those are costly but hopefully I have a pair of Dynaudio from a friend who change them for Spendor S-100.

You can read magazines reviews to know a bit about bests 2 way loudspeakers.

Magazines reviews are not allways neutral, but if a loudspeaker are praise by both magazines and audio forum users, there is great chance that you have a winner loudspeaker.

Here is some magazines reviews of loudspeakers.

TNT - loudspeakers tests

Loudspeakers — Audiophilia

SoundStage! - The Authority on High-End Audio - www.SoundStage.com

Sound & Vision Magazine

Stereophile: Floorstanding Loudspeakers

Stereophile: Standmounted/Bookshelf Loudspeakers


Bye

Gaetan
 
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I'm interested to know whether the aksa colours the sound at the expense of neutrality and transparency such that it wouldn't be suitable for use in a studio monitoring environment?

The problem I see with using it as a studio monitor is that most consumer amps are crap - they will sound nothing like what you hear from your perfect listening room, perfect speakers, etc. So perhaps it's better to use a sort of harsh amp for studio purposes, so when you compensate for the amp's sound to make it sound good to you, you will be making the sound more pleasant and less harsh, whereas a very warm amp might give you the false impression that your music will sound warm on a consumer device.

Although people say that the AKSA does not color the sound, I'm still curious.

- keantoken
 
The thing is the AKSA may be colored, but at the same time I am hearing all kinds of details which I have never heard before. There is a sense of clarity. That's why I was curious to know how suitable it would be in a studio environment where it's important to be able to hear what's going on in the mix.
 
Originally Posted by Professor smith View Post
I'm interested to know whether the aksa colours the sound at the expense of neutrality and transparency such that it wouldn't be suitable for use in a studio monitoring environment?

The problem I see with using it as a studio monitor is that most consumer amps are crap - they will sound nothing like what you hear from your perfect listening room, perfect speakers, etc. So perhaps it's better to use a sort of harsh amp for studio purposes, so when you compensate for the amp's sound to make it sound good to you, you will be making the sound more pleasant and less harsh, whereas a very warm amp might give you the false impression that your music will sound warm on a consumer device.

Although people say that the AKSA does not color the sound, I'm still curious.

- keantoken

AKSA 100 makes a fine nearfield powered studio amp.

I built up one of Hughs 55 modules and it ended up doing service for main
(nearfield) monitor amp duties. The engineer was more than happy with the
resolution and transparency of the amp. The only thing wanting was a bit more power, hence the 100W recommendation.

The musicality of these amps can actually work as a bonus in the studio in
much the same way that analog tape and tube electronics did to produce
some of the best recordings ever made.

cheers

Terry
 
Originally Posted by Professor smith View Post
I'm interested to know whether the aksa colours the sound at the expense of neutrality and transparency such that it wouldn't be suitable for use in a studio monitoring environment?



AKSA 100 makes a fine nearfield powered studio amp.

I built up one of Hughs 55 modules and it ended up doing service for main
(nearfield) monitor amp duties. The engineer was more than happy with the
resolution and transparency of the amp. The only thing wanting was a bit more power, hence the 100W recommendation.

The musicality of these amps can actually work as a bonus in the studio in
much the same way that analog tape and tube electronics did to produce
some of the best recordings ever made.

cheers

Terry

Out of interest what monitors were being driven by them?
 
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