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There are a handful of good solid state amps I've heard over the years but this is the first that compared with the best tube amps at making music.
Helped set this up the other day; big room, high vaulted ceiling, B&W Nautilus 801s, computer audio.
A game changer for this builder of SETs and high efficiency BR/Horn rigs.
Follow Ups:
Don't know about this amp but the MC501 monos did not deliver anything special and were handily beaten in our listening trials by good tube amps.
The sales person at a very high end shop was telling me that he has noticed, first hand!!! that the average person buying such a system isn't really looking for audiophile great listening. More like they are looking for an extreme WOW factor or rock-em until the millionaires next door get pissed.
What he has noticed is someone wanting a real audiophile grade setup usually buys a setup with far less power (and tonnage). But don't let the wattage fool you, he's still talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Well for tonnage, the heaviest amp I have dealt with is the Aries Cerat Diana, which makes a whopping 25 watts and weighs over 250 lbs. it is also one of the best sounding I have heard.
Takes power to rock .....
Or sensitivity
I want it louder, more power...
Sweeeet ................
...but this is the first that compared with the best tube amps at making music.
Stiffer power supply, non-reliance on high levels of corrective feedback, direct coupled and Class A operation to about 10% output:
Nelson has the looks , his best was the Threshold SA1's ...........
excellent pics!
I'm going to the LMC shop in Tempe and they carry all the PASS gear. The Scottsdale store handled mostly the big ass Mac stuff and big Burmester and MBL stuff. That stuff was HUGE.Still curious about the PASS INT-60 but at 93 pounds - ouch!
Edits: 12/11/16
Weighs 150 lbs. too, which delivers 1600 watts/channel at 2 ohms.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Or can 2 (4?) olympic weight lifters move it?
Owner couple are both Crossfit fanatics and had to be restrained from throwing it down after the lift.
When I was going into LMC there were four delivery guys struggling while moving a large wooden packing crate. The truck had a lift and they were using roller movers use to move safes. The nice salesman inside said they were delivering a full blown McIntosh setup to someone in the Scottsdale hills.
The amps are so large that each amp has TWO external power supply modules. There was an entire crate just for the tubes.
I couldn't afford just the electric bill for that setup. Between the juice to drive those amps and the AC to cool it down - I'm out. If I emptied out my entire listening room I don't think I could even store that setup in there.
The amps are so large that each amp has TWO external power supply modules. There was an entire crate just for the tubes.
The only Mac amp with an external power supply is the massively bridged solid state 2kW unit. Which didn't sound particularly transparent to these ears when I heard them at Binghamton.
As for tubes, however, the 2301 monoblocks sound pretty nice.
Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. I was looking at the Burmester 101
I was first exposed to the incredible 969/970 DAC and transport back in '01 or so. Phenomenal sound quality for the time and incredible beauty.
The transport was a belt driven top loader and used a clamp. Look and feel were unmatched as one would expect for its $56k price tag!
Too bad all Burmester systems don't sound very good.
I have a Burmeister system in my car....not much better than the Bose I had in my trade-in.
we're not talking about the same thing. :)
Nice medical office you can see in that reflection of that Burmester
.
I have my eye on the Burmester 101 for around $8k.
Hey stainless steel faceplate. Beats Mac black glass and blue meters.
I always said that if you want loud or need and excessive amount of power McIntosh was the go to brand. However I never felt McIntosh was meant for low level detailed daily usage. If you have a towering 8" tall speaker and need 1000 watts Macs your best choice.
I was in LMC Entertainment last week and they had several McIntosh setups. And I mean stadium sized amp setups.
Oh, and the $409,000 Burmester was nice as well. The $250,000 MBL speakers and $263,000 Sonus Faber speakers paired up with the gold plated MBL stereo components were a mear $106,000 just for the amp.
I have noticed two common themes over at the Mac forum. The word loud and constant upgrading for more clarity. Again I always felt Mac was not a good small setup choice. And by small I mean non lottery winners.
Looks like a beast.
But Macintosh has never made any power amps ... ;-)
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