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Post by jandl100 on May 24, 2024 18:33:16 GMT
Just as a left field suggestion (as I've heard E30II at length and D90 for a while also) the Topping D10s (ESS chip) seems to actually have a real focus on resolution. However it's not hyper detailed, probably less detailed, certainly than the D90. Now that might seem a strange thing to say but to me detail and resolution can indeed be separated. Resolution is that 'hear through' window of sound whilst detail is just that, the degree to which you can hear nuances of instruments. The D10s is certainly not short of detail but it was the hyper resolution which struck me. Especially after rolling some opamps through it (it has a soic adapter socket). I've tried the MUSES01/02 along with some others and they can really upgrade on what is already a great sound. Championing ESS DACs..... How times change. ð It seems that what you call resolution I call transparency. Detail and resolution are pretty much synonymous for me.
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Arke
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Post by Arke on May 24, 2024 18:44:59 GMT
Just as a left field suggestion (as I've heard E30II at length and D90 for a while also) the Topping D10s (ESS chip) seems to actually have a real focus on resolution. However it's not hyper detailed, probably less detailed, certainly than the D90. Now that might seem a strange thing to say but to me detail and resolution can indeed be separated. Resolution is that 'hear through' window of sound whilst detail is just that, the degree to which you can hear nuances of instruments. The D10s is certainly not short of detail but it was the hyper resolution which struck me. Especially after rolling some opamps through it (it has a soic adapter socket). I've tried the MUSES01/02 along with some others and they can really upgrade on what is already a great sound. Championing ESS DACs..... How times change. ð It seems that what you call resolution I call transparency. Detail and resolution are pretty much synonymous for me. Think I agree with you there Jerry. It's all just down to interpretation of words and their meanings in the end.
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Post by jandl100 on May 24, 2024 18:58:33 GMT
This is true transparency. I'm not sure I'd want that. ð
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optical
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Post by optical on May 24, 2024 19:04:08 GMT
Just as a left field suggestion (as I've heard E30II at length and D90 for a while also) the Topping D10s (ESS chip) seems to actually have a real focus on resolution. However it's not hyper detailed, probably less detailed, certainly than the D90. Now that might seem a strange thing to say but to me detail and resolution can indeed be separated. Resolution is that 'hear through' window of sound whilst detail is just that, the degree to which you can hear nuances of instruments. The D10s is certainly not short of detail but it was the hyper resolution which struck me. Especially after rolling some opamps through it (it has a soic adapter socket). I've tried the MUSES01/02 along with some others and they can really upgrade on what is already a great sound. Championing ESS DACs..... How times change. ð It seems that what you call resolution I call transparency. Detail and resolution are pretty much synonymous for me. Okay well I was just adding some real world experience. All ESS DACs I've heard I've hated until the 9038 chip, it's genuinely quite different, at least to my ears. The E30II and D90 were both quite flat in my system compared to the D10s with some fancy opamps in.... Might not necessarily translate to others of course. Not like anyone listens to a word I say anyway ðĪĢ
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Post by jandl100 on May 24, 2024 19:10:07 GMT
E30 and D90 Flat? ðē Maybe flat means something different to me.
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optical
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Post by optical on May 24, 2024 19:22:11 GMT
You're probably right on the definition of transparency Vs resolution, thinking about it, as if I ramped up the 'resolution' on my TV it could definitely be perceived as more detailed.
I'm sat here listening to another valve DAC with a cheap TDA1543 chip in it anyway so I've lost any credibility to comment on anything ð
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 24, 2024 20:06:46 GMT
No, I'm not bothered about the ultimate in rez. E30 or D90 are quite satisfactory rez machines. Although I'd rate them as high rez. ESS chip. ðĪ No thanks. Squeaky clean and shiny ime. Maybe they aren't all like that? It's the imaging thing that has me excited about the Topping D90 compared to the E30. It seems very natural and "you are there". In room presence in spades. I recall reading some while back that not all D90 (original version) we created equally. Apparently some were a "Friday afternoon" job and the performance wasn't amazing. Others were far superior, however, there is absolutely no way of knowing whether you get a good un' until you hear it. I'd be keen to get an original one for a revisit. I remember when firebottle had one and I was totally unimpressed, but our systems have changed entirely twice over since then. The D90 is "more technical" than the D70S according to another review. Maybe a swap for a few days would allow us to investigate flavours on the cheap jandl100 ?
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Post by jandl100 on May 25, 2024 3:14:04 GMT
Interesting exchange idea, Oli. Although I've only had the D90 in my main system for 1 day. I need to settle down with it over a range of my music for a couple of weeks to become familiar with its abilities.
I didn't hear any downsides in my 2nd system compared to an E30, fronted by B&O CX100 speakers. The B&Os are very good, but they aren't MBLs.
One elephant in the room is that I think we want different things from our systems!
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 25, 2024 7:25:22 GMT
Interesting exchange idea, Oli. Although I've only had the D90 in my main system for 1 day. I need to settle down with it over a range of my music for a couple of weeks to become familiar with its abilities. I didn't hear any downsides in my 2nd system compared to an E30, fronted by B&O CX100 speakers. The B&Os are very good, but they aren't MBLs. One elephant in the room is that I think we want different things from our systems! No rush jerry, just an idea should you ever fancy it.
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Post by jandl100 on Jun 22, 2024 8:13:12 GMT
My Arcam amplifier journey continues with yesterday's arrival of an Alpha 9 integrated. In summary so far, in order of experience: A85 - frankly mediocre Alpha mk1 - a bit vague and foggy, but surprisingly engaging, it made me want to explore more early Arcam. Alpha mk2 - tauter and better defined, clearer, than the mk1, enjoyable. I still have it in my 2nd system. Delta 60 - more "hifi", energetic and quite ballsy. Musically engaging. Delta 290 - ooo, the journey into a richer tonality begins. I like it. Sadly the amp failed on day 2 so I returned it to the seller. Alpha 9 - I loved the Alpha 9 literally from the first seconds of music. âĪïļ Such a gorgeously rich and clear tonality. It was a Wow ðŪ moment. My One Word Review would be Pellucid*. It was the word that immediately popped into my mind. * "clear and pure in tone" according to the Oxford dictionary. That was on fairly small scale music. I've yet to explore into Big Stuff, but the Alpha 9 has already entered into my personal pantheon of great amps.
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ajski2fly
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Post by ajski2fly on Jun 22, 2024 9:50:33 GMT
My Arcam amplifier journey continues with yesterday's arrival of an Alpha 9 integrated. In summary so far, in order of experience: A85 - frankly mediocre Alpha mk1 - a bit vague and foggy, but surprisingly engaging, it made me want to explore more early Arcam. Alpha mk2 - tauter and better defined, clearer, than the mk1, enjoyable. I still have it in my 2nd system. Delta 60 - more "hifi", energetic and quite ballsy. Musically engaging. Delta 290 - ooo, the journey into a richer tonality begins. I like it. Sadly the amp failed on day 2 so I returned it to the seller. Alpha 9 - I loved the Alpha 9 literally from the first seconds of music. âĪïļ Such a gorgeously rich and clear tonality. It was a Wow ðŪ moment. My One Word Review would be Pellucid*. It was the word that immediately popped into my mind. * "clear and pure in tone" according to the Oxford dictionary. That was on fairly small scale music. I've yet to explore into Big Stuff, but the Alpha 9 has already entered into my personal pantheon of great amps. Jerry, I always liked the Arcam Alpha series of amps, but never got to own one, they look like good VFM at the moment, have you tried the Alpha 9 power amp yet and compared it to the integrated, would be interesting to know what you think? Cheers Adrian
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Post by jandl100 on Jun 22, 2024 15:10:35 GMT
^
Hi Adrian
The owners manual says that the power amp section of the integrated is exactly the same specification and performance as the separate 9P power amp. It can be converted to pure power amp mode by selection on an internal switch.
I haven't tried it yet but I will do sometime.
My vague expectation is that part of the Alpha 9 "magic" comes from colourations from the preamp section. ð But I may be wrong.
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Post by jandl100 on Jun 25, 2024 5:48:05 GMT
I've yet to explore into Big Stuff, but the Arcam Alpha 9 has already entered into my personal pantheon of great amps. Well, needless to say I soon rolled out some big orchestral music to play through the Arcam Alpha 9 ..... .... and the sound just kind of collapsed. The high frequencies sound decidedly strained and edgey. The pellucid midrange has become quite uninspiring. The magic has left the building! It doesn't even need to be very loud, just a lot going on. Weird. I was feeling like a bit of class D for a change, so a cute little TPA3116 chip amp got dug out from my shelves, along with a chunky 19V linear psu, and music has been restored. ð
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Post by firebottle on Jun 30, 2024 7:49:07 GMT
Just goes to show the vagaries of amps doesn't it?. I fairly recently bought a Sabaj A5 B&O IcePower amp as I like the sound of the IcePower modules.
Used on E of the bay for ÂĢ70.
If you would like to try it sometime I could drop it in as I pass fairly close on a regular basis on the A40.
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Post by jandl100 on Jun 30, 2024 8:43:05 GMT
Thanks Alan. But I must admit that my previous experience with B&O ICE modules is that they are too bright for me.
Looking at Amazon reviews I suspect that would be the case for the A5 as well.
Great with a lot of music but very probably not for me.
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Post by jandl100 on Jun 30, 2024 8:53:26 GMT
This, though, is lighting my fire atm. For quite a lot of years I've been hankering after trying a middle of the range vintage Technics amp. I've no idea why. Just one of those crazy things. ðĪŠ Well, a few days ago came the day it actually happened. Couldn't resist a cheap one on ebay. Front fold down flap missing seems to have more than halved the asking price. Other than that it's in very decent condition and even has the remote. It's a Technics SU A707. Chosen as this range seems to have a bit of a very minor cult following. About 45wpc. I can't believe how good it sounds!! ðē Hi rez and spaciously 3D, fast and focused, and interesting to listen to. Easily better than the vast majority of amps I've had. It's nuts. And, unlike the Arcam Alpha 9, it does big as well as small scale music. It's got me scheming over getting a higher end Technics amp! ð .... in fact, the top of that range 900mk2 should be arriving in a few days. ð Of course, there are much higher end Technics amps to try. I'll be keeping an eye out.
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Post by jandl100 on Jun 30, 2024 9:07:15 GMT
A few follow up thoughts about Arcam amps.
If I'd gone straight from my enjoyment of the original Alpha mk1 to the Alpha 9 I'd have given up on the brand there & then.
The mk1 was strangely musical in fluffy, cloudy kind of way. It shouldn't have been good, but somehow it was entertaining.
The Alpha mk2 tightened everything up while retaining the musicality. It's still active in my 2nd system and sounds great.
The Delta 60 became a little more "hifi". Energetic and exciting. Great for rock and metal, a little ott for classical.
Then the recent Alpha 9 impressed with dynamic minutiae but lost it on larger scales.
And a previous A85, owned a few years ago, was an all round disaster. Just very mediocre.
So there seems to have been a performance arc with Arcam - starting well, getting better, then falling off and losing the plot. I've not heard the more recent class G iterations of their amps.
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Post by macca on Jun 30, 2024 10:49:43 GMT
This, though, is lighting my fire atm. For quite a lot of years I've been hankering after trying a middle of the range vintage Technics amp. I've no idea why. Just one of those crazy things. ðĪŠ Well, a few days ago came the day it actually happened. Couldn't resist a cheap one on ebay. Front fold down flap missing seems to have more than halved the asking price. Other than that it's in very decent condition and even has the remote. It's a Technics SU A707. Chosen as this range seems to have a bit of a very minor cult following. About 45wpc. I can't believe how good it sounds!! ðē Hi rez and spaciously 3D, fast and focused, and interesting to listen to. Easily better than the vast majority of amps I've had. It's nuts. And, unlike the Arcam Alpha 9, it does big as well as small scale music. It's got me scheming over getting a higher end Technics amp! ð .... in fact, the top of that range 900mk2 should be arriving in a few days. ð Of course, there are much higher end Technics amps to try. I'll be keeping an eye out. Great looking amps, flimsy power supplies. That's Technics (except for the real flagship stuff). Even the 900 only weighs 9 kilos.
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Post by jandl100 on Jun 30, 2024 11:39:44 GMT
Great looking amps, flimsy power supplies. That's Technics (except for the real flagship stuff). Even the 900 only weighs 9 kilos. Yes, the Technics amps may well struggle with a difficult load. Happily my MBL speakers are an easy peasy load and can give good results with amps rated as low as 10wpc with a tiny smps.
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Post by firebottle on Jun 30, 2024 11:49:06 GMT
Thanks Alan. But I must admit that my previous experience with B&O ICE modules is that they are too bright for me. Looking at Amazon reviews I suspect that would be the case for the A5 as well. Great with a lot of music but very probably not for me. OK no probs, just sounds the best of the bunch of lower price class D to me.
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Post by macca on Jun 30, 2024 12:20:28 GMT
Great looking amps, flimsy power supplies. That's Technics (except for the real flagship stuff). Even the 900 only weighs 9 kilos. Yes, the Technics amps may well struggle with a difficult load. Happily my MBL speakers are an easy peasy load and can give good results with amps rated as low as 10wpc with a tiny smps. yes, unlike my JM Labs which only work properly with monsters meaning I have to get my amp-swapping thrills vicariously via you
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Post by macca on Jun 30, 2024 12:21:32 GMT
Or on my TV system which I dismantled to take the speakers to the NEBO before last and still haven't rebuilt...
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 4, 2024 13:16:55 GMT
2 new amps today. The previously mentioned Technics SU 900mk2. I'd hoped it would be a step up from the excellent A707. Nope. Nowhere near as transparent, 3D and natural. Boxed up and soon to be returned to the ebay seller who accepts Returns. Ah, this is more like it. Only been playing for 20 minutes, but I'm happy to give this an extended listen.
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 4, 2024 17:50:44 GMT
The MF M2si amp is enticing me with its charms. The treble has a kind of unpleasant chalky scree to it. (Does that even make sense?). This turns out to be a distinctly elevated treble above around 2.5khz. Once this is tamed with a digital eq'ed rolloff the sound is bloody good. I don't think I could listen to it without eq, though.
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Arke
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Post by Arke on Jul 4, 2024 18:51:41 GMT
The MF M2si amp is enticing me with its charms. The treble has a kind of unpleasant chalky scree to it. (Does that even make sense?). This turns out to be a distinctly elevated treble above around 2.5khz. Once this is tamed with a digital eq'ed rolloff the sound is bloody good. I don't think I could listen to it without eq, though. Think I know what you mean. Had MF amps for a few years and always found the HF a little forward and slightly edgy. I could tune it out with speaker tweeter attenuation, however, higher quality amps (with lower distortion) seem to provide more detail, realism and clarity.
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Post by macca on Jul 6, 2024 8:36:18 GMT
Shame about that Technics as it looks the business but I've never heard one from that era that could deliver the goods. MF were always an adventurous choice for various reasons
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Post by antonio on Jul 6, 2024 13:41:07 GMT
I believe the MF is up for sale already.
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 6, 2024 16:55:32 GMT
I believe the MF is up for sale already. I've grown to hate it. Reviews, eh! Clueless ð Still, I've bought another amp, which I may or may not tell you about. I'm currently listening to its little brother. Which you also don't know about. No street cred at all. It's a years old backup/spare amp which is reliably nice to listen to.
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 12, 2024 11:38:07 GMT
Current amplification choices... Top left, Yarland FV-34C el84 amp. Top right, Meridian 551 atop an Arcam Delta 290. Bottom left, class D from Amptastic Mini 1 with a 5V linear psu, and a Chinese TPA3116 chip amp with a 19V linear psu. Also, tucked away elsewhere for now, a Phonic MAX 500 pro class H power amp. Very listenable indeed. A Phonic MAX 1500 class AB should be arriving any minute. About 250wpc. Looking forward to it. I reckon those little class D chip amps are as good or more likely better than any of the many larger class D amps I've had here. The Arcam 290 is the best by far of the Arcam amps I've tried and is a very decent listen. The Meridian 551 has only just arrived and been plumbed in. Good so far, it's passed the immediate sell-on test.
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 12, 2024 13:53:09 GMT
Phonic MAX 1500. It's a bit of a beast. 280wpc 8 ohms, at 1khz, 0.1% THD. It sounds good, well resolved, not harsh at all. Nice clean sound.
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