The Gong Blog

lol, you know me well, if I could have done that too I would have haha. Fortunately the chrome finish around the switch actually looks nice. 

And gosh, small case but boy dont it half make my Cadenza Black-FGS / system sing 

Well that's great news, I'm sure you will be happy with it and I really like the gold lettering to match the Sansui.

Dang , and there was me hoping he'd give me the wrong one back by mistake. No chance now with that lettering! 🤣

Enjoy it Robbie!

Been a while since I updated the Gong Blog.

The lovely Aurorasound Vida Prima has sat in my set up since March and is going nowhere.

For the greater part though, I've been enjoying the music and not fiddling which has been fab, music and enjoying it first and foremost.

That said, music and hifi go hand in hand as we know, like food and cooking then 

A few months I had the pleasure of trying out the Belles Aria integrated amp in my system (thanks Tony C), and loved it!  That is one sweet thing - Pluses are;

- Extremely musical, really boogies, quiet, open, tight tuneful weighty bass, sweet top end, foot tapping, coherent, musical presentation. Punches way above it's 75wpc rating - sounds right and very believable, good depth, top end, mids and bass all excellent  - A great, outstanding amp, especially at the price. 
If I could have one thing more, it would be a little more weight / power, which would make it perfect and which might be a little nit picking from me, as this a very satisfying and enjoyable amplifier, I was very tempted to keep it. 

Now to the Plinius 9200, which I purchased recently and am still evaluating, and as it plays in the background, as I type. 

So far what I've established - Pluses are:

- Powerful - (200wpc @ 8ohms), chunky, solid build, 7mm aluminium case, wraps around it's chassis - lovely. Its remote is also a chunk of heavy aluminium, big and long like a truncheon, would make a good weapon -seriously, the complete opposite of standard, plastic remotes you usually see/get with kit.
Very very neutral / even across the entire bandwidth - flat, bass is super tight, I mean very very tight, depth is there, it does dig out and unravel the individual parts, for sure, and as Tony C so accurately expressed to me, I just had to agree, it's overall presentation has no edges, and errs more on the side of cohesion.
On the flip side, It's 'sound' is very apparent to me, a bit on the grey side, a little 'dry', and maybe a lack of natural sparkle/sweetness, I find it the least natural / organic, when compared to my staple, 4 years resident Sansui Au a707DR and the addictive Belles Aria. It is good, but I think they come closer to what sounds like the recording to me, there's just something at the heart of the Plinius's 9200 sound that almost get's in the way a little, and feels a bit artificial to my ears, this is in the context of it being a good and powerful amp, and a little more effortless than the other two, where I can up the wick more, before hardening appears. 
Now as I analyse the 'sound', we go back to that super tight bass, which to my ears is tight to a fault, it is too tight, robbing the overall presentation of that natural weight you generally get with bass. I mean a 200 wpc amp, I should feel the bass weight here, driving things along, and overall I don't, the way you'd expect from a 200wpc amp in a humble 4metres by 3.5 metres room.  Dont get me wrong, its bass is great and apparent on some of my bass weighty reggae tracks but on some things, it is just unnaturally / overly tight, to my ears. 
I've also noticed that its BIG Toroidal transformer can give off an audible purr/growl, being sensitive to the state of the mains at given times. 
now you'd be forgiven for thinking that I'm not enjoying this big integrated, well you're wrong, so far there have been many occasions where I've sat here thinking, nice, I like that, and the effortless power at hand is great when upping the wick to fill the room with music and not, hardening, distortion/noise. This thing does come more into it's own when you open it up and let it show you where its sins become far far less apparent, as the music, it's power and cohesion come together and make you smile.

So what next, Well I'm enjoying evaluating the Plinius currently and await some Triple C cables - one for tonearm duty and some triple C speaker cable, which should all be interesting, going forward. 

I'd also love to hear some more Belles integrated amps, Belles has a certain quality, rightness and musical magic to my ears that makes it hard to forget or dismiss.  It would be great to have some time with either The Belles Aria Signature @ 125wpc @8ohms or the new Aria dual mono integrated @ 85wpc. 

In the meantime I'll keep on enjoying the music, as you do  

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I assume you meant “m” rather than “ft” in your room dimensions?

A different phono stage may give you the sound you are after, but at what point do you stop changing equipment?

Yep, sorry metres, not ft. 

? Forget that, no need to mess with the phonostage which is A1, excellent, stellar, truthful, end game for some. 

This is about the amps, not needlessly fannying around to make an amp 'fit' 

maybe it is not the case here but every time I have got an amp that better controls the speakers bass has got tighter and a bit leaner.

The leaner bit is more accurate, plus you really start to hear the tone and texture of bass instruments, you don't need to focus on that anymore to notice it, it's just 'there.'

If you want more weight to the bass to substitute for the bloat you are now missing, then you need speakers that go deeper - and so the upgrade dance goes on

But like I say may not be the case here I'm just speculating from experience and what you describe.

Hi Robbie! , nice score you got there, looks the bizz too. Very solid build and sleek looking.

Knowing the music you like which is not too dissimilar to my tastes and hearing your previous set up I think this is the difference between the Sansui and a more "modern" hifi amp with a cleaner tighter sound.

I'm not surprised you miss the bass "weight" with some of your preferred sounds 🙂. This can seem to rob some of the soul on certain tracks and with dem roots it is at the heart of it.

I have had this a couple of times on my journey and it can take a while to get attuned to if you persevere.

Hope it works out for you!

Btw if you are considering a set of triple c interconnects any time I have set here you can try out b4 you buy. And no I won't be selling them!! 😉

Cheers Andy

The bass tightness is a characteristic of this amp to a degree that feels a bit unnatural to me, not dismissing what others are saying.

I'm living with it, hear it and there is no getting away from it, at times it is just too tight and not a natural bass sound portrayal as a result, to my ears.

I've played live music for years, recorded singles and an album with the Mad Professor - done numerous live gigs too, and listened to music, via a system/set up of some kind, likely more days of my life than not.

The Belles has lovely tight bass, tighter than the Sansui, but it is bass with texture that is accurate to my ears, sounds more like a bass guitar.

The Plinius's overall way of presentation has a flavour / signature to it, as I've described and I wouldn't describe it as organic or as natural as what I've heard before. The Vida phonostage and the Belles integrated are particularly analogue in comparison and right sounding, to my ears.

*Note, the Belles is known for the way it controls the speaker, with its 2000 damping factor. 

Thetes a lot of amps out there that deliver real measured neutrality. But sometimes we just want a bit more bounce. Thete are times I want a 'groovy' button on my own amps. Not often, but sometimes...

That's what a little "me time" can achieve. Zero distractions and total focus and you're hearing the benefits of a very decent amp there.

Well done Rob.

In a quest to ensure my Cadenza Black-FGS remains in good shape for as long as possible, I fired up my neglected/never used Pioneer PD-91 cdp, a few days ago, and I am sooo glad I did, I've been taken back to a previous similar time, where when I first bagged one, it sat in my rack, neglected, never switched on, due to a never ending time of messing and upgrading my then Technics SL1210MK5G. Again, that was until I decided to give it some time, probably and if I remember correctly, because my tt was out of action.

It was then that I was very pleasantly surprised and well thrilled with how good it sounded.

Fast forward and hear we are again, only this time, what for me is very apparent is just how good the Plinius 9200 is, indeed I do know, from the vinyl front end perspective and how much that has thrilled me and hence why my Sansui is up for sale, but hearing it combined with the PD-91, well, it is clear that this amp does not hinder the source, or cause blockage of any kind whatsoever, so all you get is the music, the truthful essence of the recording, the music just flows like you would not believe, vocals (and indeed instruments), have a lifelike, live feel, with a natural hint of air, very evident at times.

Not only does the music groove and boogie, every twist and turn followed in a beautifully rhythmic way, every strand and layer is revealed and laid bare in it's own separate space, no merging or smear, resulting in a wonderful synergy, I'm finding, regardless of source. The PD-91 looks and sounds wonderful, modern digital sources may be even more refined, I don't know, but from what appears to be the way many are going? either way, the 91 is a lovely music machine.

The Plinius 9200 is simply fabulous, so much so, I'm almost scared to mess with anything, BUT, as is with us, in this game, I have some triple C copper cable, which once terminated will go amp to phono stage, and some Triple C speaker cable too.
Gonna be very interesting when that happens and after the long burn in I'm led to believe that stuf requires. That will likely be the next Blog installment, update.

'til then, all I can say is that I hope and pray that my Plinius 9200 keeps on keeping on, 'til then, and long long long after.... 

Spot on Macca, I'm blown away by this amp.  Once I'd spent time with it via vinyl front end It was very obvious to me how good this amp was / is. 

Combined with the cdp, has just reinforced that realisation further and analysis is certainly there a plenty, nothing seems to be buried or smeared, previously unheard parts just appear, sitting in there own place. And I say this as I'm familiar with these tracks, but jaw drops at the most tiniest little ting, whisper, line or piece that I've never heard before and that's the thing, this amp hinders not, in fact the very opposite to my ears, it is a properly excellent amplifier.  

This amps stellarness isnt just apparent for the greater part of a vinyl side (you've got your occasional inner groove stuf haven't you on one or two tracks, odd hot or not so perfect recording with vinyl), but start to end with the cdp/91 is so consistently good, recording dependant, yes, but, still so good.

I don't find this amp lacking anything, even with the cdp, there's a nice room filling stage, air, that live feel, real depth, layers, textures, PRAT.  Every twist and turn within the recording is laid bare, so moving away from mike/sudden vocal volume dip/change, it's just music and so beautifully insightful. Vocals and instruments sound so natural and right regardless of whether vinyl or digital.

I'm literally having to prize myself away, and only because I'm eating food too late, as a result, and having it sitting on my chest n bed.

Amp and a half for me this thing is  - I'm not alone www.audioreview.com/product/amplification/integrated-amplifiers/plinius/9200.html

All the things you are saying are the same as me when I got my first Krell. Could not believe how good the sound was. I think I went three nights without eating at all!

That impression that nothing is hindering the music coming through was quite astonishing. And CD, when you have a set up that can do it justice, can be jaw-droppingly good. If you'd told me that 30 years ago I would have laughed, I couldn't abide them. But it really is 'Pure, Perfect Sound'. I still can't believe I can have access to that on a daily basis in my own home.