Candidates for the best mono's I've heard?

PACPAC
edited October 2013 in Amplifiers
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Now in the system as I needed amps capable of driving a wide range of speakers for my loudspeaker refurb part of the business (testing of speakers and crossovers following refurb work).

These have sucker punched me with the their sensational grip, scale, neutrality and ability to drive the Fidelios like no other amp I've ever partnered them with. Convincing, huge soundstage.  Very clean, deep and superbly controlled bass (Ben, you'd love what these do!). 

The best sounding amplifiers with my speakers I've ever heard...by quite some margin.  Purity of tone and detail that some Class A valve amps can only dream about without any hint of brashness or harshness. Amazing things.  My hat is doffed to Neil who built them...the guy's a genius.

Comments

  • AlanAlan
    Interesting, Paul. They are said to share something in common with other acrylic cased SS amps (seriously, I'm not being flippant).

    They are some if the best looking amps ever, IMO.

    Colin has a dodgy mate who is tying to flight some old monos, probably from the back of a transit... Could be worth a cheeky offer? A drink & some petrol money might do it. ;)
  • PACPAC
    edited October 2013
    I think that a lot of it has to be down to the quality of the power supplies Alan.  They're quite remarkable and unlike any SS amp I've heard to date.  The first SS amps to have won me over from my decade long affair with valve amps.  They are very nice things to look at...simple but very elegant design.
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    I had a pair of M408 Series IIs before I went all NVA.

    They were nice, very nice, but were a bit lacking in precision, so were not for me. This was back in the dark ages, so hopefully Neil has evolved them further.

    Their ultimate fate is a story that I won't relate in public (unless I'm feeling particularly aggravated).
  • DocfosterDocfoster
    edited October 2013
    "Paul in road to damascus ss conversion" shocker...
  • PACPAC
    Can't speak for the 408's David but the 608s are stunning.  Very precise, great resolution of the tiniest details and with enough clout to drive some very difficult loads. Neil's a great fella, and having spoken with him at length I have nothing but confidence in the quality and circuit, not to mention his customer service!
  • PACPAC
    "Paul in road to damascus ss conversion" shocker...
    Who'd have thunk it that the SS have converted me...I feel a Ben's video "the sequel" coming on!
  • YomanzeYomanze
    Have always wanted to hear some Albarry amps. Seems to be many parallels with other brands I like such as LFD and NVA.
  • trioleotrioleo
    I had 408's for 25 years and I thoroughly enjoyed them driving my efficient Allison 3 speakers, I had the 608's for a while and they were a vast improvement on the original models and excellent VFM.

    Now I use M1108's and they are stunning IMHO, my description of Albarry amps is, fast, dynamic, articulate and musically convincing. I can't see me finding a better amp tbh.

    It's nice to see someone else like Mr RFC has discovered what Albarry are capable of.

    I also have the battery powered Moving Coil Amp (MCA11) and the AP11 pre amp, for the money I haven't heard anything better and the beauty is they are so well built they will perform at top rate for years.

    enjoy your music

    regards  Al
  • PACPAC
    edited October 2013
    Just been fortunate enough to secure the matching preamp (with MM phono) and SUT to go with the M608s.  Will report back on SQ compared with the Croft preamp and EAR phonostage.  Still bowled over by the super tonality and scale the M608s offer.
  • PACPAC
    AP11 Preamp in place now. Unsurprisingly, its better than the Croft...by quite a margin.  Lower output impedance helps a lot.  Sound is more meaty with no loss of HF detail or resolution but smoother through the mids with no obvious leanness as there was with the Croft in circuit (noted on some program material).  Having a single volume control is good too but I've lost the ability to balance channels.....I can sit further to the right or left instead! :))
  • trioleotrioleo
    Hopefully you will find the AP11 sounds even better after 24 hrs, it, as all Albarry amps is designed to be left on permanently, the pre and powers combined only use 8Watts when in "standby" mode.

    enjoy your music

    regards  Al
  • PACPAC
    It made a difference when the Croft was in circuit as the monos did sound better after 24 hours but the AP11 sounds great from cold.  I've heard a few people describe it as "lean". I haven't found that at all.  If anything, it's the warm side of neutral.  I also have the matching MCA11 step-up to compare with my RFC-MC1 and EAR 834P.  The EAR has been sold...the MCA11 is better and by some margin. It's very like the RFC-MC1...hardly anything between them which is interesting because the RFC one is an SUT and the MCA-11 is an active gain stage.  I've had the EAR now for a long time and its taken something as good as the MCA11 to knock it off its perch.  The RFC-MC1 is equally as good but I tend to sell off most of my trial units as people get them and keep them, plus its just nice to have the matching unit for the preamp.
  • PACPAC
    Picture:

    image
  • BrumjamBrumjam
    Those look great Paul. Nice to see some hi-fi kit that fits on normal shelving as well - I discount so much gear on the grounds that it won't fit (visually or physically) in my room, particularly power amps.


  • uglymusicuglymusic
    They are very pretty.

    The Green Goddess has shuffled back under her tarpaulin ;-)
  • PACPAC
    CD player now resides atop so for the first time I can get to it without the air turning blue!

    image
  • trioleotrioleo
    Nice looking system Paul, I bet it sounds stunning, what tt/cartridge are you using?

    regards  Al
  • ColinColin
    They are very pretty.

    The Green Goddess has shuffled back under her tarpaulin ;-)
    Are you being cruel to her again?
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    No. She's just a bit shy until we get her some new clothes.
  • PACPAC
    edited October 2013
    Nice looking system Paul, I bet it sounds stunning, what tt/cartridge are you using?

    regards  Al
    Hi Al


    many thanks...I have to say that since the Albarrys went in, the speakers have taken on a whole new lease of life...astounding change from my previous valve amps...for the better.  Scale is on another level, and because I'm now using amps which aren't reacting to the variable speaker load, the response if flatter, way more neutral.  They sounded a little brightly lit with my previous few valve amps but not any more.  Couldn't be happier and wouldn't change anything now (that can be had in writing).

    I have 2 TT's, a Gyro SE and a 401. The Gyro's currently set up with an SME309 and Shelter 5000 and the 401 has a Hadcock GH242 Full cryo and Shure V15III.  However, after recently hearing the Ortofon 2M Black MM cart, I'm having second thoughts about the need to go down the MC route again.
  • DocfosterDocfoster
    edited October 2013
    Looks like Blackpool pleasure beach in your rack Paul.... ;-)
    You sound chuffed to bits with the sonic results.
  • PACPAC
    edited October 2013
    It may as well be Ben!  :D

    Chuffed is an under-statement.  The Fidelios sing so convincingly now it can be a very spooky experience popping on a CD/LP.  Great move and no going back.
  • trioleotrioleo
    edited November 2013
    PAC quote "I'm having second thoughts about the need to go down the MC route again."

    Hello Paul,
    I use an Audio Technica AT24 mm cart through the AP11 with excellent results ( I know Neil is very proud of this phono stage ) but generally I use an AT33ev or Lyra Delos mc carts through the MCA11, the detail is superb,  the MCA11 just lets the cartridge do the job and at £500 I think it is excellent VFM.
    As both cartridges are new with about 6 hours of use, I am assured by others that they will improve and become more revealing with use.
    So it looks like I have more to look forward to.
    I'm intrigued with your Fidelios/Albarry combination, I hope to hear that someday.

    enjoy your music

    regards  Al
    PS I don't know why the text is like that, I'm useless with computers
  • PACPAC
    edited November 2013
    HI Al

    you'd be very welcome to visit sometime.  I've just finished tweaking
     the crossovers for the Fidelio Speakers, and they now look like this:

    image

    By using an M-Cap Evo Oil capacitor (the white narrow drum shaped one at the top) for the notch filter, it's transformed the clarity and reduced the impact of the 3KHz horn resonance to the point it's now hardly noticeable.  Been working now for 6 months on optimising crossovers so the poor old PCB tracks are starting to lift and I'll probably end up hard wiring the back of the board!

    Your carts will continue to improve and loose obvious brightness for at least another 40 hours...it takes that long to break in new suspension on the cantilevers.  I agree, the AP11 phonostage is a stunner.
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