by jadis » Wed Jul 28, 2004 6:53 am
A brief description of the sound. I was there last night so I believe
my memory is still fresh. The pre-amp was fitted with Telefunken
ECC83s and ECC82 just three weeks ago, and the owner described
the change from the supplied Chinese tubes as a giant leap. He was
about to sell the MRAs and the front end before the tubes came in, but now is so happy he is not even thinking of selling anything.
The sound shows the effortless power of the MRAs, now pumping
2000 watts into the 4 ohm 800s, and imo, the most effortless amp
I have heard so far in a long long time; nothing comes to mind, save
maybe the Jadis JA800 but I think it is not even close in projecting
a sense of full range dynamism in terms of reproduced music. Vocals
are warm, perhaps the warmest, (the honor in solid-state warmth I
also give to the Jeff Rowland big amps) of solid-states I have heard.
Having lived with the 800s myself for four years but driven by tubes,
I realize the potential of these mini-beasts is really realized only with
a hefty amp like the MRAs in order to bring out its full potential in
creating a life-like soundfield, and in driving home to full satisfaction
the orchestral recordings that have huge transients; as they call it
in the audio press, the pfffff, to the ffffffft, or whatever. Cresendos
are brought to a state of nothingness by the sheer effortlessness of the
amps...and acoustic bass drums are rendered with great tightness
and control....for an amp costing $100,000 plus in the retail market,
what else can I say?