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27 minutes ago, mwhouston said:

I would say never be fooled by speaker sensitivity. Most speakers, highly efficient or not, seem to respond better to an amp which can deliver high current. Not sure what it is but it’s something I have observed over time. 

 

High efficiency will give you volume, high current; depth. Best I can explain it.   

Totally Agree.  It can be an involved relationship between impedance, sensitivity, current draw and room response, etc..  No good having great gear if the room takes over and becomes its own noise source.

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29 minutes ago, mwhouston said:

I would say never be fooled by speaker sensitivity. Most speakers, highly efficient or not, seem to respond better to an amp which can deliver high current. Not sure what it is but it’s something I have observed over time. 

 

High efficiency will give you volume, high current; depth. Best I can explain it.   

Heartily agree. My speakers were relatively sensitive at 92dB and I never used more than 10% of the power of my power amps, yet when I recently tested power amps that are allegedly better sounding but with less current they lost the authority that I'd gotten used to with my existing power amps, the presence that brings things into the room with depth instead of a watercolour painting of the instruments on canvas.

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38 minutes ago, Ittaku said:

Heartily agree. My speakers were relatively sensitive at 92dB and I never used more than 10% of the power of my power amps, yet when I recently tested power amps that are allegedly better sounding but with less current they lost the authority that I'd gotten used to with my existing power amps, the presence that brings things into the room with depth instead of a watercolour painting of the instruments on canvas.

Flat sounding vs holographic.

I think Con this is something that becomes very very evident with Maggies in my personal experience. 

Maggies will give you that wall of sound. It can be huge. But adding depth to that wall is where the real work begins.

Beautiful systems appearing in this thread.

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16 minutes ago, ghost4man said:

Maggies will give you that wall of sound. It can be huge. But adding depth to that wall is where the real work begins.

Beautiful systems appearing in this thread.

Very true on the Maggies. *cough* valves *cough*.

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started with Eric McChanson's 3 in 1 (Integrated + Pre + Headphone). Then I moved on to the Rotel 993.

McChanson 3 in 1 Rotel 993

 

Then I bought 2 X ME550's  to potentially use in bridged mode as mono's.

ME550_1ME550_2

 

Onward and upward, a certain ME fan (from St Kilda East) sold me his ME850

ME_850.thumb.jpg.9ea621da56a7185b34f49b72c3b1a54a.jpg

 

...and most recently, a trip to Sydney resulted in the bank-account depleting JC1 Parasound Halo monoblocks. Great to drive the Maggies.

 

JC1_frontJC1 front_top

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31 minutes ago, Uncle Seth said:

Onward and upward, a certain ME fan (from St Kilda East) sold me his ME850

 

31 minutes ago, Uncle Seth said:

ME_850.thumb.jpg.9ea621da56a7185b34f49b72c3b1a54a.jpg

 

...and most recently, a trip to Sydney resulted in the bank-account depleting JC1 Parasound Halo monoblocks. Great to drive the Maggies.

 

JC1_frontJC1 front_top

 

Very interesting, Les.

 

Which drives your 1.7s better - the JC1 monoblocs ... or the ME850?

 

I recently heard an ME850 driving some 3.7s - and that was simply wonderful sound.  Could it be that JC1s would be even better???  :lol:

 

Andy

 

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3 minutes ago, andyr said:

 

 

Very interesting, Les.

 

Which drives your 1.7s better - the JC1 monoblocs ... or the ME850?

 

I recently heard an ME850 driving some 3.7s - and that was simply wonderful sound.  Could it be that JC1s would be even better???  :lol:

 

Andy

 

As good as the 850 is its hard to imagine a situation where the 850 would outclass the JC1's.  Alsomonos's and double the price or more so not apples with apples

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Gone back to the M2X power amp, oh yessssssss.

 

Anyone in close area that would like to see what an 8 watt class A MosFET amp can do with higher sensitivity speakers can do?

 

You'll need a pre.

 

PM  me and I will lend you the ACA.

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32 minutes ago, frednork said:

 

As good as the 850 is, it's hard to imagine a situation where the 850 would outclass the JC1s.

 

 

Sure, @frednork - given the price difference (and John Curl's international reputation) - that's the expected outcome.

 

But I'm interested in hearing Les's comment.  :)  (Just because something's designed and made in Oz doesn't always mean it's inferior!  :P )

 

Andy

 

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Just now, andyr said:

 

Sure, @frednork - given the price difference (and John Curl's international reputation) - that's the expected outcome.

 

But I'm interested in hearing Les's comment.  :)  (Just because something's designed and made in Oz doesn't always mean it's inferior!  :P )

 

Andy

 

Inferior has no boundries.

 

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4 minutes ago, andyr said:

But I'm interested in hearing Les's comment.  :)  (Just because something's designed and made in Oz doesn't always mean it's inferior!  :P )

Have had an ME850 in my setup and it was very good, had to spend twice and much to get an easily noticeable improvement. So not an ME basher or fanboi.

Lets see what Les thinks! :D

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4 hours ago, Uncle Seth said:

started with Eric McChanson's 3 in 1 (Integrated + Pre + Headphone). Then I moved on to the Rotel 993.

McChanson 3 in 1 Rotel 993

 

Then I bought 2 X ME550's  to potentially use in bridged mode as mono's.

ME550_1ME550_2

 

Onward and upward, a certain ME fan (from St Kilda East) sold me his ME850

ME_850.thumb.jpg.9ea621da56a7185b34f49b72c3b1a54a.jpg

 

...and most recently, a trip to Sydney resulted in the bank-account depleting JC1 Parasound Halo monoblocks. Great to drive the Maggies.

 

JC1_frontJC1 front_top

There is no cure.

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19 hours ago, andyr said:

 

 

Very interesting, Les.

 

Which drives your 1.7s better - the JC1 monoblocs ... or the ME850?

 

I recently heard an ME850 driving some 3.7s - and that was simply wonderful sound.  Could it be that JC1s would be even better???  :lol:

 

Andy

 

Great question, and one that I often think about..

 

As good as the JC1's are (and they are pretty darn fine), I initially could not detect much, if any, improvement over the ME850. That is in an untreated room lacking DEQ and the speaker layout was unchanged. Maybe it's due to the same pre-amp remaining in use: the redoubtable ME25. Note: [All my ME gear had been to visit Trev for all the regulation upgrades before I purchased it].

 

Since I've had the JC1's for around 5 months, I have been surprised (nicely) a few times by sounds popping out of the soundstage where I did not expect.

 

Overall though, I would have to say that any difference/ improvement would be around 10% or less. I have de-cluttered the listening room significantly in that time, attempting to improve the sound further.

 

I fully intend to revisit the rig with the ME amp and compare. FWIW, I did not use the ME550's in bridged mode as the input impedance on one had been modified and they would not have been fit to use as matched mono's.

 

In the spirit of the true stereo "fiend", I have kept (some might say hoarded) all the amps I documented above,... just in case.

 

I recently (OK, 6 weeks ago) listened to an ME1400 driving a pair of Duntech Black Knights in a room with a dozen blokes, and would have rated my setup to be equivalent. Maybe that says something about my listening abilities?

 

Thanks for the mental workout, Andy.

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7 hours ago, Uncle Seth said:

Great question, and one that I often think about..

 

As good as the JC1's are (and they are pretty darn fine), I initially could not detect much, if any, improvement over the ME850. That is in an untreated room lacking DEQ and the speaker layout was unchanged. Maybe it's due to the same pre-amp remaining in use: the redoubtable ME25. Note: [All my ME gear had been to visit Trev for all the regulation upgrades before I purchased it].

 

Since I've had the JC1's for around 5 months, I have been surprised (nicely) a few times by sounds popping out of the soundstage where I did not expect.

 

Overall though, I would have to say that any difference/ improvement would be around 10% or less. I have de-cluttered the listening room significantly in that time, attempting to improve the sound further.

 

I fully intend to revisit the rig with the ME amp and compare. FWIW, I did not use the ME550's in bridged mode as the input impedance on one had been modified and they would not have been fit to use as matched mono's.

 

In the spirit of the true stereo "fiend", I have kept (some might say hoarded) all the amps I documented above,... just in case.

 

I recently (OK, 6 weeks ago) listened to an ME1400 driving a pair of Duntech Black Knights in a room with a dozen blokes, and would have rated my setup to be equivalent. Maybe that says something about my listening abilities?

 

Thanks for the mental workout, Andy.

 

Thanks, Les, for your detailed response.  :thumb:  (Forget that you have an "untreated room lacking DEQ "; the speaker layout was unchanged - so it was a fair comparison.)

 

Given your 'de-cluttering', I would be most interested in your impressions when the ME850 is put back into service.  :thumb:

 

As I posted, I thought it was a very capable amp.  :)

 

Andy

 

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