Show us your Power Amplifiers.

[Batty 4,095]

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!  )

 

Andy

 

Inferior has no boundries.

 

[frednork 555]

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!  )

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! 

[mwhouston 3,810]

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.

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

There is no cure.

[Willmax 543]

Some very nice gear displayed in this thread, great idea to get it started @Batty

 

I thought I'd add my vintage contribution.

 

[TheOrb 18]

Dragged out a couple of old amps and just picked up the pro amp to do some comparisons with the Sunfire. Been interesting so far.

 

 

[DRC 900]

Krell Evolution One monoblocks. 1.8 kW into two ohms but silkily smooth and detailed even at low listening levels.

[aussievintage 1,820]

 

Another "Pro" amp I picked up. Nice litte 170W/ch amp.

 

[Uncle Seth 349]

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??? 

 

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.

[theking 312]

Krell Evolution One monoblocks. 1.8 kW into two ohms but silkily smooth and detailed even at low listening levels.

beautiful piece, what speakers connected to it?

[analog brother 2,039]

look like guaneri

[DRC 900]

2 hours ago, theking said:

 

 

beautiful piece, what speakers connected to it?

 

Krell LAT-1's

[blakey72 978]

My humble power amplifier which delivers 70 British watts per channel. Smooth and quite warm. A tube pre would go nicely. Looks like a toy compared to some of the beasts on this thread!

 

Exposure Classic XXVIII

[andyr 4,223]

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.    (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. 

 

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

 

Andy

 

[aussievintage 1,820]

32 minutes ago, andyr said:

 

Thanks, Les, for your detailed response.    (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. 

 

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

 

Andy

 

 

I must admit I have never understood the love for the ME range. While they may achieve a sound that people like, I have heard all sorts of strange things about their servicing needs and also needs related to operating temperature and time powered up before they sound their best.  It just makes me think they are a lot of trouble when there are other ways to achieve good sound without the bother.

 

It may be all mularky, but I think the days of finicky biasing and temperature dependant operation may be  a thing of the past decades.  I'd love to see a serious shootout/comparison between them and modern designs, of all classes.

[Luc 8,811]

12 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

I'd love to see a serious shootout/comparison between them and modern designs, of all classes.

Don't preclude a beast like this that a certain member has. I've had a couple of ME black beasties and this overloaded testosterone monster is an icon killer.

 

[ray4410 385]

2 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

 

I must admit I have never understood the love for the ME range. While they may achieve a sound that people like, I have heard all sorts of strange things about their servicing needs and also needs related to operating temperature and time powered up before they sound their best.  It just makes me think they are a lot of trouble when there are other ways to achieve good sound without the bother.

 

It may be all mularky, but I think the days of finicky biasing and temperature dependant operation may be  a thing of the past decades.  I'd love to see a serious shootout/comparison between them and modern designs, of all classes.

I have been using several ME amps and pre amps since the 80s,have had no problems,the internal foam needs replacing after quite a few years on the bigger power amps no big deal,have had several other well respected amps through my system over the years but I am back using ME pre/ power and have no urge to change,the bonus is that after 30 + years service and updates are still available.