Cafad Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 My S2Rs have been run in for about 350 hours now and I have to say I think they sound fantastic. Back when they were young (circa 10 hours old) they sounded a bit like a bigger ML1, punchy and light but with a slightly deeper throat. Somewhere between 150 and 200 hours things started to change, the bass smoothed out and the soundstage widened, at about 250 hours the mid range seemed to expand by about 50% and somewhere just beyond 300 hours the bass smoothed out and strengthened. So the bass changed from the crack and rumble of an approaching thunderstorm to the skeletal shuddering of a sort of calm, reassuring earthquake, one that makes you smile! I ran a few different amps during this run in period, the Burson 160 pre/power combo, the QLS QA100 direct digital amp, and AJs Hypex Ncores fed from the pre section of the Myryad Z142 (is there anything this little Myryad can't do?). Everything sounded good, though I think the Ncores may have sounded "gooder" than most. I've certainly found a speaker that suits me down to the ground, it goes from the deep, full-bodied rumble of a steel drum to the light, airy plucked string of an acoustic guitar with poise and certainty. I love the way I can hear that "Another One Bites The Dust" was recorded with a bit of hash to the background but it still sounds just as good as I remember it. The blast of the trumpets from "Ride of the Valkyries" still manages to send shivers down my spine when it sounds this good. I never thought I'd like Bongo drums but they sound so good on good speakers I now love them to bits! The soundstaging of these things puts me in mind of a long wooden hall, about 4 times as long and at least 3 times as wide as my little listening room, when I close my eyes I can picture the singer and band performing on a stage at the front while I sit 3/4s of the way down, bloody brilliant! And I haven't even mentioned the vocals yet! I'm going to try a few different amps over the next few days and see if my previous rankings hold up. (After that it'll probably be power amps all the way to April, with an integrated or two thrown in for good measure.) If anyone out there is thinking of buying a pair of S2s I can certainly recommend them, excellent speakers! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafad Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'll start with the cheap little QLS QA100 direct digital amp. While this was a good amp on the Eclipse floorstanders it sounds to be much more in it's element here. On the Osborns it was a good little amp that sounded like an A/B amp most of the time and a class D amp only every now and then, on the S2s you would not be able to tell it is class D, there is none of that tell tale class D glare at all. Every now and then it sounds like it could be a little heavily damped but that is a small issue and did not stop me from enjoying this amp greatly. If you are reading this John Darko, you have to try this amp, PM me and I'll send it to you. It doesn't have the extreme clarity of the Wadia 151 but it doesn't have the same price tag either and it does have twice the grunt. $350 delivered to your door from ebay, or direct from QLS for $430 (-ish). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafad Posted March 11, 2013 Author Share Posted March 11, 2013 Next up is the NuForce DDA-100. I didn't like this amp much on the Eclipses, and I have to say I don't like it much on the S2s either. It quite obviously only has half the power of the QLS (possibly less, despite any claims made), and it has nowhere near the level of musicality. Through the DDA-100 brass sounds flat, the highs in Ride of the Valkyries sound damp and the metallic sounds just don't ring out like they do on the QLS. Bass is alright but a bit shallow in comparison to the QLS. I only got 2 1/2 songs into my DDA-100 evaluation and I had to pull the plug, this amp does not do anything for me. The QLS QA100 is 2/3rds the price and about 7 times more enjoyable to listen to. I could live fairly happily with the QLS but not the NuForce, it's going to be moved on. I was wondering yesterday if I would like everything that I heard through the S2Rs, I guess I've got my answer! Tomorrow I'll give the little Wadia 151 a run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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