D200 MKII impressions

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gme109

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D200 MKII impressions
« on: 29 Dec 2011, 01:18 am »
Received my amps about 3 weeks ago, and feel comfortable sharing a few thoughts and impressions. OMG these are good!!! :bowdown: Spent a good part of the day listening to music, and disc after disc sounded absolutely flawless, from top to bottom! As mush as I enjoyed the original D200's, the MKII's are in a completely different league. If I had to pick one word to describe them, it would be resolving, which to me, covers the whole ball of wax. There is just MORE musical information flowing from my speakers, than ever before, and I'm not just talking about detail. The palette of tonal colors is intensely rich and varied, giving voices and instruments, spine tingling accuracy.  There is also greater extension at the frequency extremes.  Bass notes go lower, and with awe-inspiring  authority and impact, along with improved finesse and resolution. Treble purity, smoothness, and extension are also noticeably improved in the MKII version.  Other general observations would include, increased transparency, image specificity, sound-staging width, height, and depth, along with sounding more neutral, natural, and organic.

Congratulations Dusty! And thank you.
« Last Edit: 30 Dec 2011, 04:22 am by gme109 »

Dave G

Re: D200 MKII impressions
« Reply #1 on: 29 Dec 2011, 01:47 am »
Sounds great!  Can you describe the rest of your system?

Thanks.

Dave

Mike B.

Re: D200 MKII impressions
« Reply #2 on: 29 Dec 2011, 02:14 am »
I have a pair of the original D200's. I rewired the ins and outs with Jena Labs wire which made a big improvement IMO. I really like these little amps. I guess I need to put the mark 2 amps on my wish list.

gme109

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Re: D200 MKII impressions
« Reply #3 on: 29 Dec 2011, 05:20 am »
Sounds great!  Can you describe the rest of your system?

Thanks.

Dave

I run balanced out of a Raysonic 168 tubed cd player, using the built in volume control, directly into the mono blocks. Speakers are the Excelarrarys, a custom pair of line arrays from Selah Audio, employing six 7” Seas Excel drivers, along side a 45" Newform ribbon tweater.



JLM

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Re: D200 MKII impressions
« Reply #4 on: 29 Dec 2011, 06:24 am »
Your impressions mimic mine of the difference from the old VMB-1's and moving up to the first D-100.

I scored both pairs on the used market.  A real testament to Channel Island amps that you rarely see them on the 2nd hand sites.

Dave G

Re: D200 MKII impressions
« Reply #5 on: 29 Dec 2011, 01:28 pm »
gme109,

Thanks for describing your system.  Very nice!

Dave

gme109

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Re: D200 MKII impressions
« Reply #6 on: 29 Dec 2011, 02:45 pm »
A real testament to Channel Island amps that you rarely see them on the 2nd hand sites.

I like to browse through the ads on Audiogon, mostly out of curiosity, and I've observed and reached the same conclusion. Which is reinforced by the fact that I've lived with, and very much enjoyed, 6 years with the original D200's. First and foremost, they are very well balanced, and musical, which lends itself to longer listening sessions, and many years of enjoyment.