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Some people like neutral transparency. Other people like "musicality" (whatever it really is). More news at 11...
Maybe we can put a list of "generally considered musical" amps to compare against.The Maraschino does BOTH transparency and musicality....Interesting post! Thanks.
As someone who has had the opportunity to play music with a wide variety of groups -- also on the trumpet -- as well as alone with a guitar or my girlfriend's banjo, I would have to say that the Maraschinos just sound the most live to me of any amplifier I have run -- true to the sound of instruments and preserving all the music that is to be found within a recording. For me, that IS both transparent and musical. The Maraschinos take what is fed to them and pump out the most convincing and musical sound I've heard yet in my room, the same room in which I've spent countless hours playing instruments. I love the metaphor of the iron fist in a velvet glove; I think it strikes right at the heart of what I hear as the leading-edge impact of real instruments, followed and filled out by full and true tonality. That this can be generated with a perfect sense of ease with pinpoint accuracy in three-dimensional space is spooky. That this quality comes at a price I can afford is something I never expected. That I recommend a listen to anyone seeking the qualities I have identified at at any price is an understatement. The measurements suggest that the Maraschinos will work in a very wide range of systems -- I can tell you that they definitely work in mine!
Usually a simple matter of nonflat frequency response. Speaking of which, for all of the bold subjective boasts by this particular amp's designer, I don't recall seeing the key phrase that separates high fidelity Class D amps from low-fi (sorry, "musical") tube and class D amps: load-invariant frequency response. Is the designer interested in posting measurements of her/his amps into various loads (and better yet a simulated speaker load like Stereophile uses), or would s/he prefer a fog of vacuous subjective bombast?
I agree, and wish to add that the Maraschinos' accurate timbrel portrayal giving the presentation its sense of reality that provides both the transparency and musicality. Yitzhak
For example, have you ever heard a really stringent Class-AB amp with that "way too-much negative feedback sound"?
Hell, when it measures as good as the nCore, you really don't even have to listen to it, just let it sit there on your bench and admire it....[/sarcasm]
This is pretty much an insult to those of us who are serious about the sound they get who like the Ncores and don't care a bit about technology or measurements.I've owned at least 75 quality amps of every type I can think of and heard many dozens more over my 46 years in this hobby. Some are clearly better than others, but when you get into determining satisfaction, which is the only criteria that matters in the end, matchups are key. Matchups are at the system, room , and listener level.This is not a sporting event, where there is one "winner". The fact that listener A prefers amp 1 in his system, and listener B likes amp 2 confers almost nothing useful to listener 3.I won't insult you by denying what you've heard, but your comments about the sound of NCores as you have heard them is nothing like the sound in my system, which I would characterize as transparent, easy and natural. The dozen or more seasoned audiophiles who have heard it and whom also love the sound would agree, such as easystreet:http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=132390.msg1403576#msg1403576I use Daedalus speakers, which have an inherently easy sound. In a more aggressive sounding system there may well be better choices.Just out of curiosity, I'd be happy to try the Cherry amps in my system. Without hearing them in place I wouldn't even hazard a guess if they are better or worse- FOR ME.
Any Maraschinos going to be at AXPONA this week?
do you find power cords make a difference on the maraschino power supplies?
Full specs are on CherryAmp.com (Desktop Maraschino).
I will explain what we mean by "tweaking for sonics AFTER obtaining excellent bench measurements" there soon, so stay tuned.
"a simple matter of nonflat frequency response" is an over-simplification.
You can have perfectly flat response and different sound. Time domain behavior into (or out of) the speaker can be quite different between two amplifiers with the same frequency response, into a simple or complex load.
As time goes on, I'm getting better and better at predicting the sonic effect of various circuit/component changes. This is a matter of experience.