[earlmarc]

I was pleased to find two white boxes on my dinette table when I arrived from work today. My wife wasn't nearly as excited as I was when she announced I had mail and walked away. Oh well, I've been a good boy lately. It could have been worse. I talked about today's happenings with her before I rushed to open my boxes. I had ordered a stereo Khartago and a single mono Khartago for the front three channels of my HT system. I have a pair of IRD-Audio MB-100 for my rear channels. Currently I'm using a Harmon Kardon AVR-320 receiver with these amplifiers until I purchase Margule's Audio Daleth Multi-Channel Preamp.

I was really impressed with the build quality of the Khartagos'. They are much larger than they appear on the web. I will start the long break-in period on the amplifiers before I post my findings. I am excited to find out how well these amplifiers will mate with my Energy Connoisseur C-3/C-C1/C-R1 and Mirage Substrata 1500 subwoofer. Klaus and the reviewer on Soundstage express a special synergy that the Khartagos have with the Energy Connoisseur and Veritas line of speakers.

[earlmarc]

I have owned my IRD-Audio MB-100 mono amps for about a year and felt there performance/value was unbeatable until I received by Khartago amplifiers. Both amps are built to high standards, but I would rate the Khartago as having more quality parts than the MB-100. The Khartago comes with cool blue heatsinks, WBT speaker connections, and Gronberg internal wiring.

Right out of the box with no break-in the Khartago outclassed the MB-100s by offering a more refined and better presence to the music. The soundstage had greater depth, better detailing and dynamics. The stage was less forward and had a warm perspective. These are my intial impressions right out of the box. If anyone were to ask me if the Khartago is worth the additional $212.00 over the MB-100s, I would say without a question! 6moons reviewed the MB-100s awhile back and on a scale of 1-10 gave the MB-100s a 6.5. On that same scale compared to the amps the reviewer was using, I'd give the Khartago an 7.5-8.0. And would add that diminishing returns seriously kick in after the $750 Khartago.