[Ictwoody]

Love the simplicity of your room  . What did you think of the Majestic last night?

It's a very nice sounding integrated. I'm not sold on it as a replacment for my Juicy and Odysseys... But that's comparing about $7k worth of separates to a $3500 integrated.

I use a 60-ish track playlist on tidal as my Refrence tracks. I'm very familiar with how those tracks, from that source, through my DAC sound.

Initial thoughts.

• Great Tone and instrument separation

• Slightly dark presentation

• Non-fatiguing. I think the front edges of notes are slightly rounded.

• Soundstage is very good. Instruments are well and correctly placed. Good depth. Slightly less width than my separates. It doesn't extend outside of the speakers as far.

• Not as "fast" sounding as my separates. Not a bad thing nessessarily, it will depend on preference. I prefer the faster sound personally.

• Bass isn't as taunt as my separates, pertains to above. Less woofer control than the Odysseys. Doesn't sound as effortless as the monos.

• Doesn't have quite the PRAT of my separates. Although it's very musical I find that things like a steel string acoustic guitar and violin string plucks and upright bass plucks and slaps don't quite have the attack they should.

• Really good imaging.

• Definitly a "tone" amp and would be killer with speakers that can be on the bright side. I think it's a great amp at the price point.

• Build quality is awesome and it looks and feels very expensive to me.

• The remote sucks, would love to see an upgrade from Jeff and crew. Really cheap compared to the amp and a couple buttons don't do anything. It needs work.

• I definitly get the tube comparison. Very nice and easy to listen to. It's impressive.

My system uses all Clear Day silver cabling, and the RAAL tweeters can be sharp with the wrong gear. So those aren't hurting anything as far as it being on the dark side.

I'm planning on leaving it in my system for a couple weeks until I finish up the new audio rack and then swapping back in my separates. I think I'll make a judgment call then and decide what to do. I can't keep all the gear. Too much cash for me to just sit any of it on a shelf.

More thoughts with more time.

- Woody

[Tomy2Tone]

Nice breakdown Woody, thanks for sharing.

[jriggy]

Many times I have expirienced a much better sound after 48 hours or so of play, after dropping a piece of gear in the system --especially if just arrived from being shipped. So please come back and let us know, after all the lil nasties and weirdos have calmed and settled. 

[Ictwoody]

Many times I have expirienced a much better sound after 48 hours or so of play, after dropping a piece of gear in the system --especially if just arrived from being shipped. So please come back and let us know, after all the lil nasties and weirdos have calmed and settled. 

I agree. And I don't want to give the wrong impression, it does sound great. I'll eventually just make a decision based on preference. But that won't happen for at least a few weeks of listening. The Wells doesn't really shut off. It seems to just sit in stand by. I'll do some more critical listening this weekend.

- Woody

[jeff@wellsaudio.com]

Woody-The power switch is on the bottom of the integrated in the front left, just to the left of the meter. BTW, I thought your early observations were very accurate.

[Ictwoody]

Woody-The power switch is on the bottom of the integrated in the front left, just to the left of the meter. BTW, I thought your early observations were very accurate.

Cool. Good to know.

If you ever want to put together a nice owners manual for any of your products or need some slick sales sheets for the audio shows, I know a great Art Director who is really passionate about audio that would love to work for you. Just sayin. 

- Woody

[Wind Chaser]

More thoughts with more time.

25 days since you last posted... have you reached a verdict?

[Ictwoody]

25 days since you last posted... have you reached a verdict?

I've listened to the Wells a good bit. I spent many hours listening to it in place in my main rig as it was pictured previously. I'll make no bones about it, it is a GREAT integrated. It is extremely lush and musical. The "tube-like" quality of it is as reported. If you are someone who needs SS watts, but wants some tube warmth, this might be the amp for you. It's a serious piece of kit.

I also spent some time with it in my big room hooked to my modded Klipsch KPT-904 speakers. At 104db/1w/1m they are merciless when it comes to SN ratio or any noisy amp. The Wells is super quiet. I think the level of low noise helps contribute the the Wells musicality. My other favorite integrated I currently own is my Sonneteer Campion. The PRAT and delivery of the music on both amps is great. But the Wells has the balls needed for tougher speakers than the Campion's paltry 33wpc can provide.

I used it for a couple days with a pair of Sonus Faber Venere 1.5's which I had on hand, but the laid back quality of the SF's and the lushness of the Wells was a little too much. I wanted a little more "edge." I didn't think this was a great combo. Although soundstage and imaging was exceptional with the standmounts... and with the other speakers. Instrument placement, soundstage height and width was some of the best I've ever heard. The Wells really does this amazingly.

Ultimately, I have decided to stick with my Juicy Music Preamp (with it's phono stage) for some tube warmth, and my Odyssey Kismet Monoblocks for sheer grunt with my speakers. I think the separates just barely edge out the Wells overall, but this could very easily boil down to personal preference. I really thought that maybe this sweet little integrated would beat down my separates which list at more than double what the Majestic does at $3500. Reports from AXPONA (so far) seemed very favorable as well.

I listed my Majestic on Audiogon last night. As much as I'd just like to keep it around, I am just a lowly art director and I can't really afford to keep such a nice ($$$) piece sitting around on a shelf. I would maybe keep it in my 2nd rig on the Klipsch's, but I would need a DAC and Phono Stage too, and the one box solution of my Yamaha A-S801 just serves my needs better in a "family room" type of setup.

If anyone has more specific questions I'll do my best to answer them. I don't want ANYONE to think my selling of the Wells in such a short time is at all a reflection of the amp. It really just came down to personal preference and the fact that I can't keep it all. My intention all along was to compare it to my reference system and keep the winner. For me, ultimately I decided to stick with what I have. But I could also have lived with the Wells for a very long time.

- Woody

P.S. Here's one of the pics I snapped for my FS ad. I should have wiped it off a bit better... oops.

[Wind Chaser]

Thanks for the update and added insight. It's a nice looking piece.

[Ictwoody]

Thanks for the update and added insight. It's a nice looking piece.

It is. You should buy it.

- Woody

[Odal3]

Slightly off topic - but I really like your "product shots"  Well done!! 

[Wind Chaser]

It is. You should buy it.

Maybe. I've been listening to a current Naim amp for the past few days and it's been quite an interesting experience, but now I'm thinking of going back to a SET tube amp with efficient speakers.

[Ictwoody]

Slightly off topic - but I really like your "product shots"  Well done!! 

Thanks. I don't LOVE selling gear... kinda a PITA. But I do a little product shooting as part of my work. So I do kinda enjoy having badass photos of my gear. Here's my flickr... I tend to stick them there. It's kinda cool cause it becomes an archive of a lot of the gear I've owned.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ictwoody/

- Woody

[Odal3]

You're good! I like the idea of a photo thread of all the gear. I will try to do something like that myself (but it will not be even close to professional looking quality). If you don't mind me asking, how do you get the light that good?

[Ictwoody]

You're good! I like the idea of a photo thread of all the gear. I will try to do something like that myself (but it will not be even close to professional looking quality). If you don't mind me asking, how do you get the light that good?

Basically just shooting in late afternoon when the light is a little softer. My loft has giant Windows and is a pure joy to shoot in with just available light. I use a tripod and keep the ISO down so as to minimize grain and it allows me to shoot a slow shutter speed if nessessary. I'll flatten out the highlights and shadows in Adobe Lightroom if the light gets a bit harsh on me, but in the end my goal is just to represent my pieces as accurately as possible.

I just shot the Wells with my little Nikon 50mm-1.8 lens set to F5.6 where it tends to be sharpest. I use my trusty old Nikon D90 and shoot raw, edited in Lightroom. Works for me!

- Woody