[Animule]

Howdy! Robert from Atlanta here. I just received word from Jim that my speakers are completed and ready to be shipped. Woohoo! Pictured are my Song 3 Encores.




These are a huge upgrade for me. I'm just getting back into the hobby after a little break. I'll be choosing a new amp soon to power these beautiful speakers. Currently, this is what will be running the Encores:

Vac 20.1 linestage preamp
Quad 909 power amp
Pro-ject DS2 tube phono preamp
Cary 303 Cd player
Rega P3 turntable
Cables are a hodge-podge at the moment: Kimber, AudioQuest, and Blue Jean.

I'll be going solid state with my new amp. I love tubes, but my last tube amps, Quicksilver, were always needing new tubes. At the moment, I'm intrigued by the Pass Labs XA 25.

I'm happy to be a new Salk family member. Have a great day, y'all.

[Paul K.]

Your Quad 909 has plenty enough power to use with your new Salk speakers and is a wonderful, wonderful amplifier.  Be sure your listening with it while powering the Salk's is thorough so you don't rush to unnecessarily get a new amplifier.
Paul

[stlrman]

Mazel Tov 👍👍👍👍👍

[JCarney]

Look for a couple of reviews on your Quad 909, I think you may be pleased. I would suggest getting to know it for 6 months or so before you start looking for a new amp. It may be a match made in heaven. Its "current dump" topology/technology looks very interesting. An explanation of the technology from a review at Underwood HiFi: "The 909 uses a unique technology called current dumping which has a very high-quality but small class A amplifier driving a high-current efficient class B amplifier. The result is the sound of class A with the power of class B. Again the midrange performance is superb. Bass, treble and resolution are good for the price but not exceptional." Just a thought. Try what you have, if it leaves you wanting, look for something else.

Best of luck,
JCarney

[Animule]

J Carney and Paul K, thanks for encouraging me to stick with the 909 for a while. I definitely agree that this little amp hits above its weight class. Jim agreed that it likely would be a good match.

[JCarney]

You're welcome, and please let us know what you think of the combo. I've been on here long enough to know that the designs from Jim and Co. are making people happy with everything under the sun powering them. Your list of gear would lead me to believe your room has at least some treatment to control things a bit. They look great, and I bet they will sound even better, after a little break in of course.

Congrats,
JCarney

[Paul K.]

I used a 909 for quite a long time (10 years or more) and actually purchased mine from Underwood HiFi.  Three or four years ago I started hearing something amiss in my system.  I did extensive trouble-shooting and decided the problem was in the 909.  I decided to try out a switching amplifier (Wyred4Sound) and thought it corrected the problem. I then sold my 909 to discover later that my original problem was still there. I then wished I had my 909 back.   Since then I recently tried another switching amplifier which sounded better but was causing interference by injecting high-frequency noise back into my AC Power Conditioner that everything was powered from.  So, most recently I purchased a Bryston power amp, to go along with my Bryston preamp and Bryston CD player, and all is good again.
Paul

J Carney and Paul K, thanks for encouraging me to stick with the 909 for a while. I definitely agree that this little amp hits above its weight class. Jim agreed that it likely would be a good match.

[rockadanny]

Howdy! Rockadanny from Atlanta here. Those are beauties! I've been to Jim's place and seen many of his babies - top quality finishes for sure. You're a lucky dog neighbor!

[JDoyle]

I’m excited for you, please report back with your thoughts.
Jim’s demo disk is a fun start to showcase that Satori 9.5
My Encore’s are similar in appearance, but with the original model Eton mid.




I know Jim spoke highly of the McGary tube amps, maybe pick his brain when doing your due diligence.

[Animule]

I just hooked up the speakers and I'm making my way through the sampler from Jim. The 909 is doing pretty damn well!

These speakers seem to be exactly what I've been looking for, with the caveat that they have about an hour of listening time on them. LOL. They provide full range sound at low listening levels, with a sweet top end. I've had a few moments of tingling on the top of my head, which is always a good sign of enjoyment for me. The acoustic pieces so far have been magical. And the female voices are incredibly lifelike.

I'm psyched!!!

Look for a couple of reviews on your Quad 909, I think you may be pleased. I would suggest getting to know it for 6 months or so before you start looking for a new amp. It may be a match made in heaven. Its "current dump" topology/technology looks very interesting. An explanation of the technology from a review at Underwood HiFi: "The 909 uses a unique technology called current dumping which has a very high-quality but small class A amplifier driving a high-current efficient class B amplifier. The result is the sound of class A with the power of class B. Again the midrange performance is superb. Bass, treble and resolution are good for the price but not exceptional." Just a thought. Try what you have, if it leaves you wanting, look for something else.

Best of luck,
JCarney

[AllanS]

These speakers seem to be exactly what I've been looking for, with the caveat that they have about an hour of listening time on them.

They’ll only get better!  Enjoy!
From a quite content BMR and Supercharged SongSurround owner.

[JCarney]

I'm glad you have them and are having fun. Sounds like you are happy with everything, that is so cool. Give them a little time to break in a bit and they will sound even better. I'm glad to see you like the 909, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit jealous.

Congrats Animule,
JCarney

[whitey019]

Enjoy!  I'm definitely enjoying mine.