[stereocilia]

So far, everything I've played sounds fantastic.  I'm especially impressed with how easily all the elements in the mix are distinguished from one another, both in terms of tonality and space.  I'm finding it hard to describe the sound other than to say that there is a general lack of glare; or there is just a release from the electronic-ness I was used to hearing.  Very real sounding, basically.

BTW, I think it looks great.  Maybe some people would find the red illuminated switch a little industrial looking, I don't know.

Anyway, I feel like Santa just came.

Thanks Frank and everyone at AVA.

[pearsall001]

Congrats!!! & Enyoy!!! I have Franks OmegaStar 440EX & Ultra DAC. Every time I turn 'em on I just smile & relax w/ the music. Stellar gear that you'll be enjoying for years to come.

[nicksgem10s]

I was just wondering if you have it paired with an AVA preamp?

I have heard this amp with the Ultra SL preamp on two different occasions lately and came away really impressed with Frank's gear.

You made an excellent choice!  Have fun listening.

Nick

[Wayner]

Just wondering what speakers you were driving?

W

[stereocilia]

Hi,

As for associated equipment, I sneaked into my sig file:  Legacy Focus 20/20, Jeff Rowland Consonance preamp, naim CD 3.5 with flatcap.

I'm not sure when, but sometime I'll switch to a server-based source.  If I had to do it now I'd go with a Squeezebox and an AVA DAC.  But who knows what the heck will be available by the time I can replenish the audio budget.

[Wayner]

Stupid question.....Are you liking the new amp?

[tonyptony]

So far, everything I've played sounds fantastic.  I'm especially impressed with how easily all the elements in the mix are distinguished from one another, both in terms of tonality and space.  I'm finding it hard to describe the sound other than to say that there is a general lack of glare; or there is just a release from the electronic-ness I was used to hearing.  Very real sounding, basically.

BTW, I think it looks great.  Maybe some people would find the red illuminated switch a little industrial looking, I don't know.

Anyway, I feel like Santa just came.

Thanks Frank and everyone at AVA.

I've had my Ultra 550 for about a month. Was like a pig in... you know what, listening to it. Until I noticed that the foam around my passives had just about disintegrated (nothing to do with the amp, the passives on my speakers just gave out after almost 18 years!). I've been waiting for about two weeks for new passives, should have them on Monday. Because of this I haven't been able to really get a sense of how my Ultra sounds as a whole from top to bottom. But what I have been able to make out so far has me very happy indeed. My EXR5 sounded real nice, but the Ultra (so far) sounds that much more like real music.

[stereocilia]

Stupid question.....Are you liking the new amp?

Not stupid at all...I'm enjoying it immensely.

I had a Plinius SA-100 mkii before, which sounded quite good, but I couldn't get rid of the hum in my system.  With less sensitive speakers there was no issue, but I didn't love the Plinius enough to change speakers for it.

I picked up a hafler xl-280 (cheap), which to me sounded fairly compressed and lifeless.  It made me think about what I might be missing on TV.  What it did really well, though, was render sibilants.  'S' sounds were not extra-spitty; there was no grainy screechy quality to them whatsoever.  Perhaps it's a MOSFET thing, I dunno.

Anyway, I'm loving the 350... to my ears everything has a very smooth, natural, and live quality without homogenizing everything.