After I read some user reviews on AKSA forum and web site, I feel like there is a lot of "praising" without supporting facts. I happened to have a chance to listen to AKSA at one of my friend's home.
. . .
My personal "subjective" opinion about AKSA is that it emphasises on the reproduction of treble and midband but it leaves a very thin and lack of authority bass. To be honest, I haven't heard anything so unbalance like that...
Hi huming_bird,
Thank you for your opinions.
I'm curious though: can you furnish your gentle readers with more supporting facts regarding your singular encounter with the AKSA. E.g. model, source used, analogue or digital (DAC and transport used), speakers used, room size, type of room treatment / furnishings, etc.
This request for more information is not made with the intent of disparaging or undermining the validity of your experience in anyway. After all, the listening experience, from which the performance of the amplifier is extrapolated from, is ultimately the sum of all the components in a chain working together in a specific acoustic environment. (To be flippant, a michievous reviewer could employ a 92kbps MP3 as a source, a pair of Bose Cube speakers as the load, and a pair of Mark Levinson No. 33 Monoblocks as the amplifiers, and then review the amplifiers as inadequate and over-priced
). Furnishing your readers with more details will enable us to place a higher value on your review.
In my (limited) personal experience, I have not found my AKSA 100 N lacking in the bass department. In fact, I had to resort to other methods of securing pictures and cork notice boards on my walls because the bass keeps rattling them loose.
(And, no, I do not listen to rap).
Other amplifiers I have tried with my set-up so far include (but is not limited to):
Pass Aleph 3 (bears most similiarities with the AKSA, but try leaving them on for a month and check out your utility bill
); Carver Lightstar 2.0 (more powerful bass, but bloated. Mid-range & treble were harsh); too many HK amplifiers to list - including the Signature Series 1.5 and 2.1 (somewhat "warm" (roll-ed off highs?), but there is a "haze" in the top end compared to the AKSA 100 N); Sunfire 300~2 (not impressed. Ho hum IMHO. Nothing notable, with the exception that it is balanced in its mediocrity); Marantz MA-700 Monoblocks (harsh, strident and gritty).
Of course, YMMV, depending on your (or your friend's) set-up...
If there is any criticism with regard to the AKSAs, I must reserve it for the TLP Nirvana. I found it intolerant of bad or "compressed" recordings--so much so that I can't bear to listen to "bad recordings" anymore on this system
--but Hugh had already warned me of this fact ahead of time
It is a trade-off I gladly make.
Best of luck in your quest for audio nirvana!
-Lost81
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Transport: stock CAL Delta
DAC: Bolder Mensa DIO w/ Bybee Slipstream & custom toroidal transformer
Pre-amplifer: TLP Nirvana + extended mods (i.e. non-magnetic tantalum resistors, Riken Ohm resistors & BlackGate capacitors)
Amplifiers: AKSA 100 Nirvana Monoblocks x Qty 4
Speakers: Mission 754 Freedom 5 upgraded with WBT binding posts
Wires:Outlet: Hubbell Hospital-Grade 20A
Power Cords: Belden 83803 (amplifiers); Belden 19364 (others)
Interconnects: Bolder Cable Digital (Transport-to-DAC); Monster Cable Sigma Retro Gold (DAC-to-Pre-Amp); Monster Cable Sigma 2 (Pre-Amp-to-Monoblocks).
Speaker Cables: 2 pairs of Monster Cable Sigma 2000
Room size: 3.3m (W) x 4m (L) x 2.4m (H)
Acoustic Environment: Left Wall covered with a mix of diffusers & absorbers; Right wall dominated by a large sliding picture window (with Venetian Blinds), 4' x 6' 1" thick wool Gabbeh Rug hung 1" from the wall between speakers, Michael Green Room Tunes Acoustic Treatment, an assortment of 4" Wedge-type acoustic foam.
