[AmpDesigner333]

This is from Jeremy Kipnis at Kipnis Studios .
He has a demo Cherry MEGAschino Stereo amp and is using it to evaluate various speaker systems.  This came in over text, so pardon the formatting, etc....

"Two jobs pulled me out into the field this week. And when I sit down to put words to text, I’m afraid your amp is SOOOOOOOO good, so sweet and refined, so enveloping and involving ... that i forget about working and just simply LISTEN ... to all the ravishing detail, dynamic authority, Subtle shading of timbre, and intricate brilliance of tone and spatial harmony!

And this ... at all volume levels and from both in front of the speakers and also at the other end of the house: the Cherry MEGAschino amp is in a rarified category almost entirely by itself.

It almost effortlessly expresses the very essence of each and every recording i play through it - allowing for the wonderful opportunity to recline into the sound like a warm and comfortable bed or be propelled quickly and thrust forward at ultra warp speed ... all dependent on the source recordings (and your mood and taste at the moment).

❤️🍒🎶
Love Cherry Music 🎼

But Mega is at the heart of all the great sound being produced

It is a testament to your design and execution that even the smallest variation in Source component and play back material is completely audible"

[Triode Pete]

Congrats, Tommy!

[Samoyed]

How much lead time do you need to build AND deliver a Megachino stereo amp?  Please be as accurate as possible. Thanks

[AmpDesigner333]

How much lead time do you need to build AND deliver a Megachino stereo amp?  Please be as accurate as possible. Thanks

It varies week by week, depending on materials, but we have a few Stereo MEGA demos that can be shipped in less than a week.  All of our demos are fully re-tested and repackaged.  New MEGAs typically take 2 weeks from order to shipment.  Or....  If you're willing to wait, a super low price is available here (includes the new MEGA MK2, DAC DACs, and more):
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/378044010/cherry-mini-megaschino-tm-high-performance-stereo

[AmpDesigner333]

Congrats, Tommy!

Thanks, Pete!

[markn]

I have just joined the club,  got a pair of red DTM amps, with 30V supplies.

Wow, I really am amazed, I replaced a highly regarded digital amp, with the latest modules....

The clarity and speed of these cute little amps, is amazing.

Looking at power supply upgrades!!

[AmpDesigner333]

I have just joined the club,  got a pair of red DTM amps, with 30V supplies.

Wow, I really am amazed, I replaced a highly regarded digital amp, with the latest modules....

The clarity and speed of these cute little amps, is amazing.

Looking at power supply upgrades!!

Welcome!  We are honored to be a part of your audio system.

-Tommy O

[AmpDesigner333]

Wonderfully written review of Golden Cherry Amps:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=162775.0

"What I am hearing is jaw dropping so far: lots of detail, SET richness, and no fatigue...."

[AmpDesigner333]

New thread about Magnepan 1.7i speakers driven by a KING Stereo Maraschino:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=162889.0

Anyone have a similar experience they'd like to add to this thread?

[AmpDesigner333]

Wonderful and detailed review of STM *AND* KING Maraschinos, at multiple drive voltages as well:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=160564.msg1734715#msg1734715

"....There is a bit more "ease" and focus generally, with the STM being perhaps 90% of the Kings in that range...."

[mfsoa]

Review from The Audio Purist:

Another rave. 


https://www.audiopursuit.com/2019/03/cherry-amplifier-maraschino-desktop.html

[AmpDesigner333]

First impressions of our new 2-CHerry amp!

Check it out:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=163954.0

“....swapped in the 2Cherry and Holy Cow…all of a sudden the music was much more alive…not in the in your face type alive but with clarity and immediacy.”

[AmpDesigner333]

Here's Part 1:
https://positive-feedback.com/interviews/tommy-obrien-digital-amplifier-co/

Here's Part 2:
http://www.jeremykipnis.com/Golden_Cherry_Review_-_07_18.html

[audio.bill]

Here's Part 1:
https://positive-feedback.com/interviews/tommy-obrien-digital-amplifier-co/

Here's Part 2:
http://www.jeremykipnis.com/Golden_Cherry_Review_-_07_18.html

Thanks very much.. I can now read the sequel! 

[AmpDesigner333]

Some initial thoughts from a reviewer that is just getting started with a MK2 Cherry MEGA....

"I only had an hour tonight and wanted to just use it like this for now. The amp is so quiet I can hear the noise of the processor through it. That’s all I hear. First time I’ve ever had that be true.

It sounds great. ....what I’m hearing is pretty spectacular. The noise floor has clearly dropped from what I’ve heard and that seems to have made a bigger difference with music that has a lot of quiet pauses. Those quiet moments stand out more now.

The amp is crazy dynamic. This much power connected to the JTR’s gives limitless dynamics which makes it all sound effortless. Compared to the Yamaha amp I had used just before this, it’s clearly more powerful. Similar to my Acurus but a lot quieter.

The soundstage is really good. I can’t say for sure it’s the amp, other than channel separation, phase match, and level match, I can’t imagine what would impact the staging. But...I had been struggling with the JTR’s in my room. I had heard them before and loved the staging, but in my room it wasn’t coming together. I thought maybe I was too close for their size. So either all my futzing to get the toe angle right paid off or your amps are doing something better. Everything hangs between the speakers in a much more natural way now.

I also had another class D amplifier hooked up earlier and thought it sounded a bit edgy/spitty. I had read that it had a pretty nasty response up high due to its reactive interaction with the amp output filter. Your amp sounds smooth, just like any class AB amp I’ve used.

The idea that there is such a massively powerful amp sitting in a 2-3u chassis and weighing a manageable amount is nuts. I know that is what Class D allows, but I’m so used to amps of this power being either pro with noisy fans and poor sound or weighing 500lbs."


- Matthew J Poes / AV Nirvana

[AmpDesigner333]

Once in a great while, you are lucky enough to be present when great technological and artistic leaps are made. Given the sheer number of people on this planet, and this still relatively small number who are interested in a high-end audio these days, it is a wonder anyone can come up with a new twist on an old mechanism. The mechanism I speak of in our stereo systems is the amplifier: ultimately the centerpoint through which and because of which we hear our music properly amplified.

I have spent countless years of my life listening to great music through a variety of different speakers and often in a variety of different acoustic environments. The repeating factor in the stereo phonic experience that excites me the most is the illusion of being transported into the recording and to the very event I am listening to. Amplifiers are supposed to amplify, but frequently are accused of various amazing sounding qualities which have come from the design brilliance by certain ubiquitous names. You no doubt have your favorite or favorites, and I will not re-list them here.

Suffice it to say, even the best of these fine examples of the past 40 years can be found in retrospect and new auditioning to feature certain qualities that no doubt make them legendary. Nonetheless these are sonic attributes of the amplification design and process which nevertheless color the sound. Coloration is not necessarily a bad thing if it is from a musical instrument itself. But in the reproduction chain, and particularly in the Audiophile stereo phonic playback systems that I balance and create for my recording and playback enjoyment, it is critical to have as colorless a group of components making this sound as possible.

In the last decade, analog designs have become replaced by digital; and these often are told it as having greater efficiency, less distortion, and ultimately less coloration or sound personality of their own. This of course is not necessarily true, and there are only a small handful of current digital amplifiers that meet my exacting criteria: limitless power, no apparent personality or distortion characteristics, totally 100% reliable, and upgradable as funding and desire dictate. Which brings me to Tommy O’Brien‘s latest cherry Amplifier: the MEGAschino MK2 - a noticeable improvement in all areas from the MEGAschino MK1, and the Golden Cherry, both of which I have written extensive reviews of in the past several years. Now I can actually add Tommy‘s name to the long list of historic Grandaddys of amplification circuit design and production.

I know I know, so what does it sound like and why is it worth the money? Well, simply put… Once everything is hooked up and in place with your favorite set of speakers and sources, and you’re playing music that you enjoy, it will be like you are listening to everything for the very first time! This might sound hyperbolic, and I do not like making grand statements lately. But there is no doubt after extensive listening to both the MK1 and the new MK1 - for almost half a year, that you are going to have a hard time finding a better choice for amplifying music, video games, HomeTheater, and streaming whatever you wanted given a good choice of speakers set up appropriately, and hooked up to this amplifier!

Treasured favorites from the Austin powers soundtrack series including Quincy Jones is Soul Bossa Nova James Taylor quartets Austin‘s theme, and the ever present George S Clinton orchestral background score all sound significantly more alive and closer to the original master recordings than I have ever heard them before. Lenny Kravitz, The Who, Madonna, even the Monkeys and the Bangles have never sounded better because every little detail, the slightest new ones, and dynamic shading both large and small are revealed through Tommy’s latest design in a manner that is utterly captivating and convincing.

Great music from steely Dan everything must go along with the sweet sounds of Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and Dizzy Gillespie as featured in Ken Burns jazz [collection] will rock your boat as your feet tap and your head bobs back-and-forth like you were there live with these great great artists. Even if you are listening for background enjoyment, and the music is not necessarily turned up to it’s very loudest, you will enjoy the sudden apprehension of infinitely more qualities of being live with the musicians in the room with you then you have likely discovered while listening before. The sheer level of enjoyment that I have had while listening through Tommy‘s latest MEGAschino MK2 digital Amplifier, where digital is not a word to be understood as ones and zeros but instead repeated accuracy of reproduction with no concern whatsoever by the listener.

Given the choice between other Amplifiers both old and new that are in my grasp but as a review were to place into a number of systems at any time, I must conclude that Tommy’s is my first choice now as it has been for the past half year when it comes to listening enjoyment, Musical integrity, and holographic presentation of an enormous size and scale. It is no exaggeration to say that each and every program material I have watched on Netflix, Amazon prime, Hulu, VUDU, and even YouTube, has its own special sonic character and this is easily heard in an average evening of programming.

It is my pleasure to recommend Cherry MEGA MK2 in its many different configurations, each of which is suitable for some of the widest variety of speakers possible from conventional dynamics, electrostatics, ribbons, bookshelf, surround sound, and even whole house audio systems. When you’ve got an amplifier that is clearly designed both to function as conceived and also to sound sweet, realistic, Full of texture, and rich and powerful dynamics, it’s difficult to go looking anywhere else. And I urge you to contact him with your system configuration and speakers for his recommendation of the perfect companion for your listening enjoyment.

Jeremy Kipnis / Enjoy the Music

More about Jeremy:
Jeremy R. Kipnis is a Producer, Director, Tonmeister, and Impresario. His heritage includes four generations of musicians and conductors. Working for various record companies, including Columbia, RCA, Nonesuch, Decca, Chesky, and his own label, Epiphany Recordings Ltd, he has been responsible for more than 450 award winning albums, LPs, and compact discs. His passion for photography led him to study briefly with Ansel Adams and Yousuf Karsh. And his love for movies and television led him to design and create the Ultimate Home Cinema in the world, known variously as the $6 Million Kipnis Studio Standard (KSS)™. In addition to creating new cutting edge ultra immersive audio & video suites, Kipnis researches and reports on many topics in his three monthly columns, as seen in The High Fidelity Report, Widescreen Review, and Positive Feedback magazines.

[RonN5]

I’ve enjoyed this thread because it’s helped me to reflect on my own audio journey.  I suspect that for most of us, this hobby involves a search for our own ultimate sound.  Often times  the uncertainty of how a piece of gear will sound in our own system holds us back from giving it a try.

This thread originated five years ago and may help clear up the uncertainty for anyone considering a new amp.  Both professional reviewers as well as everyday audiophiles with a wide assortment of well-respected gear that includes names like Decware, NAD, Line Magnetic, Vinni Rossi, Golden Ear, Omega, Spatial Audio, Ohm Audio, Manepan, Salk and Martin Logan (and many more) have put various Cherry amplifiers into their system and concluded the same thing…that their systems now sounded more alive, more clear, more detailed and more like the ultimate sound (my words) that they were searching for.

From my perspective, all of these observations from such a wide variety of people with such different systems are a powerful endorsement and make it pretty clear that Cherry amps not only work very well with a wide assortment of gear but help to bring out the best sound possible.

[AmpDesigner333]

Part 1:
https://youtu.be/Ucju4sM9osU

Part 2 will probably take a while, so you might want to subscribe to Youthman and click the notification bell.  Thanks for taking a look!

[RonN5]

Clayton Shaw posted this on his Spatial Audio page:

I have had a pair of the Cherry Desktop amps in listening room No. 2 for several months now and I have been very impressed. They are the best sounding amps we have tested under $3000. I would not have guessed they were Class D. I think it is high time we drop the emphasis on the class of amp circuit, as the lines are becoming blurred by many different and good sounding approaches. Tommy definitely has something special with his design as others have noted. They certainly mate with my speaker designs exceptionally well.

Clayton
www.spatialaudio.us

[AmpDesigner333]

Clayton Shaw posted this on his Spatial Audio page:

I have had a pair of the Cherry Desktop amps in listening room No. 2 for several months now and I have been very impressed. They are the best sounding amps we have tested under $3000. I would not have guessed they were Class D. I think it is high time we drop the emphasis on the class of amp circuit, as the lines are becoming blurred by many different and good sounding approaches. Tommy definitely has something special with his design as others have noted. They certainly mate with my speaker designs exceptionally well.

Clayton
www.spatialaudio.us

Thanks, Ron!  Here's the post link:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=164229.msg1750179#msg1750179