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George: very, very well said, subtle but you get the message across. I was a bit timid in wanting to express what you have so well, thanks!
As I mentioned, I suspect the amp will be very, very good. Bascomb King knows what he is doing, and my understanding is that he has been playing around with this design approach for a number of years now.
Unfortunately, the RMAF demo system revealed nothing (to me at least) about how the amp sounds. It occurs to me that if a manufacturer of electronics is attempting to show case their electronics in a consumer demo environment, it would be wise to use speakers which both are familiar to audiophiles at large, and work well with the electronics being demoed. Using 30 year old speakers, to which only few listeners will be accustomed would be ill advised. A familiar touchstone, like Wilson or Avalon, would make a lot more sense.
Did you listen to the Vapor Joule Blacks? Less than $20K and a world class, full range, speaker for real music listening...In any case, most manufacturers are making, and selling, what can keep them in business. In the US, and in Europe to a bit lessor extent, the middle and upper middle classes are losing income steadily, while the very wealthy are getting richer and richer. So, it makes sense for a high end company to sell a handful of 6 figure components and stay in business, rather than developing stuff at 4 and 5 figures which they cannot sell enough of.
I did get to hear them. I'm mostly interested in horns these days. I am not including myself in the groups of people that is looking to spend little; I'm rebuilding my hifi system from the ground up. It was more a general comment based on what I know from friends back in New England (all physicians), who have become disinterested in the direction hifi is taking.
Hi-Fi will eventually become mostly DIY....
OK, we now have 4 , Paul must have consumed some of that famous and now legal Colorado pudding .....
I am not quite sure what you are trying to achieve here with your multiple consecutive posts and keeping score regarding how many people liked or did not like a particular room. If you are going to buy a piece of audio gear, particularly at the price point I think the PS audio amp will come in at, based on what people think or write about it and without properly auditioning it, then you either have too much money or too little sense. Formal reviews and internet ramblings are always a good starting point but nothing beats an audition. In the case of PS Audio, they are extremely consumer friendly and generally offer a 30 day audition period as do most of their dealers. Avail yourself of this and forget what the score is concerning how many people liked or disliked a particular room. Then, before writing a post, think; collect your thoughts and try to integrate all your thoughts into one single post so that we are not subjected to random multiple posts from you on the same subject.
Why, because it was academic ? unfortunately today , i will still have to buy to demo , no stores nearby to demo, so 1000 questions to paul as to build and desired drive and bingo.... Feel the same way ..... Read his blog, they all felt it was good, Paul , Arnie, Bascomb , nothing to do with 30 yr old speakers, if they sounded bad at RMAF , then they always sounded bad, now or 30 yrs ago and I have heard those you mentioned sound bad before too, plug ears type bad ... One of the amps packing up is not a good sign too .....
Have others not said this about VSA ..... ???
So you believe VSA speakers have a "hifi" sound? Really? That's priceless..
To be clear: I used to work for PS Audio, I know Paul quite well, and correspond with him often. I am also welcome at PS Audio HQ to hear things in their listening room (I live in the Boulder area). I do read his blog regularly also. But, I get my listening impressions from my own ears, not from what a manufacturer might suggest... The PS Audio system at RMAF sounded totally blah, little definition, no presence, no air, and quite diffuse non specific imaging. Along with that, it also did not feature much body or musical warmth, off course, bass was impressive on Rutter's Requiem with the bass towers, but that was about it. I listened to to the Chicago Symphony Scheherazade, and it was blah, this is a recording I am very familiar with and it should never be boring.Agree, I have heard Wilson and Avalon sound bad, but only with bad electronics (now considering current Wilson models, Sasha, etc, not older ones which often sound bad)-if Wilson or Avalon speakers had sounded bad in that room, the electronics would have been to blame.Either way, when considering a ~$8K amplifier, a home demo with one's own speakers is in order, unless you have a pair of Infinity IRS Betas, then I would say, stay away...I would not worry about the shutdown, Paul explained that the amps are still protos (they are still fine tuning things like bias points), and that the protection circuitry is set very conservatively right now, this will be sorted in production versions.
