A very heart warming thread, this. To me at least.
For some years now, I have watched and heard the audio industry consistently drop its musical standards in favor of gadgets. And just when I thought Hugh, Dan (Banquer) and myself were the only dinosaurs left to hark back to happy times when it was all about sound, I find this thread.
AKSA's price is, in effect, immaterial in itself; the issue is cost/benefit. And therein lies the problem for Hugh, because unfortunately, most people can't audition it easily.
I would describe its sound as old fashoned. It definitely throws me back into the great old days of stereo, when many companies now either gone, or bought out and serving as name-catches only, or crossed over to the gadget group, were actually trying hard to make it sound great. Not many managed it, but I guess those who didn't make it big time then would probably come on song these days.
It's all a metter of taste and hearing. The AKSA (which I am not done yet auditioning for a review, I want to REALLY try it out like none before) has an old fashoned sound, the kind that puts the Big Whole before a dropped needle, third row, to the left. It doesn't nit-pick, but it does the whole of the orchestra like few do these days.
It got me tapping a few days ago, and I never noticed, no idea for how long I had been tapping bfore I became aware of it. Now, THAT hasn't happened since 1990, and that's a loooong time.
It gets better. I assumed there would be some customers who would buy the power amp first, to reduce their initial outlay. So I drove it with preamps built into integrated amps, namely Yamaha AX-592 and Harman-Kardon 680. And it told me everything I wanted to know, most of which I suspected but needed confirmation.
Yamaha's preamp is way below par of their power amps and that preamp is a waste of time with the AKSA. H/K was a much better deal, and raw power and drive capability aside (traditional H/K strong points), the AKSA stood its own against H/K power amps. In fact, for finesse, it took them for a walk, although for sheer power, H/K is hard to beat in a respective category.
So, whether it's worth it or not really depends on what you expect and want to hear; if it's the slightest detail at the expense of the whole, it's not the one for you. But if it's the whole, while not giving up the details too much, than it's spot on.
The bitching about why not ... I'll do to Hugh in private mail, so as to spare you genteel people. But I will write, and show photos, of how far AKSA can be taken, and I daresay, it's stunning how far it will go (with some international cooperation, in a joint Australian-USA-Serbian project). Forget what you know about it - there's more to it, MUCH more.
I'll let you guess what sadistic voodoo rituals I performed on it until the text. I expect the text on my site in say two weels' time, still quite a list of things left to try out.
Cheers,
DVV
