Just received the M750’s yesterday and spent last night giving them a go. My system for reference:
Salk Signature Sound Song 3 BeAT
Audio by Van Alstine DVA M750
Auralic Altair G2.1
Audiocontrol Maestro x9 (for TV and analog passthrough for Altair)
I think it’s worth mentioning the room in this case. This is my music listening setup in my living room. The room is part of an open floor design (modern house with open floor design throughout) and so the real dimensions of the room are hard to give. The living room space itself is around 15’x20’ but the open floor layout makes it seem more like 20’x50’ and this floor has 10’ ceilings. There’s actually an open rail stair column in the middle of the floor that travels from the first floor all the way to the third floor. I’m mentioning all these boring room details because it has actually been hard to get a sound from the loudspeakers that I really like and I think the room has definitely been one of the major factors. It just seems hard to get the right placement and also effectively load the space. This is also our family living room and so no room treatments, just sofa, chairs, rug, family photos, art and whatnot.
So the M750’s for me were intended to replace my ATI AT3303 amp I’ve been using for the past year. I actually like the 3303 amp well enough. It never seemed to get in the way, super reliable, very quiet, and just seemed like it was well built. I got the 3303 (with three channels as opposed to the 3302 with two) thinking I would add a center speaker for TV time, but after playing around with placement in the room I decided to forgo the center channel. My journey to the M750’s started with the early beginnings of a search to upgrade from the BeAT’s. I just didn’t think the BeAT’s could load the space enough to give me the fullness/richness of sound I guess I’m drawn towards. I started eyeballing a couple of the top of the line Salk’s as well as the B&W 802/803 D4’s and handful of other full range options like these. While lurking around on the forums for any useful info I came across reviews for the AVA DVA M225. I just sort of had a light bulb moment. Up until then I had accepted the idea that just about any decent solid state amp with decent specs will sound the same. I think I had read so many times similar lines that all great solid state amps should provide clean raw power and more or less get out of the way. I had interpreted these comments as effectively meaning that at a certain point the amp won’t be able to help a lot more. I think I was wrong!
What caught my attention was that all of the reviews of the DVA M225 mentioned the amazing “slam”, “dynamics”, “tone”, and warmth while providing great clarity. And these reviewers were often comparing the M225 amp to some big ($,lb) boys. It made me think, hey maybe I should try another amp first before spending a crap ton of money on a replacement speaker.
I took a look at the AVA website and then noticed the M750. Interesting I thought…no one has mentioned this amp on any forum or review I’ve come across. I did a Google search, nothing. I called the number on the website and Frank answered. I asked if the 750 would be similar to the M225. He said it would be similar with great bass control and dynamics. That was all I needed to hear to give them a try.
And I’m glad I gave them a try because these very well may have delayed my speaker upgraditis for a good while. The control these have over the speaker compared to the AT3303 is just night and day, especially in the lower frequencies. I went back and forth between amps many times and began to realize that with the AT3303 the bass was much more muffled, and even the midrange felt as though I was listening behind a curtain compared to the M750. With the AT3303 I preferred the Altair acting as the prepro, but with the Altair direct into the M750’s the presentation was just too forward for my liking. With the Altair direct into the M750’s I just couldn’t relax. It was like I was standing at the front row of the concert. Some people might like that sound, but it was too much for me while sitting on my couch sipping a scotch. So for me, I’m getting great results using the Maestro x9 as the prepro with analog passthrough and all balanced connections. Compared to the AT3303, the bass has much better tone and weight while driving the BeATs in my space. It’s just way more convincing. The midrange is more full and rich sounding and there’s a much better ability to distinguish between elements. I did have to wait for the amps to warm up a little. It was mid 30’s outside when they were delivered and they were very cold to the touch when I plugged them in. I don’t think it was my head getting used to the sound as I listened for less than half a song and then completely left and came back an hour later and it sounded completely different.
I’m new to the forum and joined in part to share this experience as I thought it might help others. I honestly didn’t think the amp would be able to make such a difference but I’m beginning to think I was wrong. So far so good with the M750. Thanks Frank!
