Here's a major switch-up to my normal system... Chinese knock-off clone stuff!
A BRZ Hifi Mark Levinson JC-2 preamp clone, Tara Labs locking RCA ISM Onboard interconnect clones, Tara Labs The One power cable clones, and even a single Kharma power cable clone. Clone stuff one of my brothers likes playing around with just for fun in one of his systems.
The only REAL piece of kit here other than the streamer, conditioner and speakers is the NuPrime STA-9 amp. This is one of the two that I sold years ago to one of my other brothers. I now have both of them back (borrowing them) for a bit so I can play around with gear and such in this room/system.
Surprisingly, the preamp is rather solid and heavy, gets rather warm considering it's supposed to be running in Class A. It's a stout unit. And shockingly, all of the cables are quite decent and of actual quality. They sure do have all the details done down to a "T", that's for sure.
The important thing here is, the sound has vastly improved over the little SMSL AO200 integrated amp. An even deeper and wider sound stage, a lot more focused imaging, deeper, tighter, harder hitting, a lot better controlled bass, a fuller midrange, and a smoother yet still extended top end.
Of course, I'm sure 90% is due to the NuPrime amp alone. Though I do remember my brother swapping out a Rotel RC-1572 MkII preamp for this BRZ JC-2 clone and this little preamp sounding considerably better. Just an overall more refined sound throughout. And that's what I'm hearing now, so who knows.
Anywho, some pics...
