[woodsyi]

Well I just finished listening to a Simply Vinyl pressing of Peter Tosh on my TT connected to SWL 9.0 SE.  Two thumbs up.  No bloated bass -- just tight and thumping.  Also listened to Hector Berlioz' Symphony Fantastique.  The fourth and fifth movements will really tell whether your system is dialed in or not.  SWL 9.0 SE (along with the rest of my system) did justice to one of the most dynamic music that I know.  In the end, you just have to try it on your gear to see how it works together.  I would think you should be able to audition for 30 days even if it may cost a little more for shipping back...........

[michaelmickj7]

which album is it? I have a Peter Tosh Simply Vinyl pressing myself,which I think is excellent.

The Modwright sounds like it will do the business then, but he has a distributor over here and it sells for £2200 UK pounds.Mr Wright won't sell one direct which I can understand as it's cutting out his distributor but it's added a hell of a lot to the price for any UK customers.

[michaelmickj7]

I have read backwards and read a few posts. My musical fidelity pre/amp are very dynamic and detailed and matched with the Gyrode and PMC speakers which are both lively.The Gyrodec is often accused of being analytical or lean and the speakers are very revealing.I had the speakers upgraded with a new tweeter and crossover and new damping material which has made them more relaxed and have better bass, and I have a Tom Evans DC Gyrodec PSU also which has improved things immensely but I still feel the overall presentation needs body (soul?) Maybe therefore th juicymusic would after all be the better choice?

I like to follow bass lines and they should have impact and be tuneful at the same time so would the JM Blueberry give me this ?

[toobluvr]

I have read backwards and read a few posts. My musical fidelity pre/amp are very dynamic and detailed and matched with the Gyrode and PMC speakers which are both lively.The Gyrodec is often accused of being analytical or lean and the speakers are very revealing.I had the speakers upgraded with a new tweeter and crossover and new damping material which has made them more relaxed and have better bass, and I have a Tom Evans DC Gyrodec PSU also which has improved things immensely but I still feel the overall p ...

I am quite happy with the BB bass in my system, and the overall balance.  Is it SOA by SS standards?  No.  Could it be better?  Probably. But don't forget, I also use tube amps, so that too is effecting bass performance.    I don't know how BB + SS amp bass would be....never heard it.....I would guess VG.  Would BB synergize with your gear and satisfy you?  Who knows?  Maybe....maybe not.....

Noone will be able to definitely answer your question.  Only you can do that.  The best way to know is compare the candidates in your own system.  If you are not able to do it with dealer auditions,  just buy used.  Ideally get both, compare, and sell the "inferior" unit.  Of course this requires some $ to play with. And you MUST buy used at a good price such that you don't get burned on resale.

This is exactly how I do it.....thanks to AudioGon!

Just get your shortlist together...when one appears used, snatch it up.
If it disappoints immediately, just sell, and move onto another on your list.
If you like it.....fine.   Now hunt down the next candidate on your list.
Find it...buy it......compare...keep the one you prefer.
Do it all over again.  Keep doing it till you get sound that is so killer you are afraid to change anything for fear of screwing it up!  
It's not hard.  I do it all the time.   The key is to have the xtra $ to fund duplicates.

Of course, it often takes several months to acquire both units, particularly for products that are new and in demand.  But you will eventually see them.

Buying used makes it much easier to be decisive and pull the trigger.  It gives you much more freedom to not be "locked into" your purchase, and to move in and out of gear with minimal financial damage.

Committing to something now at a good used price is not a permanent marriage.   Just do it and get the ball rolling!

Good luck!

[woodsyi]

which album is it? I have a Peter Tosh Simply Vinyl pressing myself,which I think is excellent.

Equal Rights.  You got me pulling out my Marley and Black Uhuru LPs out for a spin.  I have a 45 with extended One Love on side one that is just fantastic.  I have not heard a Juicy Music line stages but it sounds like it has good tube bloom that makes wonderful midrange music.  My LAD 2 also gave great vocals and I would not have changed it if I were not strongly recommended the Modwright unit by Bill at Response who was modding my amps at the time.  Once I tried it it was no contest.  I couldn't do without the rhythm and pace that SWL gives.  Sure it's a little leaner (in comparison to a full tube design) with it's hybrid design but it's more like an ARC tube line stage than a SS one.  It's precise like the better SS ones but without the the brittleness of some SS linestage.  But with your transmission line speakers you just have to try one in your system to hear for yourself.

[michaelmickj7]

I'm off the beaten track here but isn't Downpressor Man one great song.
It's a great song to test out imaging etc.I love the bit where the backing instruments cut out to leave Tosh and his backing singers singing on their own.Simply Vinyl gets slagged off occasionally but some of the pressings I have especially the reggae albums are great such as Natty Dread.They are usually dead quiet too. If you are American you may not have heard of UB40 which is a UK reggae band but if you like Marley try to get the Simply Vinyl version of their album Signing Off it comes with a free 12inch which is superb - they do a song called Madam Medusa (which is about Margaret Thatcher) and on the B side a version of Starnge Fruit.
It's a great pressing and the bass and percussion on it are superb.

Anyway thanks for the advice again.I'll keep on reading up on things and I'll try to make my mind up one of these days.Normally I'm very decisive but I don't want to make an expensive mistake.

[michaelmickj7]

Hi toobluvr thanks for the very helpful advice.
I notice you have a sub by REL. One of the things I've been contemplating is a sub and I've been looking at the REL website what differences did it make and are you glad you bought one?

[toobluvr]

Hi toobluvr thanks for the very helpful advice.
I notice you have a sub by REL. One of the things I've been contemplating is a sub and I've been looking at the REL website what differences did it make and are you glad you bought one?

My current speakers (Meadowlark Heron i) have enough heft, impact and extension on the bottom, so I don't use the REL with them.  I use it in the "junior" system with my Spendor S6 in a smallish room.   Great match there, and it really energizes the room.  

I have also sucessfully used it with my Silverline Sonatinas, and MM de Capos.  It is a fast and musical sub that is a snap to setup and integrate, blends in beautifully, and never calls attention to itself.

The REL is designed to lower the reach on the bottom....not to add to already existing bass.  It does that beautifully.  But a sub does more than just improve bass perforfance.  An often overlooked  benefit of adding one is that it also improves other aspects of reproduction, namely dimensionality and ambient cues.  It allows you to "hear the room" better such that you get a better sense of the recording venue.  These improvements are quite noticable and are not subtle at all.  I used a pair of REL Storms for a while, and the additional sub even further improved these aspects.

If you have monitors or small floorstanders without the desired bottom-end reach, I highly recommend the REL.

[jon_010101]

Not quite a Blueberry, but I just got my Peach!  

I am hesitant to make any conclusions about the sound or give any recommendations until I spend more time with it.  The unit is used/refurbished, so it should be broken in, but I just installed a few Soviet oil caps in my power amplifiers, which are still a bit "dusty" sounding.  Don't want that to skew my findings.

But anyways, a few initial impressions,

-- In terms of appearance, the unit is absolutely gorgeous.  It looks great with my shiny chrome Craftsmen 500's.  
--Unconventional design, but sense of quality and cleverness.  Inside, the quality of parts is obvious.  It has about 10x the capacitance of my two power amps combined.  On some level, I find that troubling  
-- Strangely, it has much more background noise than I am used to.  Some hum, some hiss.  Alone, my power amps are "black", no sound even with ear-on-cone.
-- It is absolutely non-fatiguing.  Has a great sense of ease, but also a slight thickness (hopefully tuberoll that out!)
-- It does seem to favor the lower-midrange a bit, with a slight warmth, esp with stock tubes.
-- The vocals are very pleasant and full.
-- "High-impedance / Blueberry" mode sounds a bit more "natural" and warm, but "Low-impedance" mode seems to offer better high frequency extension.

I'll do a full review in a week.  Not enough data to make any solid conclusions!

Anybody know off-hand if this inverts phase or not?

[woodsyi]

I'm off the beaten track here but isn't Downpressor Man one great song.
It's a great song to test out imaging etc.I love the bit where the backing instruments cut out to leave Tosh and his backing singers singing on their own.Simply Vinyl gets slagged off occasionally but some of the pressings I have especially the reggae albums are great such as Natty Dread.They are usually dead quiet too. If you are American you may not have heard of UB40 which is a UK reggae band but if you like Marley try to get the Si ...

Yes, Downpressor Man is good. I understand Sinead O'Conner does a cover.  She was recently at a local club but I missed it.  Her latest album is supposed to be all Reggae.  I and most Americans know Red Wine as it was a big hit.  I do have a CD of the best of UB40 but have not played it in a long time.  Last night I listened to a Burning Spear LP.  If you like following bass line, they got thumping beat.

[toobluvr]

Not quite a Blueberry, but I just got my Peach!  

I am hesitant to make any conclusions about the sound or give any recommendations until I spend more time with it.  The unit is used/refurbished, so it should be broken in, but I just installed a few Soviet oil caps in my power amplifiers, which are still a bit "dusty" sounding.  Don't want that to skew my findings.

But anyways, a few initial impressions,

-- In terms of appearance, the unit is absolutely gorgeous.  It looks great with my shiny chrom ...

I don't think it inverts phase.  But check with Mark or the website to be sure.

My Blueberry is not noisy at all.....no hum, no hiss.   Then again, I've been listening to all tube systems for so many years that perhaps I am accustomed to, and don't even hear, a certain amount of low level noise that might be more apparent to SS listeners?  

I assume the Peach and BB share a family sound.  Having lived with the BB for several months now, I concur with your initial comments on the sound.  Namely: engaging and natural vocals, ease of delivery, fatigue-free, and a presentation that is full and warm, yet still detailed and resolving .  All characteristics that are on top of my priority list.

The BB easily allows me to hear the character of each tube, so be sure to try a few different ones.

[jon_010101]

I don't think it inverts phase.  But check with Mark or the website to be sure.

My Blueberry is not noisy at all.....no hum, no hiss.

Got some more details...

Mark tells me it does invert phase.  I had wondered if perhaps the Low-Z output stage restored the phase, but either output mode is reversed.  So I'll have to reverse my speaker connections.

He uses it on big Klipsch speakers, so we think my hum/buzz might be due to interference or ground problems.  My tube amplifiers alone are silent, and my other tube preamp is too.  But I have terrible power in my building which probably doesn't help anything, and the circuit is shared with every other electrical device in my apartment.  

[michaelmickj7]

Sorry for late response not had time to reply.

Yes I really like Burning Spear myself. Along with Black Uhuru he is probably my favourite reggae artist(besides Bob of course).
I have quite a few albums by him both vinyl and CD. It's my one regret that I haven't seen him live,although a couple of mates of mine have and said it was a great concert,and they aren't massive reggae fans.

Red Red Wine is a cover as you know, but UB40's earlier stuff is their best, try to get the albums Signing Off, Present Arms, Present Arms in Dub,and UB44. It's great when you want some reggae to listen to but want something a tad different with more of a tune.The bass lines are not as repetitive as real Jamaican reggae either,and are a lot more tuneful. It's reggae but a little different.
You can get the vinyl second hand on ebay quite easily.

[michaelmickj7]

In my search to improve my system and thanks to your very helpful suggetsions I came across McCormack gear.

I have been offered a MCormack for arouns 1500 brand new but because it is rated at 225 wpc and PMC only recommend amps up to 150 wpc I am concerned the amp will be too powerful.The dealer selling me the amp said it doesn't matter how poerful the amp is as long as it isn't too lowly powered.

Is the dealer just trying pull a fast one as they say?

thanks.

[toobluvr]

In my search to improve my system and thanks to your very helpful suggetsions I came across McCormack gear.

I have been offered a MCormack for arouns 1500 brand new but because it is rated at 225 wpc and PMC only recommend amps up to 150 wpc I am concerned the amp will be too powerful.The dealer selling me the amp said it doesn't matter how poerful the amp is as long as it isn't too lowly powered.

Is the dealer just trying pull a fast one as they say?

thanks.

Your dealer is right.
No such thing as too much power.
Too little power can damage drivers with the onset of clipping.

The objective is to get just the right amount of power needed to drive your speakers properly, and to give you the SPL that your listening tastes dictate.  Don't get any more than that.  It gets expensive.  Why pay for the wattage that you will not use?

Additionally, as amp wattage increases, you can expect finesse, purity and refinement to all decrease.  This is a generalization in which there are some exceptions,  but it holds true more often than not.

[JuicyMusic]

Got some more details...

Mark tells me it does invert phase.  I had wondered if perhaps the Low-Z output stage restored the phase, but either output mode is reversed.  So I'll have to reverse my speaker connections.
 

Jon---Correct. Both output modes of the Peach invert phase, as does the BlueBerry. Your previous comparisons of the two output modes seem spot on to me, so it sounds like you are digging in pretty good. The Peach and BB all will be HIGHLY receptive to tube rolling. The full-on personality of various tubes will  be readily apparent as you switch tubes. And remember, you can treat V1 differently than V2/V3 which are only used in LoZ mode. Thus, you could have a CCa in V1 and a pair of Amperex in V2/V3 as an example. V2/V3 should always be the same.

On another note, someone above seemed curious about the bass end of a BlueBerry Xtreme. The Xtreme version of BlueBerry, was created specifically to improve bass impact and definition of the original BlueBerry (and we feel good about the improvement). So, there is a marked difference (in bass) in the 2 units if you happen to hear anyone chatting about "BlueBerry."

Cheers,
MD
JuicyMusic

[woodsyi]

Red Red Wine is a cover as you know, but UB40's earlier stuff is their best, try to get the albums Signing Off, Present Arms, Present Arms in Dub,and UB44. It's great when you want some reggae to listen to but want something a tad different with more of a tune.The bass lines are not as repetitive as real Jamaican reggae either,and are a lot more tuneful. It's reggae but a little different.
You can get the vinyl second hand on ebay quite easily.

Just picked up Signing off (a UK release that comes with a bonus 12") and a German release UB44.  

I have been offered a MCormack for arouns 1500 brand new but because it is rated at 225 wpc and PMC only recommend amps up to 150 wpc I am concerned the amp will be too powerful.The dealer selling me the amp said it doesn't matter how poerful the amp is as long as it isn't too lowly powered.

Is the dealer just trying pull a fast one as they say?

No, that is as long as you don't turn the volume all the way up!  Clean power with lots of head room is very good especially for Reggae.  As Toobluvr said,  it's the underpowered amps clipping that can ruin speakers much more often than someone overpowering a set of speakers.  I am not saying it can't happen but not with some one who knows what he/she is doing.  It's like the knife thing -- more people get cut with dull knives than sharp ones.

[toobluvr]

Just a quick heads-up to those with interest in JuicyMusic products.
Hop on over to the Klipsch forum. Mark is an active participant on that board, and there's a wealth of comments/reviews/opinions  from actual users.  Almost all of them are wildly enthusiastic.  Lots of happy JM owners.

For example:
search on "blueberry" returns 14 pages of posts
search on "peach" returns 16 pages
search on "juicymusic" returns 1 page
search on "juicy music" returns 5 pages

Lest anyone think I'm a shill for the company, rest assured, I am not.  I'm just a satisfied customer.  JM offers tremendous performance at hard to believe prices.  Oh.....and I hear Mark will soon be introducing a lineup of amplifiers.  My money is on them being real sweet!  

[JuicyMusic]

Yes, we do have some truly fine amplifiers on the way shortly. The JuicyMusic pCAT amplifiers are all Class A Triode push pull and deliver exquistely liquid and refined sound. The first one (Lynx) is 20W mono blocks and the next one a few weeks later will be ~50W mono blocks (Panther), followed by 80W mono blocks (Tiger). Prices will range from $2995/pr. to $5995/pr. There are many exceptional features including the simplest (and most accurate) bias setting requiring no meters or tools. They are meticulously finished in chrome/stainless and exotic woods.

JM

[lonewolfny42]

Yes, we do have some truly fine amplifiers on the way shortly. The JuicyMusic pCAT amplifiers are all Class A Triode push pull and deliver exquistely liquid and refined sound. The first one (Lynx) is 20W mono blocks and the next one a few weeks later will be ~50W mono blocks (Panther), followed by 80W mono blocks (Tiger). Prices will range from $2995/pr. to $5995/pr. There are many exceptional features including the simplest (and most accurate) bias setting requiring no meters or tools. They are meticulously finished in chrome/stainless and exotic woods.

JM

Wow !! Sounds good Mark. When they are available, could you post a reminded to take a look....thanks !!!

Chris[/list:u]