The DNA-500 is a VERY, VERY good solid state amp - very smooth, easy to listen to presentation, with great power if called upon. I always thought that when you started approaching this level of performance the subsequent gains were pretty marginal (80/20 rule or worse). Marbles heard this amp briefly on my little Merlins and I think he'd tell you the combo was quite good, especially in the imaging. At that point my system was not fully assembled though, in terms of cabling, setup, etc. The Merlins are extreaordinarily revealing though amd overall things were pretty good.
What I heard when the Musicwood version Joule's came to play were several things right away -
- a dramatically improved sense of image/stage height and depth/layering
- bass definition imroved substantially, especially in the higher range of bass where most of the foundations seem to really be. It was fast and tight too, not expected in a tube amp
- lightening fast transients from a black background that literally shock you sometimes. Like they came out of nowhere
- the most significant change though vs. the DNA was the utter purity of the high end. The DNA has an ever so slightly veiled upper register when compared to the best (like the Joules). Not bad or really that noticable until you hear it in comparison to something like the Joules.
- the Joules are probably best described as tonally very rich and flushed out while not sounding at all colored or caramel coated like some tube amps (CJ for example). Sterile they are not. Tonality on acoustic guitar (think Michael Hedges Aerial Boundaries) is both very detailed and properly rounded.
As I said, I thought anything past the DNA without spending stratospheric dollars, was no more than 20% better. With the Joules, though not cheap, it was much more than 20% better imho.
Oh, also, I can't possibly explain why, but those in the know say there is a significant sonic difference from the "standard" version to the Musicwood cases. I know several of the "standard" ones for sale on a'gon are people who have upgraded them to Musicwood. I went with the Musicwoods right off the bat. I also have on order 2 Critical Mass Systems isolation platforms to set them on. Joe at CMS actually has the VZN220's with 12(!) of those huge 6C33's per channel (mine have 6 each). Talk about space heaters. They sounded glorious on a megabuck pair of Talons he's taking to CES next month. Jud Barber, Dave Elrod, and Joe are showing together there.
Sorry for the long answer, but as you can tell, I like them a lot. After years of switching and hunting the next best thing, these are keepers and I never thought I'd be saying that. While expensive, in the long run it may actually save me a little money, and allow me to spend more time listening, which is what it's all about anyway.
Tom
