SPL!Magazine review on D200

imassarano · « **on:** 30 Mar 2006, 12:27 pm »

Hello all,

I'm new here, so hello to everyone.

I'm puzzled by what I read in the above review and would welcom people's comments to it's rather luck warm account. And where does the RCP $3899 per pair come from:?:

Isaac

CIAudio · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 02:04 pm »

Quote

I'm puzzled by what I read in the above review and would welcom people's comments to it's rather luck warm account. And where does the RCP $3899 per pair come from:?:

I had to read it a couple of times to undertsand what they were trying to say but the impression I get is that they liked it...I didn't feel it was luke warm. Seems maybe english isn't their first language

The amplifiers were submitted by our distributor in Singapore/Malaysia, so my guess in the magazine is based in Asia.

imassarano · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 03:13 pm »

I see, far East, thanks, that explains allot, especially the price, though the review suggests that the D200 lacks in dynamics and warmth doesn't it!?!

DaveX · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 03:29 pm »

Quote from: CIAudio

I had to read it a couple of times to undertsand what they were trying to say but the impression I get is that they liked it...I didn't feel it was luke warm. Seems maybe english isn't their first language

Dusty, can you provide a link to the review, I did a search for SPL magazine and couldn't find it.

Hey Dusty, the VHP-1/VAC-1 headphone amp received top honours in the may issue of hi-fi world magazine.

CIAudio · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 03:53 pm »

Quote

I see, far East, thanks, that explains allot, especially the price, though the review suggests that the D200 lacks in dynamics and warmth doesn't it!?!

Our D-200 amps are not meant to be overly warm, they are meant to sound natural. The review how well they render the human voice...a good sign of accurate midrange.

I'm not sure what they mean as they don't go into detail regarding dynamics. Their description of the bass performance reads
the lack of distortion in low frequencies makes for a very fast and dynamic bass quality. The decay is somewhat less obvious, but if you would listen carefully to, say a cello performance, you would be most impressed with the level of energy in the bass frequencies. I can say for certain the dying harmonics of the notes decays in a most natural and uncolored manner.

CIAudio · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 03:56 pm »

Quote

Dusty, can you provide a link to the review, I did a search for SPL magazine and couldn't find it.

Hey Dusty, the VHP-1/VAC-1 headphone amp received top honours in the may issue of hi-fi world magazine.

I heard about the rave review in Hi-Fi World, but haven't seen it yet.
Our UK distributor has a copy being mailed to me

The SPL! review can be found here
http://www.ciaudio.com/spl_D200.pdf

Grover · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 04:40 pm »

Dusty - Thanks for the link on the review. I think it's a pretty darn good review of the D-200 amps. (Having only heard them at CES myself).

It seemed to me that the reviewer had some preconceived notions of what Class D amps sound like and the D-200 amps did a bit of hammering on his preconceived notions. Reading the last paragraph or two of the review, he appears to say, "if you think you know what amplifiers sound like, these don't sound like that." "Listen a bit more closely and the D-200s might be the amplifier you'll feel sorry NOT owning."

imassarano · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Mar 2006, 05:05 pm »

Thanks Dusty and Grover. Grover I think you've sunk it there. [seemed to me that the reviewer had some preconceived notions of what Class D amps sound like and the D-200 amps did a bit of hammering on his preconceived notions.] Trying to overcome his bias I guess.

Isaac

askl2000 · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Apr 2006, 06:31 am »

Hi...my very first post here.

I just read the SPL review and noticed that the d200 featured there seemed slightly different from the pics at ciaudio's website, e.g. logo plate (sticker?) and no grills on the chassis (where the blue amp led indicator can be seen from the inside).

Are there any cosmetic changes made to the d200, different from the pics of the d200 on ciaudio website?

I'm waiting for my d200s to be delivered, and I like the idea of the blue led glow from the inside, so if the set reviewed in the SPL mag is the 'new' edition, that would be bad...

CIAudio · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Apr 2006, 02:07 pm »

Quote

I just read the SPL review and noticed that the d200 featured there seemed slightly different from the pics at ciaudio's website, e.g. logo plate (sticker?) and no grills on the chassis (where the blue amp led indicator can be seen from the inside).

D-200's are all the same...the photos in SPL! were apparently taken by the people at the magazine and aren't very clear. They do have a vented chassis and emit a soft blue glow in a dark room. It also looks like they "fiddled" with them because the wiring harness is not routed properly. The front panel logo is an encapsulated badge, which fits into a machined recess in the aluminum panel (not a sticker).

askl2000 · « **Reply #10 on:** 3 Apr 2006, 06:48 pm »

Thanks for the reply! Now I can look forward to the blue glow...