Hi everyone,
Thanks for taking an interest in this. I'm enjoying the discourse.
1) Klaus's initial response was to check the voltage coming from the outlet, which I did w/ a voltmeter. The reading was 120.8 volts approximately. I believe that this is fine. He offered to set up the amp differently or send a new one if problems persist. So kudos to him for that. I don't believe, as he did initially, that the voltage in the house circuit is an issue.
2) Well, the VDH IC's came today. Man, what a difference. Things are definitely coming together. These IC's are very well made, well shielded, look good (bright yellow, anyone) and have a slew of high tech innovative features. Check out their website. Definite sonic improvement over the Monster IC's. So I'm happy. My wife went out for awhile this morning so I was able to really stress out my system to high volumes. Put on "Romantic Warrior" again. Sounded better overall. Less glaring, more detail and better, lower bass response and clearer highs. No shit. The IC's made a big difference. The bass did loose focus at very high volumes, but backing off the bass level a couple of Db's helped alot. So much for preamps w/o tone controls. At moderate to lower volumes, I believe that more sound is coming thru as well. Anyway, I had to stop listening after awhile because I was frying my ears, plus I'm a little hung over.
So problem solved? Naw, just progress. My system's front end, cdp & pre, aren't in the same league as the back end, amp and speakers, IMO. They're not bad, though. So, this process is a progression towards a top notch audiophile quality stereo system. Finding the right components that sound good together and sound good to me.
I've considered modding the Hafler. AVA will do it for less money than the Odyssey costs. But, no return guarantee. They can't un-mod it once it's completed. I'm intrigued, though. I'm sure I can sell one or the other once I've done a head-to-head comparison. Not sure what to do. I'd like to demo another pre and cpd to check that theory out. We'll see...
Thanks to everyone who's posted and provided suggestions and feedback.
To be continued....