[audiojerry]

Spent a very pleasant Sunday afternoon visiting Jackman and his extraordinarily beautiful and gracious wife, Michelle, listening to some gear along with Jack's friend, Ron. Jack and Michelle are terrific hosts, and I'm sure anyone who has spent time with them would have nothing but the warmest regards for them.  

I had the opportunity to hear first hand Jack's upgraded AVA T7 pre and Fetvalve 550EX amp, Solar Hifi's new H1 digital amp, and a revisit of Jack's Ellis 1801's and GR Research Criterion demos. As a bonus, I also had a chance to listen to a pair of Ron's Maple Audio interconnects. I am not posting reviews in the Critic's Circle because I did not spend nearly enough time with any single component under controlled enough conditions to qualify my listening as a critical review. I do feel I was able to get a reasonable sampling of what each is capable. As I describe each component, it is strictly my own views and not necessarily those of Jack or Ron, although we all verbally agreed with each other on a lot of comments that were made as we listened.

First up is Jack's AVA gear. I had heard them several months ago in my home prior to the upgrade, and I was very impressed. This time, I was even more impressed. As a pair, they have great synergy and strike me as being very powerful with unlimited head room. I'm fairly certain that the 550EX could easily drive just about any loudspeaker. The bass was authoritative, and music was conveyed with a sense of weight with full bodied images. The sound possessed much of the tubelike character that I am partial to, similar to my Audio Research amp. Top to bottom, there were no weaknesses that I could identify. My only gripe is the lack of a remote control for the T7. Listening was done with both his Ellis 1801 and my Dynaudio Special 25 monitors. We later listened to the same setup with the GR Research Criterions.

My experience with the Solar was very interesting. It was the main event for me on this visit, and Jack's AVA amp provided an excellent benchmark for judging the Solar's capabilities, since both are rated at 250wpc. After reading the early reviews - most recently Hantra's experience with this very unit, I was intrigued to find out for myself if a digital amp built for audiophiles could meet those expectations. I became even more curious after Jack warned me that he found some issues with it prior to my visit. With everything set up the way Jack auditioned it with his Ellis 1801, I immediately understood what Jack meant. The sound was anemic, dull, and closed in. Leaving everything else the same, we then switched to the Dynaudio's. Jack told me he believes the 1801 is rated at 6 ohm nominal, while the Dynaudio's are rated at 4 ohm.

The change for me was a revelation. It was as if the sun had just emerged from a cloudy day.   The Solar burst instantly to life. I found it to be extremely dynamic and lightning fast with transients, as well as open and transparent. Highs were clean and extended, and power was not an issue. In direct comparison to the AVA, the AVA seemed to be more authoritative with a fuller midrange, while the Solar seemed to excel at being agile and transparent.

It did not have a solid state or tubelike sonic signature. It does have its own sonic character, but I have a feeling that after spending more time with it it's something that I could get accustomed to. I now think I understand why Kevin is developing a tubed gainstage as an option. As favorably impressed as I was, I still felt one aspect that was missing to the sound was the organic tube bloom that I'm accustomed to.

An issue that might be of concern to Kevin, though, is how differently the amp behaved with the different loudspeakers. It's amazing how the Solar liked the Dynaudio as much as it disliked the Ellis. With the AVA amp, both the Ellis and Dynaudio sounded great. Could this be why Hantra may have had issues with the Solar as well?

Next up are my impressions of the Ellis 1801. I had listened to Jack's 1801 previously at his house and at mine. On both occassions, I felt that they had some very positive qualities, but they sounded lean, lacking midrange body and bass heft. Since then, Jack consulted with Dave and revised the crossover to try to achieve better balance. This time around, I retract any previous reservations I had with the Ellis. The bass was deep and punchy, and the midrange was full. Its strength in the past was its open and airy treble, and now it blended more coherently with the mid and low frequencies. Jack said that he installed a 2 ohm pad, I believe, on the tweeter to subdue the the hf output, but after listening to it with his latest AVA upgrades, I think we both agreed that the resistor may no longer be needed. It had a similar sonic signature to the Dynaudio Special 25's, but the 1801 was more limited in headroom and a little less extended at the frequency extremes. IMHO, this is a high compliment to the 1801 because it compared very favorably to a $5k speaker that I regard as my all time favorite.  

Later, we set the AVA back up with the GR Research Criterions. I'm very familiar with the Criterions since I was the first to audition them when they were first released. Since then, Danny has revised the crossover, and may have added Black Hole dampening to them, but I could be wrong on that. I had high praise for them back then, and others' reviews followed suit, but there have been a few reviewers who did not concur. I thought it would be interesting to find out if my earlier views still held water, and to find out if I could identify some of the shortcomings that others reported hearing. Jack's speaker stands are only 20" high, and his normal listening position is about 8' from the speakers with the speakers about 6' apart. Jack, if you are reading this, please correct my approximations.  With this configuration, the Criterions did not sound as good as I remembered them. They seemed a bit rolled off, the soundstage was collapsed, and imaging was a bit diffuse. When I auditioned them, I listened in a much more exaggerated nearfield arrangement on taller stands. So, as an experiment, Jack allowed me to move away his end table, pull the speakers in closer to the sofa by about 2', put the speakers closer together to about 4 1/2' apart, toe them in severely so they pointed pretty much straight at the ears, and tilted the face of the speakers slightly upward. We them sat down on the floor to lower our ears to a plain more in line with the tweeters. This changed the way the Criterions sounded dramatically in my view. All the shortcomings I mentioned were erased, and the music became much more engaging. The speakers seemed to almost disappear, the soundstage expanded, became deeper, and the imaging was more solid. Obviously, this was not an ideal to listen to speakers. I believe the Criterions are capable of singing and of offering a very involving and satisfying musical experience, but they require an intimate and extreme nearfield arrangement with severe toe-in, tall and solid speaker stands, and powerful amplification. With the 250wpc AVA amp, these little speakers had powerful bass and played to very high spl's without break-up.      

Lastly, I wanted to comment on Ron's Maple Audio interconnect. I don't know anything about this wire or the company. It's a very stiff and heavily insulated wire with really beefy rca connectors. It looks like a very sturdy and well built cable. We replaced Jack's personal wire, which I will let Jack identify, with Ron's Maple, and the difference was enormous. This wire elevated the sound of Jack's system to another level, and was easily as signifcant as upgrading speakers or an amp. I have real difficulty believing that anyone who continues to advocate the use of generic, basic types of wire similar to the Belden designs that others have promoted on the AC, could not hear the dramatic difference a really well designed wire like the Maple audio can make. It was a no brainer and the shorcomings of Jack's wire, particularly in the home brewed wire Jack had were painfully obvious.                    

I would strongly recommend an audition of any of the components I discussed: AVA, GR Research, Ellis Audio, Maple Audio, and Solar Hifi. For myself I am putting the Solar on my short list. I want to become  more intimately familiar with this new design and see how it compare with my Audio Research VT200. I'd put the AVA on my list also, but I don't think Frank would want to sell to me since we don't see eye to eye on some other aspects of audio.          

I think I heard some outstanding gear this weekend. Thanks Jack and Michelle for a great time. Nice meeting Ron, too, another great audio friend.

[DARTH AUDIO]

Jerry, Great review.. Well written. Do you remember the name of Maple Audio interconnects you used? They have several.. Thanks.  

PS. I should be receiving my Solar Fusion H1 amp the end of this week or the first of next week. I did get all the upgrades.. This should make it sound even better.. I hope

[TheChairGuy]

Hey AudioJerry,

Clear and very helpful - thanks for taking the time to put in in print.  A couple of the components mentioned are on my short list.

[KevinW]

Jerry,
Thanks for posting your favorable impressions.  My amp does have a very unique sonic character, which is different from any other SS or tube amp.  To characterize it, I would say it is the lack of any harmonic distortion products that are impossible to remove from any linear amplifier.  Tube bloom is exactly that, an added dose of harmonic distortion of primarily even-order harmonics which is generally pleasing to the ears.  

I will always be a tube-o-phile, and I particularly love the sound of SET's which have the most harmonic distortion.  But I have found myself preferring the sound of the Fusion because of the amazing detail and power reserves.  With the tube stage of the H2, the amp will retrieve a moderate dose of tube bloom, but not sacrifice any of the detail or power.

Regarding the speaker matching...  I am not surprised that there are mismatches between equipment.  That's why I offer the return guarantee on the amp.  Also, Jena Labs and I are working hard on some more innovative ideas to address the unique issues that Class D amps present vs. conventional analog.  These are a new technology that offers significant benefits, but has some need of trouble-shooting in certain system configurations.

[Hantra]

The sound was anemic, dull, and closed in.

Ahh. .  Redemption!  

It has to have something to do with my speakers I guess.  I just don't know why.  Piega is not very forthcoming with very detailed impedance curves, and such.  So I only know what's on the site. . .

I spent a couple of weeks thinking it was my ears though b/c I heard all the wonderful praise. . .

Good write-up Jerr. . . And I think it would be hard for anything to measure up to the VT-200. .  It's luscious!

[Tyson]

jerry, just wait till jackman gets some decent tubes in there.  The Siemens tubes I sent in w/my T7 during the upgrade elicited a "Nice Tubes!" comment from Frank

Also, jackman, get some hal-o tube dampers from Herbie's Audio Lab - they make a very nice improvement by damping low level tube microphonics, taking the T7 and 550ex to an even higher level of performance.

[audiojerry]

You are welcome, Kevin, and thank you for making the Fusion available as a demo.

Tube bloom is exactly that, an added dose of harmonic distortion of primarily even-order harmonics which is generally pleasing to the ears.

 That may be true, but there is another quality to tubes that I would characterize as bloom, but not distortion. I doubt that it could be measured, though. It relates to the quality of musical timbre. As most of us understand, a musical instrument, like a piano, creates a very complex waveform originating from multiple sources including the strings, the hammers that strike them, and the wood sound board, including the difference in materials used in these different components between manufacturers. It's things like this that make a Steinway sound different from a Baldwin, or a Gibson sound different from a Fender. All of these complex sound sources blend together to create the unique sound of an instrument. I liken the sound of this complex blending to bloom. To me, tube amplification recreates this bloom more convincingly than transistors. It's also something that seems to be lost to a degree in the digital record/playback process, and why analog recordings still sound better to me.

[audiojerry]

btw, thanks Chairguy, Darth, Hantra, and Tyson for the nice comments.

[KevinW]

Jerry,
I agree with your definition of bloom.  It's hard to put any kind of strong definition on what makes tubes sound so good, and even more difficult to do so quanititatively.  I think we are talking about the same thing.

I mention the harmonic spectrum of distortion as one characteristic measure becuase it's the only one I've found that makes sense.  I do not intend to imply that harmonic distortion is 'bad'...  this is a nice little bit of FUD that was used to sell solid state over tubes.  Some harmonic distortion is bad, and some is good.  

It's important to cosider the effects of amplifiers on harmonics.  This is the essence of music, and the ear/brain is very sensitive the extremely sublte changes in harmonics.  This is part of the reason why we can hear in stereo.  It appears that the dividing line between what harmonics sound good vs. bad is whether the harmonics are 'even' or 'odd' order.  The analogy that I like is that even order harmonics are like adding seasoning to food.  Seasoning can integrate and enhance the natural flavors, resulting in a much better total experience!

[jackman]

Jerry,
Great job on the review.  I wish I could add a couple things, however Jerry's account of the events was on the money and I don't have any break-through additions.  I would like to make a couple observations on the gear:

1.  DAC:  Jerry's P1A/P3A digital combo was (by far) the best digital I have ever heard.   He's probably got the MOST modded Perp setup (I sound like a cop) on the planet, and has invested quite a bit of dinero on it, but it shows.  It's more analog than any digital setup I have ever heard.  Amazing.

2.  Dynaudio 25th anniversary speakers:  Although I haven't been a fan of Dyn's in the past, these are a different animal.  They have amazing bass for small monitors, crystal clear highs, dynamic and they throw a massive soundstage.  They sounded great with the Solar amp and the AVA.  Everything about these speakers screems EXOTIC.  They are as impressive as they are expensive.  

3.  Solar Amp: Like Hantra found out, this amp can sound very different depending on the speakers used.  I actually learned a valuable lesson in this regard.  It sounded very bad on my Ellis.  Lifeless, thin, and not enjoyable.  Highs were pretty good, but everything else suffered.  On Jerry's Dyn's, everything just came to life.   Kevin's contruction was first rate.  I was a bit shocked at how cool the amp ran (and we PUSHED it at times) and by how compact it was.  It had everything a person could ask for in a high end amp: gobs of clean power, transparency, extended highs that were never harsh.   Soundstage was wide and deep.  Very impressive (with the Dynaudio's!).  This was the base model, I can't imagine how good the upgraded model must sound.

4.  AVA Fetvalve/T7 combo:  The upgraded power supply takes this combo to another level.  Although its presentation is different than the Solar, it was none the less impressive.  Bass was very powerful, highs were detailed and natural sounding and the mids (biggest strength) are the best I have heard on my system from any amp.  Vocals just seem "bigger".  Instruments seemed to have just the right amount of weight.  On a particular Michael Hedges track (Solo's) the sound of the attack on the strings (with the Dynaudio's at the helm) was breathtaking.  It was as if he was in the room, except the image seemed like he was playing a guitar that was huge.  Audiojerry kept cranking up the volume until I thought his woofers were going to explode from the cabinets!  They didn't (thank God) and the our ears gave out long before the amp or the Dyn's did.  IMO, the AVA setup (okay I admit a personal bias because I own it) is the right combination of the strengths of tubes and SS.  Tyson, I'm going to get those upgraded Siemens tubes, I just wanted to hear the stuff with the PS upgrade before making any changes.  The PS upgrade was more impactful than the upgrade from Fetvalve to T7, IMO.  

5.  Ellisaudio 1801's:  Not a good match for a Solar amp, however they sounded very good with the AVA and VERY good with Jerry's Perpetual front end.  I'm going to remove the padding from the tweeters (2dB) this weekend.  After hearing the extended highs of the Dyn's, I think I could live with more resolution (especially with the smoothness of the AVA gear).   The Ellis sounded very good, particularly the midrange and had strong, punchy bass.  They could not match the Dynaudio's bass or ability to play at VERY high volume levels, but they held their own versus a world class $5,000 speaker.  The Ellis play pretty loud, but the Dyn's played louder than any monitor I have ever heard.  They were also very dynamic and more efficient than my speakers.  Both speakers projected very solid images and a very realistic soundstage.  

6.  Smart Dio:  Okay, no match for Jerry's setup (I have yet to find anything that sounds as good as Jerry's Perpetual gear), but I liked the Smart much more than the Linn Genki CDP we tested.  I liked the Linn, but my speakers don't need to be any more laid back and dark.  On a bright system, the Linn would undoubtedly be a better fit, but my system is already laid back enough.  THe old Ellis A version would have been a better match for the Linn.  

7.  Wires:  Nothing scientific, however we did test a couple wires.  I put on some home-made wires that Nathan was kind enough to put together for me.  They are made from Belden (I think) wire and consist of three braded strands of two wires twisted together.  They took a lot of work to put together and I am grateful for the effort.   I tested these versus my Superlatives bought from DIYcable between my amp and preamp.  Jerry's eyes popped out of his head when I made the change.  The Superlatives had much more bass and much smoother highs.  Cassandra Wilson's latest CD was the test.  There was a lot of sibilance with the twisted Belden and almost no bass.  The DIY Superlatives sounded so smooth with great bass and silky highs.  Very nice wires for the money.  We wound up using Jerry's ZU cables (IC's) because they had slightly more top end and a bit more bass control than the Superlatives, however they were pretty close in overall sound.  

The biggest cable "revalation" occured when Ron swapped out my Bolder M80's for a pair of his Maple cables (NOT Mapleshade), between my Smart Dio and preamp.  I had never heard of this Canadian brand.  The cables were very thick and stiff and had normal looking RCA plugs (versus my Eichmann's) and didn't look like much.  I almost fell out of my chair.  Everything just sounded better.  Highs were more extended, bass was powerful and controlled.  I think a pair of these have been added to my audio wish list.  I think the model is called Ambiance or Ambient (wait, one of these is a sleaping pill brand!).  Anyway, I don't know anything about these cables other than what they look like and how they sound...great.

Lastly, I don't know if power cables make a difference in the sound of the Solar amp, but since we didn't have anything else, we were forced to use the cable from my computer.   It didn't seem to hurt performance, but in fairness, we had nothing to compare it to.   It was great to see my friend Jerry and Ron and listen to their cool CD's.  

8.  Criterions:  I have always liked the sound of these speakers, however I never heard them at their best until Jerry set them up the way he describes in his post.  They were extremely toed-in and we had to sit with our ears at tweeter level (on the floor because my stands are too short), about six feet from the speakers, which were pulled out three feet or so into the room.  The sound was breathtaking.  Everyone in the room was a bit shocked at how well these speakers did their disappearing act.  I can't say that I have ever heard a small monitor sound this good.  I suspect you need some wattage to really drive them and the AVA 550 was the ticket.  The sound of Cassandra Wilson on the Criterions was captivating.  We cranked up the volume and those Eton woofers were dancing, but they never bottomed out or sounded strained.  Highs were very extended and beautiful.  Okay, I'll say it, if there is a better monitor the size of the Criterions (when they are set up properly), I certainly haven't heard it.  Bass was punchy and tuneful (very detailed) and the overall musical presentation of these speakers just draws you in.  

Oh, one more thing, we listened to Michael Hedges, Nat King Cole (my favorite), Cassandra Wilson, Holly Cole, Diana Krall, and some test disc's that I can't remember but one was called Drive and it had lots of drums.  

Cheers,

Jack

[Mad DOg]

audiojerry,

great write up!

i'm glad you experienced w/ ur own ears what i tried to share w/ my written impression on the GR Crits...yes, i agree that a very nearfield position  (non-ideal) helped out...the B&K gear that i heard them off of was probably not the best match either...

as hantra said...redemption!!!  

sounds like i may have to add the AVA gear to my audition list!

[audiojerry]

Great job Jack of elaborating the afternoon, but you did forget to mention the coctail weenies.  
Thanks for pitching in, and that was a very significant point about the power cord for the Solar.
I probably should emphasize that the AVA gear sounded fantastic, and anyone straddling the fence should definitely put AVA on their audition list. And, Frank's stuff must be built like a tank - UPS performed one of its drop tests, adding an ugly dent on the edge of the 550EX's faceplate, but it didn't seem to affect performance.

[Mad DOg]

Jackman,

are you saying the Crits set up properly sound better than both the Dyn Special 25s and your Ellis' driven by your gear? if so, i may have to see about auditioning them again...

[Ravi]

Thanks AJ and Jackman, its always good to hear of such gatherings.  Both of you are very adept at making the reader feel as if he was present at the event.

I totally agree about the GR Criterions.  I've now heard them a few times at DIY events, and I finally clued in as to why they sounded rolled off and too laid back.  The tweeter was below my ear level, and they were too far away from me.  When I finally had a chance to listen to the Crits the way AJ describes, it was incredible.  The difference was night and day.  I hate it when these speakers get shortchanged, because they are really picky as to their placement.  People goto DIY events, and they listen to them 30 degrees off-axis, and then say it didn't sound good.  Well duh!!  

Ok, enough ranting  

[Mad DOg]

heard the crits on axis seated on the ground to bring the tweet to ear level at cryotweaks and still wasn't impressed...since audiojer and jackman are using higher powered amps, i'm thinking that the 100W B&K amp that cryotweaks uses wasn't enough juice to properly drive the crits...

from the sound of it, it seems like you gotta listen to the crits like headphones...if so, then well duh!!! why not just get a good pair of headphones instead?    

[jackman]

No, MD, I think all of the speakers had strengths and weaknesses.  Actually, you could probably say that about any components.  The Criterions are very sensitive to room placement, much more so than the other speakers in the test.  In the "extreme triangle" or toe in, nearfield setup, they really had no weakness, other than the lack of low bass output.  However, the bass output was very good for a speaker of this size.  

I prefer the Ellis in my room, because I like to move around a lot when I listen to music and I like to listen to music in my kitchen (a level above my listening room in my house which has an open floorplan) and the Criterions would not work in this setup.  No ribbon speaker would work in this setup because of the lack the vertical dispersion necessary to fill my kitchen from the family room.  Plus, the Ellis (which are about twice as large) have more bass output than the Criterions.  I hope that explanation wasn't too confusing.   In the right setup (moderate sized room where you listen without moving too far from the vertical dispersion limits of the tweeters) these little speakers are amazing.   Don't get me wrong, the G2 tweeter is not as vertically limited as other ribbons I have tried (larger Silver Flutes) but it's still a ribbon.  On axis, it had the sweetest, most detailed highs of any speaker in the group and absolutely no harshness.  More detailed and sweeter than the Ellis, Dynaudio or any other monitor I have tried in my system.  Music had a depth and clarity that was very captivating (I used that word in my review because it describes the feeling precisely) and images were clearly defined.  From the lower midrange on up (again, on axis) the Criterions had no weakness (IMO).  

One last thing, I wouldn't go as far as to say they are like headphones.  We were about six feet away and I suspect the setup would have worked if we were seven or eight feet away.  These speakers aren't for everyone, but if someone is looking for world class sound on a budget and doesn't mind some of the limitations ALL ribbons (except the massive ones that may have other issues with WAF, etc.) have with vertical dispersion, the Criterions are hard to beat.  I also suspect you are correct on the wattage.  My system is very powerful and the Criterions love power.

Cheers,

Jack

[Audi-O]

Hey there!  Its that mystery Ron guy with the mystery Maple cables!  Just chiming in here, my first post nonetheless, to agree with all that's been written about our fun, "audio geek" (as Michelle refers to us), weenie eatin', Sunday.  Nothing much to add that hasn't aleady been stated but do keep in mind, the sessions were short and a bit limited in material for the short time we had.  I wouldn't have changed a thing however, it was great. I did absoulutely none of the work!  As for the cables, they are the Maple Audio Works Ambiance.  They are indeed the best cable I have used but that leaves a lot for the imagination.  I think Jerry's comments speak to what happened when they were put in Jack's system.  I wish we could just call them Ron's cables  

What a great host and hostess Jack and Michelle were indeed!  It was a pleasure seeing you again Jack and great to meet you Jerry as well.

Ron

[audiojerry]

Thanks Ron, and I hope we can get together again.

[Mad DOg]

No, MD, I think all of the speakers had strengths and weaknesses.  Actually, you could probably say that about any components.  The Criterions are very sensitive to room placement, much more so than the other speakers in the test.  In the "extreme triangle" or toe in, nearfield setup, they really had no weakness, other than the lack of low bass output.  However, the bass output was very good for a speaker of this size.  

I prefer the Ellis in my room, because I like to move around a lot when I listen to  ...

j-man, thanks for the clarification...

and great write up as well...

[Danny Richie]

Sounds like you guys had a really good time.

I am glad you guys were able to get the Criterion's set up in a way that would allow them to shine to their abilities.

Your observations with them were very good. Set up, toe in, room response, distance, etc. are a lot more specific than most speakers.

29" tall stands are recommended.

Yes, they are really good for near field listening, but they are not limited to near field use. I think it is more a function of listening distance verses distance from each other.

I have heard them disappear just as you described and with to die for imaging with them 5' out from the back wall, about 8' to 9' apart and listening from about 12' to 14' away.

I have also noticed that toe in from aimed straight at your ears to no more than 10 degrees off that axis yields the best sound stage and imaging.

Also, from my web page "Recommended amplification is 50 to 100 watts and no more than 200 watts."

Yes they do like power. They only have 85db sensitivity to begin with.

If you like what you hear from them but want to overcome the low sensitivity issue then we have a different model for you. The MTM version, the Diluceo, has a 6db higher sensitivity.

Yes, it is a bummer that the listening environment at the DIY events were so bad.

At the Texas event we bring in a room full of room treatment and use smaller rooms with the smaller speakers and a bigger room for larger models.

Thanks, Jack, Jerry, and Ravi for passing on your observations.

Kevin, am I going to be able to hear any of those amps at the WCES?