I had a IA7 last week for testing and I have to admit I was IMPRESSED with the performance. The stereo imaging, depth, dynamics, frequency spectrum / response... Can't remember another piece of equipment, both consumer or pro / studio, in any price range that impressed me that much during and after the audition. When I returned the amp to the shop I still remembered the zesty feeling listening to it with a smile on my face (that's probably one of the corniest things I wrote about a piece of hi-fi equipment, but it really was like that). Anyway, most of you here probably know that already...
The reasons why I didn't buy the amp immediately were:
- the irritating high freq. sweeping noise when the amp was powering up
- tuner RF signal completely jammed
- a high pitch, low level sound (around 10kHz) would appear when I pushed the volume up to 3/4 and would remain present until the power down of the device
Now, it could be that there was a problem with the device I got for auditioning, and it was not an upgraded V2 version of IA7 but an older one. Are these issues known and / or resolved in the upgraded version of the amp? Unfortunately they don't have a V2 available at the local dealers.
... With all that, I still got goose-bumps when I heard stuff I had heard so many times before, but this time through an IA7 (here I go again...
).
