[Ron S]

Funny story behind it...

I had ordered the xtreme mono's before they had a name, but had to ask Klaus to put them on hold for me, as circumstances around the holidays caused the SO to put pressure on me to decrease the amount of money I had available to dedicate to the amps section. I assumed Klaus would call me before sending them, but they just showed up on my doorstep 2 days ago!

THANK YOU, Klaus!!!!!

I had been using a PSAudio HCA-2, with what I thought were good results. But the difference was very obvious after hooking up the mono's. These amps simple have much more control over the speakers VMPS RM40's). The low end alone blows the HCA-2 away.

There is a dilemna in all this, other than how to dispose of the HCA-2  

The RM40's are very versatile speakers. Changes in the components require changing the settings in the speakers. Even "out of tune", the mono's are clearly more detailed AND authoritative. My general question is how long should I wait before retuning the speakers? Put a different way, how soon would it take for the mono's to break in to a point where the amps are close enough to their final potential to make such a major tuning session worthwhile?

As it is, they have improved dramatically over this short perod of time  

Two other points, perhaps Klaus can clarify. Do the Groneberg speaker wires come with 1/4 inch spades? The terminals on the back of the RM40's are less than ideal matches for babanas, not a terribly large contact surface. If so, would it be possible to switch out the ones I have now for the spade version, Klaus?

The other thing is the LED's on the faceplate. One is clearly brighter than the other, but the amps themselves both seem to be working well. Is there ANY possible cause for differences in the LED brightness other than a loose diode? If so, it'd be worth me investigating it. If not, then the sound wouldn't be any different, and there wouldn't be that much incentive for monkeying around with them.

Thanks all, and thank YOU, Klaus. Even at this early stage, the amps are simply amazing.

Even though the wife wasn't *thrilled*, *I* am! And now have what I wanted in the first place.

Reminds me of a saying: It's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.    

[Tyson]

Hey, I resemble that remark

If the Mono's are at all like the DM, 2 weeks is the critical period where they break in the most, it's fairly gradual after that.

[BikeWNC]

I've had my Xtreme monos for just over 2 weeks now.  In the initial 2-4 hour period there was noticeable improvement in sound quality, but in the last day or so these babys have really opened up and the soundstage has deepened.  

[W.C.]

Ron S,
      Congrats on the new amps. If you feel comfortable taking the top off the amp, I believe the LED's are adjustable. You MIGHT be able to adjust one to the other. Just make sure the amp is off. Always touch case ground first before touching anything inside the amp (ESD).

[nature boy]

Ron,

Congrats on the the new Xtreme mono's from Klaus.  Tyson is right on based on my experience with the stratos, about 2 weeks or 150 hours to fully burn in.

I live in envy, but am saving up for the Xtreme's.

NB

[klaus@odyssey]

Ron,  glad you like them. Actually,  I thought that we agreed on mid-January.  Oh well.
Couple of things:

1. That's strange with the LED's,  but then again,  the units are sitting in the burn-in racks with their butts towards us.  Only reason could be that one of the LED's is closer and in a different angle to the center side of the glass than the others.  Yes,  you can adjust the LED inside the amp.

2.  Break-in.  I'd still say that it's similar to the stereo amp,  6- 8 weeks,  with different plateaus at 3-4 days,  8-10 days,  2 weeks,  and 4 weeks,  at least based on my experience.  However,  because the amps are so brutal out of the box,  it seems like relatively smaller increments than with the stereo counterpart.

Enjoy,

Klaus

[Ron S]

Thanks for the tips on break-in to all! It's been 3 days since these babies arrived, and they have indeed improved. As expected! It will be a joy hearing them mature. The twins will one day grow up, but they are NEVER leaving home.

And Klaus, I do indeed recall mid-January being bandied about. Funny how two people can hear different things from the same conversation. If I had to place bets, I'd bet on your recall. I was pretty upset about the whole deal being delayed, and was distracted. As it turns out, though, it all worked out splendidly. I forgot about that begging for forgiveness adage, it really works    I *knew* the moment I saw the boxes, they were not going back. Now that I've heard them, well, there ain't no way they're ever leaving. And the wife is cool with it too, actually. And she usually rolls her eyes when I buy a new piece of gear (silly man!). Her eyes stopped rolling when she heard the monos, and that's no small compliment.

Kudos on the fit and finish, too. Was a very special touch to see me name on them, as well as the Xtreme plaque!

As for the LED's, they don't bother me enough to actually extract them from the rack and open them up. Knowing that there's no chance it could be a sign of anything that would affect their performance is enough. They look mighty impressive in that rack

Now for a little Norah Jones before bed. Ahhh....