[thayerg]

I just stareted a thread on the

Griffin Technologies Powerwave

over on the digital forum. It's a twenty watt per channel stereo power amp
which uses tripath digital amplification and costs less than 100 dollars. But wait, there's more--it does usb audio both ways, has a mic preamp, and drives headphones very well, including my Senn 600s, which I finally tore off to hook up some 3.0 drums I have lying around. Source is iTunes on my PC and right now I'm listening to David Sylvian singing "Let the Happiness In" a song which gets trotted out whenever there's a new component around here. There are some very subtle brushed cymbal and other sounds towards the end which separate the men from the boys resolution-wise--they don't sound at all alike on any two systems.

Well, we know that the 3.0s aren't exactly high frequency heaven, but with the PowerWave said cymbals are certainly present and accounted for, and as for the rest, well, it's detailed and warm and very involving. The amp is smooth--it reminds me of an old Naim pre/power combo I had the pleasure of auditioning recently. I can't imagine listening to music while at the computer could get much better without shelling out a LOT more. Yes, the Norhs still sound constricted beyond a certain volume but I think its fair to say that they are performing at close to their max with this diminutive box. Highly recommended.

[thayerg]

I'm still awed by the powerWave. especially since I looked at the 3.0s and saw that the speaker post positions on the cabinets were flipped vertically. I conjectured that perhaps wired as indicated the speakers were out of phase. It turns out I was right. The difference is, as you can imagine, staggering. Which either says that I'm a dullard for not realizing that sooner or else that the 3.0s are  even acceptable out of phase. But the fact is that now wired 'wrong' they sound ever so much more right. Even more highly recommended than before.