Marsh A400s Amplifier

So...I decided to give my tubes a little rest and I picked up this Marsh A400s amplifier, after all, I had a Sunfire TGR401 solid state pre-amp collecting dust...

Other equipment used:

Tidal
Cary X-Citer dac (spdif! ONLY way this dac shines also!) @tonyb
Bel-Canto uLink
Tyler Acoustics D10's

This amplifier shines when using the Balanced XLR circuit, but not so much, using the unbalanced RCA's. BIG DIFFERENCE!

unbalanced sounded like it only had half the gain and lacked all the sound details. When I purchased this amplifier I asked the previous owner what he used and he said he only used the unbalanced section... He mentioned he went with a Parasound A21 and he preferred that over the Marsh. I'm guessing he never fully experienced the Marsh! I tried both ways and the Balanced XLR's makes this amplifier a different beast! PERIOD!

Let me put it to you this way, I played Take 5 by Dave Brubek and my 12 year old son came downstairs to see what I was playing because it sounded so good. He plays the Sax and said he wanted to learn that song because he loved how it sounded.

This amplifier is a keeper! BUT you must use BALANCED or you will never know what this thing is capable of.

NOTE: the speakers were bi-wired as recommended by the manufacturer of the amplifier. I did not try it jumpered.

Hopefully some day I can try a McCormack amp, just to compare.....for now I am super happy with the Marsh!

Juan

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