Trying out a new amp.

jrausch
jrausch Posts: 510
edited March 2004 in Electronics
Just for **** and giggles I thought I would give the new Monster 2/ch amp a go in my rig. I'm going to put it up against my Adcom 5802 and see who wins out and the loser gets to go on E-bay. So far I've been very impressed with the new Monster amp at work. Personally pushing it to over 600 per without any sign of strain or fuss about reaching it's limits. The nice thing about the Monster is it's a fully balanced amp design (usually found on the more expensive Krell amps.) If all goes well, I'll probably buy a second one and bridge them. :cool:

I will post my results after FrankZ gets a chance to give a second opinion on the shootout.
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
Post edited by jrausch on

Comments

  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited March 2004
    Jrausch - Nice picjup, you own or demo? I presume own, because of the Ebay statement? I think the new MC amps have some promise, it would be nice to see more national reviews. I really like their non-cable offerings. The Adcom 5802 is real nice, and one of the only Adcom's worth owning IMO.

    There are a bunch of manufacturers that offer balanced inputs, not just Krell.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • amulford
    amulford Posts: 5,020
    edited March 2004
    nice looking amp, I'm interested to hear about the results.
  • jrausch
    jrausch Posts: 510
    edited March 2004
    dorokusai


    There are tons of amps out there with XLR inputs i.e. my Adcom, but very few are actually fully balanced. Krell has fully balanced circuitry throughout in most of their products giving them a distinct advantage. This gives music a nice boost in terms of image focus, clarity and channel separation. Their 2/ch pre's have a balanced on/off switch that will let you hear the difference. It's not truly balanced unless the entire circuitry is fully balanced. Output and input XLR's only reduce noise from the cable standpoint and does not give you a fully balanced sound. This is one of the reason’s why Krell makes such great stuff and why their products cost so dam much. Monster calls their balanced circuit "mirror image" and since Richard Marsh amps are fully balanced and he designed Monster's it only makes sense.


    -Jer
    "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited March 2004
    I know about fully balanced designs, that's great that they are going with a solid design. Richard Marsh makes and designs some great gear. I think the MC gear will be good, just a little hard to overcome some stigma attached to the brand name.

    BAT and Parasound also make balanced designs.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    edited March 2004
    if it sounds half as good as it looks--you've got a keeper! Being a Marsh design, i would imagine its very nice...
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited March 2004
    I really like the LED format, it's sharp looking.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,722
    edited March 2004
    so where the hell do you get it?
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,573
    edited March 2004
    You can get them from EZC, he is a forum member and MC retailer.

    Here is the list of retailers from the MC website... Monster Cable Retailer List
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
  • goingganzo
    goingganzo Posts: 2,793
    edited March 2004
    i know sunfire is a true balanced amp or my sales guy just told me that
  • PolkWannabie
    PolkWannabie Posts: 2,763
    edited March 2004
    If you are referring to the TG III preamp, yes it is fully balanced. However, you are not taking advantage of this feature if you are feeding the 7607 via RCA outs from it are you ?
  • goingganzo
    goingganzo Posts: 2,793
    edited March 2004
    i bought the amp befor the pre. i want a sunfire amp to match my pre but there are uther upgrades befor that. also the per will olny do 7.1 in balanced if i want the 9.1 i have to use unbalanced for 8 and 9.
  • fireshoes
    fireshoes Posts: 3,167
    edited March 2004
    I'm also interested in this piece since I can use my employee discount towards it. Parasound is the other amp I can get, and of course they have a great rep. BTW, I never saw what you thought about the Monster speakers they were going to put in your store. Thumbs up or down?
  • jrausch
    jrausch Posts: 510
    edited March 2004
    fireshoes,

    The M-design speakers are blowing our customer's away. For those folks that wish to attach a stigma to the brand and cast them off as another over priced under delivering product, may want to give these guys a chance. We have our system put together at just over $33,000 for an entire setup including amps, 6 subs, 7ft +5ft towers w/2.5ft center, Denon 2900 DVD and 5803 receiver and cableing. The use of small line array tranducers gives the effect of presence like a normal speaker with the micro-dynamic speed of Martin logan's. The units we have are semi-pre production units that still need some polishing on a small part of the build quality, but this does not take away just how amazing these speakers are.

    In comparison, they are much like the Carver amazing speakers when they first arrived on the scene. The price point at which they are in sets them apart from the rest of the pack. Best thing I can say is they sound just as good as they look. The wife accepting factor is the best I have ever seen. Women love the setup just as much, if not more than the guys. This also gives the guys Carte blanche on pulling the trigger and taking this stuff home. The speaker frame is another huge hit, I've sold 2 and in both instances there was an equal amount of excitement from both ends of the gender pool. At $3995 the frame is still a fantastic audiophile grade system to go along with the $12,000 plasma they just bought.
    3.jpg 79.8K
    "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
  • fireshoes
    fireshoes Posts: 3,167
    edited March 2004
    ...And the winner is???
  • jrausch
    jrausch Posts: 510
    edited March 2004
    I need to call Monster and find out where my amp is. We just received 6 new amps in at the shop. I just hope mine was not sent there by mistake. I was told they were ramping up production and it might take a few. I have a fantastic amp already and I play with the one at work alot, so I guess I'm in no hurry. I will post a review as soon as I acquire the goods and get some burn time in. :cool:

    -Jer
    "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."