Great day

TroyD
TroyD Posts: 13,077
edited May 2005 in 2 Channel Audio
Yesterday Dave (DAGLJAM6) came over with his Antique Sound Labs tube integrated and we hooked it up with the Jolida and the Montior 7's and CRS's. A couple things that I have deduced.

1. That ASL tube integrated flat out ROCKS. Plenty of power for about any speaker that you could throw at it. Bass control is exceptional. Pure and sweet sounding. Do NOT listen to Norah Jones on this amp unless you are ready to soil yourself. It sounded THAT good.

2. The Monitor 7's....every time I listen to them, I'm flat out amazed. You wanna know why Polk made it when a lot of other companies didn't? Listen to a pair.

3. The bass response out of a pair of CRS's is IMPRESSIVE. Actually, everything that they do is impressive. A little too much sibilance at the top end for me, but the tweeter upgrade would solve that. Not that my 2.3tl's would ever go anywhere, but I could live with a pair of CRS's and not want for another pair of SDA's

4. (After Dave left) I stuck the Jolida in the 2.3tl rig just to hear it with the Sunfire so I swapped between it, the Philips SACD player and the Denon 2950. While first, a tube pre will add the most 'tube' sound to your rig. If you don't at least consider a tube source, you are limiting yourself. Hands down and far and away, the Jolida is a better sounding player. Your mileage may vary but in MY rigs, a tube source makes a LOT of difference.

Thanks to Dave for bringing the ASL over, a great time was had by all. For those in the market for some high tone amplification, the ASL is something to consider.

BDT
I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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Comments

  • BobMcG
    BobMcG Posts: 1,585
    edited May 2005
    Gotta agree with you on a good many points.

    The mon 7s are very impressive speakers. I haven't hooked mine up in a while, maybe I ought to.

    As for the CRSs, if they were the only speakers I owned I wouldn't feel cheated at all. I do listen to mine and I'm going to make the tweeter upgrade on them now that I've done the 2.3s. (And happy with.)

    I know there are pros and cons for just about everything done with the audio signal and not everyone agrees on all the issues. It makes the hobby interesting. So with that in mind, although not having a tube source per-say, I still feel one of the most satifiying, slight changes I made in my main rig was going to a tube output DAC. At least in my system this was an audible improvement for me. This was done quite a few years ago and the change was from a totally SS DAC. Now, maybe some of the satisfaction came from the "new" piece of equipment, but I do remember having a big ear to ear grin on my face after listening. The highs were not so much in my face and I could listen for hours on end without the least hint of fatigue no matter what I was playing.

    Knowing the delightful improvement I enjoy from the the above action, I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my ML Dodd pre-amp. It should be (and I'm sure will be) true icing on the cake.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,546
    edited May 2005
    It's stuff like that, that makes this hobby so much fun.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited May 2005
    Which ASL would that be? Their stuff is quite tempting.
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  • DAGLJAM6
    DAGLJAM6 Posts: 635
    edited May 2005
    Originally posted by audiobliss
    Which ASL would that be? Their stuff is quite tempting.

    That would be the AQ1001dt. Funny thing is we never bothered to take it out of triode (29wpc).I don't believe that Troy or I missed any extra power at all. The Mon 7's impressed me enough to consider replacing my 10's. They handled everything we could throw at 'em (no metal) and sounded exceptional doing it.
    Had a great time once again at the Dion residence.

    BTW, the Sunfire pre is one "classy" looking piece of equipment.
    Photos do not do that unit justice.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2005
    nice read Troy, sounds like you and Dave had a helluva good time listening to some sweet sounding gear.

    I'll echo what's already been said several times.. the Monitor 7's amaze me every time i listen to them.. which by the way is almost daily. They just do music justice..in a way other speakers can never imitate.

    Although i've only owned a small amount of gear over the past 5 years to speak of.. if I had to choose one or two pieces of gear that made me smile the most. it would have to be my monitor 7B's. or the CAL tube DAC. two pieces i'll never part with.

    :)
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