I goofed..

BIZILL

can you even close the glass doors? might you have to change all interconnects to some 90 degree angles ones?

mantis

As well as my Rotel RMb1095 has wheels on the back. It helps out alot as it's damn heavy. They should have put wheels on it.

Killer Bro Killer.

An amp is a amp huh, well then that means you did all that madness for the same exact sound.

People are such idiots. Why anyone would believe that bull.

Dan

polkatese

Cathy, I know...that's what I thought. Well, it was a good thing that it sounds so damned good that I am willing to look the other way...(literally)

Bizill, the glass door has become a permanent unusable fixture, not that I have use it at all, since it has no air circulation inside. A 90 degree angles connector will help, but not by much.

Dan, I agree, a wheel would be nice, but it will add to the depth even more. I dunno, I think it's a trade-off that has to be considered, when one goes to the beast-level audio.

SCompRacer

I bet your glad that amp is in place. It looks nice too.

The wheels on the Rotel RB-1090 were actually under the amp, just behind the feet so it didn't add to the length at all. I would guess Dan's 1095 would be the same. All you had to do was lift the front slightly and you were on the wheels.

madmax

Awe, what the heck, send it to me and I'll up you to a chip amp which will fit fine, free of charge. Thats just the kind of guy I am.
madmax

polkatese

Thanks Rich! it took me 2 days of staring at it in, sitting on the floor in the living room, before it was dawned on me, either way, I have to do something. I was glad it's in place. I have this brilliant idea of doing a shootout, flipping and switching the front speaker cables between the two amps...needless to say, ain't happening. Instead, I played several cds that I am very familiar with, such as Chris Botti's Night Sessions SACD (One of the select few demo SACD over the year that I always use to demo any changes to the system, sorta a reference baseline for me), and then switched over to this one. The manual recommends to have the amp to be always on, it takes 4 hours to reach to its peak performance point, so we'll see. I haven't been able to spend too much time on it yet. Btw, just a side note, this is the few multi-channels amp which claimed to be designed with 2 channels in mind. So, I'll put it to the test.

Chuck, thanks for your generous offer, deep down I always knew that you are a swell kinda guy

polkatese

Over the weekend, I spent a total of about 16 hours doing an audition. First observation, at my typical listening level of -45 reading on the B&K Ref50S2, I get more of everything, compared to B&K 125.7. It is very effortless, and the details seems to flow in tandem with the rest of the musical presentation. In two channels mode, it does a really fine job of driving the Cremona. As almost exclusively a two-channel objective upgrade, this amp has delivered what I hope to accomplish. It is prolly an overkill for a HT with this much reserved power, but for practical purpose of having only one 7 ch. amp, as opposed to a combination of a 2 channels amps to drive the front and surrounds, I am happy to say that this amp kick ****.

One final note to confirm what Stereophile's John Atkinson measurements has stated that "The Cremona was significantly more sensitive than average, at an estimated 91dB(B)/2.83V/m. It should therefore work well with moderately powered amplifiers. However, that amplifier must still be capable of delivering a goodly amount of current. Even though the Sonus Faber's impedance magnitude remains reasonably uniform at higher frequencies, it drops to 2.8 ohms through the upper bass, with a cruel combination of 4.5 ohms and a -53 degrees electrical phase angle evident at 73Hz."

Weaknesses: size, weight, longevity (new to the market)

Btw, it gets slightly warm after 3+ hours of usage, compared to B&K 125.7 that are warmer or Krell 400Xi, which is hot. Two thumbs up on the Gemstone, and to top it off, I have 15 days to test it out, from the date of delivery, without obligation, and yes, I am keeping it.

cfrizz

Glad that you got what you were expecting out of it & are enjoying it!!!

polkatese

thanks, Cathy. Yes, I am thrilled, time to recycle my cds again.

Mazeroth

Are you going to sell the B&K?

polkatese

yes, Maz. interested?