Graham Slee Proprius mono-blocks in my system

[morris_minor]

Another change at morris_minor towers as the living room AV system starts to get reclaimed by stereo.

A while back the AVI Neutron front speakers were replaced by PMC GB1i floor-standers, and now, to drive them a pair of Graham Slee's new Proprius (http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/power-amp.htm) mono block amps, with his custom CuSat50 (http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/cusat50-audio-interconnect.htm) phono>XLR cable.

The Proprii are fed by a Sugden Headmaster pre-amp with a Transporter and turntable (Graham Slee Era Gold V amp, Technics SL7 TT) as sources, as well as tape out from my Onkyo AV amp so I can still hear DVDs and PVR recordings. Eventually an AV pre-amp will replace the Onyko, and a little T-amp will power the rears.

The amps were only hooked up today so too early to start to write any impressions, but I was smiling a lot as I tested the connections! :D

Some pictures. In the middle of the top picture you can see some mounting plates for the amps (if you want to bolt them to the back of your speakers).

http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/1.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/5.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/7.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/6.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/8.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/9.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/2.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/3.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/4.JPG
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/rack1.jpg
http://p-mount.net84.net/proprius/rack2.jpg

[walpurgis]

They're going to be good Bob.

Slee knows his stuff. Like you I use an ERA V Gold phono stage and keep being amazed how good it is and it just keeps getting better.


Geoff.

[macvisual]

wOw lovely looking mono amps, enjoy! What is their power output? Are they both single ended and balanced connection?

Hmmmmm lovely.

[morris_minor]

They're going to be good Bob.

Slee knows his stuff. Like you I use an ERA V Gold phono stage and keep being amazed how good it is and it just keeps getting better.


Geoff.

I not only have an Era Gold V but also a Reflex M in my study system, which digs even more out the groove. I must be turning into a GS fanboy as I also have a Solo UL headphone amp! With the loan scheme run by the GS forum, having an extended home demo lets you really test the kit out, and it just does the business for me. Graham's new website and blog is a mine of information and his no-nonsense approach is quite refreshing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[morris_minor]

wOw lovely looking mono amps, enjoy! What is their power output? Are they both single ended and balanced connection?

Hmmmmm lovely.

They're 25 watt amps, and if you follow the links in my post you'll find the specs on the GS website.

The connector is balanced XLR but I use them single ended with a GS phono to XLR cable.

Listening tonight I've been very impressed with the sheer dynamism and drive of the sound into my PMCs. The sound totally belies the size of the amp!


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[jason]

Very nice Bob nice set up too mate..

Jason

[morris_minor]

Very nice Bob nice set up too mate..

Jason
Thanks Jason . .

The Proprii are settling in very nicely, and I'll post some comments on SQ later in the week when they've a few more hours on them. :)

[DSJR]

Have you still got the HHB/Circle/Harbeth made speakers still?

[macvisual]

Was on the 'Graham Slee' website looking for prices but to no avail, anyone know where to find his prices ??

Are the volume knobs stepped on each mono block?

[synsei]

I'm sorry Bob but I think they are a bit pricey for what they are, even taking into account that they are GS items. You can get a lot of amp for that kind of money on the used market... :eyebrows:

[morris_minor]

Have you still got the HHB/Circle/Harbeth made speakers still?
Hi Dave,

Yes, the Harbeth DPM1s are in my study system - and doing very well there! It was their performance that made me want to get better music sound in the living room . . :eyebrows:

[morris_minor]

Was on the 'Graham Slee' website looking for prices but to no avail, anyone know where to find his prices ??

Are the volume knobs stepped on each mono block?

Hi Peter,

If you look at http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/power-amp.htm and find the tab on the far right that says "Price" you'll see a stereo pair sells for £1,299.

No, the volume knobs aren't stepped . . .

[morris_minor]

I'm sorry Bob but I think they are a bit pricey for what they are, even taking into account that they are GS items. You can get a lot of amp for that kind of money on the used market... :eyebrows:

Don't be sorry Dave! The proof of any pudding, so to speak, is in the listening, rather than looking at the spec sheet, and I'm very happy with the Proprii. Yes, of course, if you buy second hand there are many alternatives, but in this instance I chose new. :)

To my mind they are a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing; the unassuming looks don't do them any favours when "window shopping". But at least you know your money's not gone on expensive, fancy casework, and in the case of GS not gone on Chinese pattern made circuits bought in for a few quid.

The GS forum lends out demo units, with no obligation to buy, BTW.

[Marco]

Nice left-field amp choice, Bob. I've always liked GS gear, having in the past owned a Reflex/Elevator EXP combo, which I enjoyed very much. The Solo headphone amp is also a bit special. Respect, and enjoy! :)

Marco.

[morris_minor]

Nice left-field amp choice, Bob. I've always liked GS gear, having in the past owned a Reflex/Elevator EXP combo, which I enjoyed very much. The Solo headphone amp is also a bit special. Respect, and enjoy! :)

Marco.
Thanks Marco! Yes, these little beauties are doing very nicely, getting better by the day. I use both a Reflex M and a Solo Ultra Linear as well, you are definitely right about the kit being a bit special. The detail, depth and soundstaging that these serve up is something to wonder at.

Graham has a pre-amp, streamer, and DAC all in development, and with his expanding cable range I would expect the synergy between all of his kit to be something special as well! And without the "boutique" price tags . . . good, honest, Yorkshire vfm. :eyebrows:

[jandl100]

Yep, some folks like to do the 'buy it new' thing; let's face it, the industry would die if that didn't happen!

Nice one, Bob - they look great!

[morris_minor]

Thanks Jerry . . The way these little boxes are shaping up the second-hand market is going to have to wait a long time before it sees my Proprii. :lol:

[morris_minor]

It's now 2 weeks since the Proprii were powered up - with a CuSat50 going to the pre-amp, and they've been in use virtually every day.

The sound has really settled in now, and my PMC GB1i speakers are singing like they never have before. There's much more grip on low bass - it seems more defined and tuneful (I hesitate to use the much abused term PRaT!). Midrange has opened out and treble - which always a bit "sharp" - is now nicely euphonic. Imaging has also improved considerably over my previous amp, and - a nice touch - low level listening is more satisfying and full-sounding; you don't need to wind the volume up to flesh out the sound.

Talking of volume, I'm considering turning the amp's volume controls down a touch to give a more sensitivity on the pre-amp volume control. If you consider no volume to be twenty-five-to the hour, with the amp's volume parked at max, a quarter-to on the pre-amp gives loud! I hate to think how loud twenty-five-past would be! I'm struggling to think why anyone would need more than 25 of Proprius watts in a normal sized room .

These really are marvellous little boxes - and Graham and the team should be very proud of them . . :thumbsup:

[morris_minor]

The Proprius amps have now been unshackled by ditching the QED 79 strand speaker cable I had been using in favour of Graham Slee's new Spatia speaker cable: http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/spatia-speaker-cable.htm

The bass response of my PMCs has finally been realised, the sound-stage widened, tonal colours more saturated, and general toe-tapping-ness greatly improved.

So really good synergy between the amps and cable, just as I'd hoped . . :D

[CageyH]

What pre-amp are you using Bob?
Does it have balanced outputs?

[morris_minor]

Only 6 months late replying, Kevin!

The system's changed a bit since the photos were taken. I use an Audiolab 8200AP av-processor to feed the Proprius amps (single ended) for the front speakers (PMCs - Gb1i) and a little T-amp for the rears (Audica Pro Microlines). For music, there's now a little Raspberry Pi B+/Digi+ with Runeaudio for streaming, going into a Metrum Octave NOS DAC, and a modded Technics SL-QL1/Graham Slee Era Gold V for vinyl spinning. The other, pesky, silver discs go in a Cambridge Audio BluRay player. There's a BK sub for movie use. Oh, the Sugden Headmaster's also still there: if there was Graham Slee Solo with remote volume control I'd swap this one out since I don't need the pre-amp features on the Headmaster, and the Solo ULDE sounds better.

Edit - oh, for completeness sake, there's also a YouView box, XBox and Wii going into the Audiolab . . .