Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[twelvebears]

Hey Jerry.

Well looks like we're both having fun with swap. And it was a pleasure to meet another AOSer in the real world.

Your comments pretty much tally with what I thought, particularly the imaging and depth of soundstage. Even Chris De Burgh sounded good

The yammie certainly isn't disgracing itself, especially not considering it's humble origins, but it's definitely lacking the sophistication of the Chapter and it's ability to let you forget about the electronics and get lost in the music. Although than may just because I'm thinking about listening to 'it' because it's new....

Either way it will definitely keep me entertained until my MBL turns up.

[twelvebears]

Must be a combination of volume and tougher load but the fans on the Yammie kicked in.

Fine with the music up but not quiet unfortunately.....

[jandl100]

I suspect it's that you're a bit of an animal with the volume control! I never got the things to turn on - are they loud?

[twelvebears]

I suspect it's that you're a bit of an animal with the volume control! I never got the things to turn on - are they loud?

Well it's OK when the music is loud (obviously) but quite noticeable in quiet bits or when I turn it back down again....

[jandl100]

Ah well, there will be no problems moving it on in the Pro audio section of eBay, from whence it came. That will, I think, be its fate when it returns to me.

____

A minor update on the amps, which will lose me any audiophile cred I have remaining (probably not a lot anyway!) but may earn me some brownie points for honesty ....

It's that "creamy" midrange on the Chapter. I honestly think that a substantial majority of the audiophiles I know would absolutely love it. But I was sitting in The Chair listening to some fave choons thru the Chapter amp last night ... and I found myself losing interest. Some of those tiny micro-dynamic inflections that for me define the ebb & flow of the music were lost in that hint of creamy smoothness

So I've gone back to the Yamaha M-45. £222 (inc delivery) from eBay. It simply has more midband transparency (it is actually pretty stunning in that regard compared to any amp I have heard).
The bass isn't anywhere near as good (but is not too shabby) and there is a definite 'tizz' in the high treble that can get a bit irritating on some material. And the whole tonal balance is tipped a bit upwards (maybe I like that?). And the imaging isn't so 3D (although it is a tad better focussed in the lateral plane).

But by golly, the midband is clearer, more transparent - I can hear more of what the musicians are doing (for better or worse!). For the moment I am happy to do without the very many advantages of the Chapter in favour of the midband insight of the Yammie. I suspect that many folks would find the Yammie stark-sounding and lacking in "musicality", but I like the insight it gives into the minutiae of the musical performance, which is (sadly) had at the cost of the total musical envelope and pretty much everything else!
Perhaps I need both.

[jandl100]

Two new arrivals chez-Jerry ...



A Wadia 830 cdp.

You connect it up and turn it on .... yeah, it sounds "OK" ....
8 hours of warm-up later and it is time to boogie! My golly gosh, what a fab player. Transparency, detail, soundstage focus, musical energy & pizzaz. Just fabulous.

I wonder what the bigger Wadias sound like .... Want List material I do believe.



Ah, hmmm. What do we have here? A T-amp using the newish TA2020 chip. 20wpc (4 ohms) - more powerful than the old standard, the 2024 chip of the original T-amps.

Ummm ... what can I say? It simply destroys any other amp I have ever heard for my personal audio priorities ... transparency, openness, detail, resolution.

It has a single pair of inputs, so I use it with the volume pot at max as a power amp.

Yes, it drives my 84dB/W MBL speakers very well - and goes loud enough for me on large scale orchestral music. No, it doesn't shake the walls with awesomely deep & vibrant bass (but it might on high sensitivity speakers).

Vocalists and solo instrumentals are simply there in the room.

Stereo focus is just a liitle vague - but I plan to get another one and bi-amp with one per speaker ... that may help things in terms of focussed imaging, but it's not that shabby anyway. A real discovery. £60.

[The Grand Wazoo]

That's a nice myth debunking combo you've assembled there Jerry. So does this finally put to bed some of the system hierarchy nonsense that some folks spout? ............or would they just tell you that you don't know how to listen?!

[Ali Tait]

Jerry,try something like the Hlly T-amp 90.I'm confident you will like it even more.

[jandl100]

Jerry,try something like the Hlly T-amp 90.I'm confident you will like it even more.

Thanks Ali. Where's the cheapest place to get these?

.... although I have to say that it would have to go some to better my current sound!

[jandl100]

That's a nice myth debunking combo you've assembled there Jerry. So does this finally put to bed some of the system hierarchy nonsense that some folks spout? ............or would they just tell you that you don't know how to listen?!

I'm not sure what you mean, Chris?

£60 amp, £3k cdp and £18k speakers . Seems perfectly well balanced to me.