Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[jandl100]

Yeah, thanks for that Jerry.
Sorry did I come across as a little too interrogative? Not the intention at all.

Nope, nope - that was fine! It was just quite a long list, some of which required some thought and soul-searching!

Once my wife (bless her!) had given the financial go-ahead to purchase the MBLs my one and only concern was that I was consigning my speaker box-swapping to history. I had to do give serious consideration to that - it wasn't soemthing I gave up lightly.

But one of the (many! ) benefits of the MBLs is that they readily show up differences between accompanying components, so they are in that respect a box-swappers dream. A handy result!

[Marco]

Hey, all you need to do is find a CDP, T/T and amp you feel that same way about, and finally you'll have 'arrived'!



Marco.

[jandl100]

Hey, all you need to do is find a CDP, T/T and amp you feel that same way about, and finally you'll have 'arrived'!



Marco.

What a horrible thought! I'd have arrived - but it's not a destination I want to go to!

___

Oh yes, I forgot to mention .... the Yammie P7000S has got twin fans. I was a bit concerned about that - too intrusive for low-level listening?

The spec implied the fans were 2-speed - slow & fast. Nope, I must have read that wrong - it's off, slow and fast. I have to assume the last two speeds exist as the fans never turned on at all during my listening sessions so far - some at very high levels.

Much relief - it's turned out to be a non-issue. The fans are probably for driving a couple of huge PA stacks in a medium sized hall - the chassis barely got warmed up from cold even after a few hours, so the fans remained off.

[Marco]

You know I was only joking, Jerry - so enjoy! That Yammie looks like an interesting beast

Marco.

[twelvebears]

My latest Yamaha amp arrived today.

A P7000S power amp. 700wpc.



It's not at all what I was expecting.

Let's face it, it's a pro-audio DJ amp with 700wpc, right? Bound to be tonally stark and ultra-slammy with no finesse or subtlety, right? Probably a bit too much even for a transparency-obsessed basket case like me.

Err, nope, it's not like that at all! I'd say it has a 'beautiful sound'. A bit on the R-r-r-r-omantic side.

I started off with a string quartet, with finger on the remote control volume 'down' button, just in case!

My jaw practically hit the floor - it sounded gorgeous !!

I then moved on to some large scale symphonic - Wow, sweeping & majestic.

Then onto Loreena McKennitt "The Visit" - some nice deep synth bass lines in there, as well as some ultra-clear female vocal and Celtic harp with really sharp transient twang.
Yummy!! very transparent, clear and articulate - but no undue emphasis on vocal sibilance. A bit too relaxed? Maybe. But then I am in ultra-dynamic sound mode as far as my listening preferences are concerned at the moment.

The power is pretty much limitless, as you'd expect, but almost in a "Gentle Giant" kind of way.
Whodathunkit? Not me!

Must admit I am enjoying it very much at the moment - but it may well turn out to be just too nice for me after a day or so!

Yup I can definitely confirm that this sounds WAAAYYY better than you would probably expect. It's a little 'loose' and there's a slight electronic sheen to the upper frequencies which makes them stand out a little but there are none of the nasties that you might expect from a studio amp with this much grunt...

[Techno Commander]

Buying Pro gear from a respected maker is a cheap way into untold amounts of clean power. Usually worthwhile replacing the fans for something a little quieter (Papst etc). I also swap out the input op amps, usually I go for the Burr Brown FETs, as these add a little sparkle and energy to the sound.

[jandl100]

Buying Pro gear from a respected maker is a cheap way into untold amounts of clean power. Usually worthwhile replacing the fans for something a little quieter (Papst etc). I also swap out the input op amps, usually I go for the Burr Brown FETs, as these add a little sparkle and energy to the sound.

Umm ... I don't think it needs any more sparkle and energy - it has those in abundance already!

And the fans never come on no matter how hard I drive the thing.

[Reid Malenfant]

And the fans never come on no matter how hard I drive the thing.

I can't say i'm surprised given the way the EEEngine appears to work.

Now if the amp output transistors were biased on to class A...

[jandl100]

A visit from Steve twelvebears a couple of days back was interesting and enjoyable. What a nice guy! Our musical tastes had a usefully large overlap as well.
He left me his amp to try out for a while, and he took away my Yamaha P7000S power amp to play with.

Well, from the ridiculous (a Yammie DJ amp) to the sublime (a £5.5k rrp audiophile amp) - or at least from one thing to something completely different.

If you want bling, you need look no further.



A Chapter Audio Two power amp has taken up residence chez-Jerry.

A remarkable contrast to the Yammie - and no, the Chapter doesn't (quite) have it all its own way.

The first very obvious sonic difference is the bass from the Chapter amp. Oh boy, that bass!
Just total control, total definition, deeeep with huge power and slam. Blimey. The Chapter really shows off the MBLs' low frequency capability to awesome effect.
The Yammie sounds on the lean side and dry and a bit loose in comparison.

The mids of the Chapter are interesting - the first word that immediately came to mind was 'creamy'. Hmm. Where I was expecting uber-transparency what I got in comparison to the Yammie amp was a touch of smooth warmth. Further listening indicates that the Yammie is a bit forward and hyped up in the upper mids, so the contrast was very obvious and not that fair on the Chapter. Nonetheless it remains a 'sophisticated' and slightly laid-back midrange presentation. There is a huge amount of information being presented, though.

The treble goes back to the other side of the fence and is, if anything, a bit on the incisive side. Tbh, if it wasn't then the midrange would simply have made the overall sound a bit bland for me. The HF is very fast and controlled, but not harsh, and extends waaaaay up into the stratosphere.

Imaging is, well, pretty damn stunning actually. The Yammie is decent enough, but this is where the audiophile credentials of the Chapter really pay off. Cor. 3D hanging focussed in space. decently recorded vocalists are there! Of course, the MBLs excel at this sort of thing anyway, but the Chapter really lets them strut their stuff. Luvverly indeed.

Power, dynamics, yep, as you may have gathered from my initial comments about the bass, no problems there at all. 200wpc/8 ohms, I think, getting on for doubling into 4 ohms. The Chapter sounds completely in control.

Midrange transient slam is probably the only thing I miss about the Yammie amp. Many folks who have owt to do with me will know of the "Blues for Klook" track on an Eddy Louiss album. Pure synthesiser music with enough midrange transient twang to keep even me happy! Let's face it, there is no right or wrong with these kind of synthesised sounds, but the Yammie does sound more impressive here - it has a midrange jump factor that is genuinely startling and huge fun. The Chapter, with its slightly creamy mids and lack of the forwardness compared to the Yammie, cannot quite do that.

But overall, the Chapter undoubtedly just conveys more of the music. As it should at the price.


But the Yammie P7000S remains simply fantastic vfm at the £265 it cost me. If you need real world driving ability, I really cannot see how you can spend that sort of money and get better sound. But, sadly, spend more and you do get more.

So, am I gonna buy the Chapter? I dunno - happily I have a couple more weeks to settle in with the thing to decide!

There's a rather effusive review of the Chapter here http://www.chapteraudio.com/reviews/review2_norway.htm

[MartinT]

Many folks who have owt to do with me will know of the "Blues for Klook" track on an Eddy Louiss album. Pure synthesiser music with enough midrange transient twang to keep even me happy!

I have that album and it does indeed sound fab. I think I first heard Blues for Klook on a Hi-Fi News test CD many years ago. The album is Sang Mele and is worth looking up.

Was going to say: I wonder how my Chord SPM-1200E would compare in your system?