Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[Tarzan]

|Interesting idea! - anyone any specific suggestions as to who/where?

Send it to me and l will take care of it Jerry.

[jandl100]

Whoa! - really clicked last night - there's a magical synergy between the Rotel beast and my vintage Technics SL-P1200 CD player.
The Techie had been languishing for months, unloved unwanted - but no longer!

Accurate? - no, not especially, I suspect - but the combo just latches on to the emotional content of the music like a crazed thing! In-room presence and focus in spades.
I think I'll just throw my modern high-end electronics gear in the tip - who needs it?!



And the bass - mygawd, the bass from the Rotel amp. Quite astonishingly powerful and well controlled.

And the imaging - wow - hugely atmospheric and enveloping, but somehow it still remains well focussed.

This setup really is hugely entertaining. Yeah, I'm in love - again.

[jandl100]

Send it to me and l will take care of it Jerry.

I assume that was in jest, Andy?

It would be nice to source some switch and button covers.

[Tarzan]

I assume that was in jest, Andy?

It would be nice to source some switch and button covers.

70's and eighties colouration is nice Jerry- all warm and cosy.

[jandl100]

[jandl100]

Curious findings today vis a vis the Techie cdp and the Rotel amp ....

Sorry Damian - but I'll be hanging on to the W4S DAC ... essential for when I want to rock-out. The Techie SL-P1200 does the spacious-focussed imaging thing in spades, which is great for classical and acoustic music of most sorts; amazing in-room presence and believability - but when I really want to get down and boogie the W4S just blows it away in terms of sheer hi-rez precision and slammy power - Dream Theater is awesome!
I want both!

[jandl100]

Yet another fine amp arrives at Jerry Towers.

Is there no end to the things?



I've always wanted to try a Harman Kardon Citation series amp as they have a rep for being rather special.
Yep, this one certainly is.
Hooked up to my trusty Restek pre-amp, this Harman Kardon power amp has superb rez and the imaging seems to morph from merely good to a 3D Holographic Wonderland after about 30 minutes or so from switch-on. Or maybe it's just been unused for a while and needs to get back into its groove - I have found that sort of thing before.
It has a quite distinctive sound - difficult to put into words, but it's very transparent and clean sounding and has a feeling of gutsiness and control even on quiet passages.

See here for spec - http://www.thevintageknob.org/harman...on_Twelve.html

So I'm now the proud owner of 3 amps I could happily live with for the longer term ... the NAD S300, Rotel RA-1412 and this foot square+ HK Citation 12 beastlet.
It's a bit silly, really - but fun!
I shall keep them all, at least for now, and ring the amplification changes every now and then.

More amps on the way? -- hmm, the wife is starting to notice the amplification build-up. So I think sanity may need to be re-instated for a while.

[DSJR]

I loved that HK amp at the time and don't think the matching preamp was a slouch either...

[Audio Advent]

The Vintage Knob site says Nelson Pass modified them with Mosfets as an article in a magazine (the pdf of which is available on his DIY site). That sounds interesting too - wonder how many people modified them.

Here is Nelson Pass's own assessment of the mod:

The amplifier is sonically a significant improvement over the original, particularly in the high end where the Citation 12's veiled characteristic is replaced by a detailed, somewhat sweet sound. The imaging and midrange definition are also much improved; but the bass response (one of the Citation 1 2's strongest points) remains much the same ideal for planar loudspeakers like MG II's, less so for acoustic suspension woofers.

In conclusion, I hope many of you will try this one and enjoy yourselves. No amplifier sounds as good as the one you built yourself*, and certainly no commercial amplifier will give you as much satisfaction or frustration. As careful as the Editor and I have been, there is probably an error or two; I recommend that you cross-check the parts list, schematic, and pc board layout.

My amplifier has performed well for six months, as of this writing, and I encountered no exotic problems during its construction and testing.

and the link: https://www.passdiy.com/project/ampl...et-citation-12

[walpurgis]

That Citation Twelve looks lovely Jerry. I've always fancied trying one, but not got around to it. I did have three HK receivers though, they were nice.