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Review 2 of 2
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$0.00 Summary:
This is one smokin' poweramp. Sure bests my Jolida 302 by a large margin. It has beautiful and rugged build and is has much improved looks over the original Super Amp. The old one looked like a kit amp and this one looks as good as Cary Audio amps.
For those who don't know, AES is a division of Cary Audio, and is where Dennis Had ties out his new designs. These amps are so good that Cary had to up the ante on his Cary products. This looks like Cary's Rocket 88 amp that is now discontinued...interesting. I'm told by Cary that this amp has much improved transformers over their older products.
Now for the sound. This amp is a cross between SS and tubes. It has a big tight bass, musical midrange, and airy highs. Changing the stock feet out for better feet like Cary's own Soft Shoes makes a big difference in air and room ambience, while the bass becomes more tuneful.
This amps very good input sensativity allows it to be used with passive preamps as well as active. I'm using mine with the variable output of my Benchmark DAC1 for an ultra revealing sound from by-passing the use of a preamp. Benchmark recommends running their DACs directly into a power amp for the best sound and the combo of the ultra clean DAC and the magic of tubes is a match made in heaven.
My minimalist 2 channel system produces amazing sound. Every time I listen to it I can't believe my ears. This system has unbelievable synergy. You should try it.
Strengths:
Big and tight bass, magical and creamy midrange, airy highs.
Easy to bias the tubes.
Can use many other tubes besides EL34, like 6L6, 6550, KT88, KT90. The owners manual is clear on how to bias them all.
Build quality and looks. Weaknesses:
Stock feet.
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