I had the Pass Labs XA200.5 monoblocks directly compared to the Momentum M300s running with the Audio Research Reference 6 preamp and there was no competition for Pass. The D'agostino monoblocks were hands down more musical which delivered a faster rhythm, better control on the bottom end, more dynamic, more transparent, more 3D holographic imaging! The bonuses are the Momentum amps are lighter to handle and much much less heat in comparison to the Pass...I am now running the D'agostino Momentum with the Ref 10 and the sound quality is absolutely sublime.
New set up with Audio Research Ref 6 and Pass Labs XA200.5 turned out to be a great musical involving combination for getting the best of both world of tube amp combined with solid state amp...no more worry about tube amplification maintenance! Amazing bass control from Pass Labs pure 200 Watts Class A monos outperformed my previous VAC Phi 300.1 tube amp by a wide margin.
Thank you for your comment. It has been a wonderful experience since switching back to solid state amplification. The new Audio Research Ref 6 preamp and Pass labs XA200.5 monoblocks set up has surpassed my previous VAC Phi 300.1 tube amp and VAC Signature MKIIa preamp combo. But most contribution of musical involving has been with the ARC Reference 6 preamp...wow I could not believe that this Ref 6 could easily surpassed my VAC Signature MKIIa quite a bit...The only other preamplifier that creates this excitement from the last time that I have heard was the $66K VAC Statement Line Preamplifier.
System edited: Quite impressive with the Tchaik 6 power conditioner...It has an uncanny sense of realism that increased the musical flow of my system and significantly augmented the systems overall PRaT. Wow!
Yes Kevin! I was quite skeptical at first about the Wadia S7i could be better than the Emm Labs XDS1 but it turns out to be a great surprise that this modded Wadia S7i is absolutely better than Emm Labs in every categories. You could see in my system that the Emm Labs XDS1 is now only use as a back up cd player and it is sitting in the back quietly...
System edited: Replacing the Emm Labs XDS1 with the Wadia S7i super modded with external power supply is a huge step up. I could not believe the musical difference between the two units. The Wadia S7i is a planet away in term of musicality in comparison to the Emm Labs. It is simply better the Wadia in every categories. Thanks Chuck.
The speakers are toed in a little bit to lock in the image. The soundstage is wide and deep and these huge speakers are just disappeared... The music is not just 3D but it is multi-dimensional now.
I do have some acoustic panels on both side walls but they do not show in the photos. All Vac instruments are quite extraordinary and I am very delighted to be them in my system. The High Fidelity CT-1U cables are worth the money spent. They are letting the music through but not filtering or holding back any signal...Magnetic Conduction is simply magical.
My, those are expensive speaker cables and interconnects. I've certainly read the reports on how wonderful they are, but it had not clicked with me that they were so pricey.
Very nice, simple system! I am really interested in the VAC integrated to work with my monitors. Do you have any room treatments? I think I see some bass traps behind your speakers. I recently added some panels to treat the 1st reflection points and was floored by the improvement.
