This is were I landed after fearless and numerous attempts. I stick to the original X250 that was introduced before XA series was introduced. It is heavily biased in Class A and can reach 40-45watt peak into Class A (on the contrary .5 reaches maximum 15watt peak into Class A and .8 20-25watt peak into class A). Furthermore it has old dear american Mosfet that sounds warmer than currently used Toshiba FET. Now, it's MFA turn. At the beginning I was skeptical and thought it was a pricey little British box... But you need to familiarize with its sound signature and with its strenghts/limits, I did not want to put any electrical noise, tube, capacitor, etc. between my Puccini and the Pass X250 and it was the most natural choice. I prefer my chain with the MFA in rather than connecting the DCS directly to the Pass. MFA is capable of the blackest background I have ever heard from which music pours in an addictive way. Tonality is amazing, roundness too and dynamic do not suffer. Once you have tried it and provided your source is on the level, it is hard to depart from MFA and find a substitution. Dcs Puccini + Uclock is the best digital source I have ever heard... And since I decided to quit with Vinyl as I grown up with CDs, I decided to invest every penny on my digital source component. I believe that source and speakers come first in order to give an authentic sound signature to your system then it's pre and amp turn. Diablos are the most strikingly looking and reveiling speakers I heard in a relatively compact size that do magic with voices, have the right amount of bass to my ears without all the negative effects on bass from larger designs in medium/small rooms and without any added coloration from the cabinet. Simply the best! Bryston Bha and Audeze Lcd 2 are my escape when I want to listen to music during evenings or late in the nights when the rest of the Family is watching tv or in bed. They both look fabulous and have a great feeling and sound signature. I would lie if I say that they sound as good as my main system but when I can't turn it on they are as said the greatest escape.
I stick to the original X250 that was introduced before XA series was introduced. It is heavily biased in Class A and can reach 40-45watt peak into Class A (on the contrary .5 reaches maximum 15watt peak into Class A and .8 20-25watt peak into class A). Furthermore it has old dear Harris Mosfet that sounds warmer than currently used Toshiba FET.
Music First Audio Classic Copper MKII
At the beginning I was skeptical and thought it was a pricey little British box... But you need to familiarize with its sound signature and with its strenghts/limits, I did not want to put any electrical noise, tube, capacitor, etc. between my Puccini and the Pass Labs and it was the most natural choice. I prefer my chain with the MFA in rather than connecting the DCS directly to the Pass. MFA is capable of the blackest background I heard from which music pours in an addictive way. Tonality is amazing, roundness too and dynamic do not suffer. Once you have tried it and provided source is on the level it, it is hard to depart from MFA and find a substitution
Dcs Puccini uClock
Simply the best digital source I heard... And since I decided to quit with Vinyl as I grown up with CDs, I decided to invest every penny on my digital source component. I believe that source and speakers comes first to give a sound signature to your system then it's pre and amp turn.
Focal Diablo Utopia III
The most reveiling speakers I heard in a relatively compact size that do magic with the voices, have the right amount of bass to my ears without all the negative effects on bass from larger designs in medium/small rooms and without any added coloration from the cabinet. Simply the best!
Bryston BHA
This is my preferred choice for the Audeze provided you use it balanced. Single ended it is not that special. A solid and consistent performer.
Audeze LCD 2.2 (no fazor) Rosewood
This is my escape when I want to listen to music during evenings or in the nights when rest of the Family is in bed. They look fabulous and have a great feeling and sound signature though it is a bit closed. I would lie if I say that they sound as good as my system but when I can't turn it on they are as said the greatest escape.
Artari, Thank You for letting me know about the volume position. Yes, I experienced the "gain" when I connected my TVC to the amp via XLR cables. Have you tried the 6V output from DCS anytime? That would probably give you more than enough gain? BTW, how is the bass with your speakers?
Artari, thank you for the detailed comments on how you arrived at the MFA. I myself love the TVCs. I have compared mine to a active line stage at more than 3.5 times the price and I was not convinced that the active line stage offered me anything better. In fact some folks mentioned to me that I would have to spend $10k+ to surpass what my TVC currently achieves in my system. I do understand that the amp and loudspeakers have to be highly sensitive to make the TVC work fine in your system. I also believe that the source output voltage is important. Since we use digital source, this does not matter, I believe. I am sure that your Pass amps are awesome. Sometimes your don't have to chase "newer" stuff to achieve the best match in your system. My speakers are 10 year old and I still love them. I want to replace them because I want a bit ore bass. But I am a bit worried to loose their character if I were to get a new loudspeaker. I am also not too mad about cables. But last year I settled upon Clear Day cables which has improved the dynamics of my system drastically. I am curious to know, when you listen to your music at "normal" volume, at what setting on the MFA is your volume on? Like 20, 18, 16. 14, etc. I have 24 positions on my TVC, and I listen to it on 14-15.
Artari, Glad to see another TVC user. What a beautiful system you have here. Before owning the MFA, what preamp did you have? How did the MFA improve it? Also when listening to music at normal level, where is the volume setting on the MFA? I love my TVC. I don't understand why people feel that passives are anemic. To me it seems, they have not matched their system properly. It looks like you have taken proper care to do component matching.I also like your audio stand. What brand is that? Congratulations on the awesome system! Enjoy your music.
