i hope master ken's wife is not reading this. sometimes, wifey has a natural habit to peek into hubby's favourite bookmarks in his laptop to see if he is up to something naughty. oh, btw, malaysia's ISPs have banned youporn and moantube - two most popular and highly accessible porn sites in the net - so many of us naughty adults would be deprived of some excitement other than hifi during their free times.
anyway, i was talking about ken's wife. if she does read this blog, then in all likelihood, she won't allow her hubby to befriend me anymore because i am such a bad influence. master ken is totally sold on the pass labs x350.5 and he is thinking hard on how to cook up a story to spend that RM38K on a piece of heavy metal, nice piece of metal that is, that makes sweet sound.
i had the good fortune to listen to the pass labs in ken's setup today and witnessed the way it drives the insatiable ATC SCM100. god, the x350.5 tames the beast with an iron-fist and sure-footedness that the juice-sucking ATC is finally satiated like a lustful nympho that has finally met her most capable lover. it makes his beloved jeff rowland 8 looks like a puny little amp. the highs, the upper-mids, the bass, they all shine through brilliantly - this is the hallmark of a thoroughly modern and high-end sound. in comparison, the rowland 8 sounds dated and under-defined.
"it is time to upgrade", i told master ken mercilessly. he nodded but his face is expressionless. i guess it is the money. it is no small sum of money yeah.
well, readers, can you help master ken to cook up stories to spend the RM38K?
bugger, i am still thinking of the well-fed nympho ;-)
infrequent updates
8 years ago
16 comments:
You naughty ,naughty boy Maggielurva!!!
Do what i always do...Quote the price at 10 % of the original price,in this case 3.8k[even then I still get scolding!!!!!]
If she found out move to A friend's place{Maggielurva,would you offer your roof to Ken]
Once she cools down{might takes weeks] buy her a [fake] GUCCI bag..
Take it from a veteran
I asked my wife and she said there is no way out for ken ...
not even if ken's wife gets a real gucci bag...
maybe it is time to say sayonara to the ATC and move on to a more efficient speaker?
I love Pass Labs, but enjoy loving nymphos even more!
Tell her RM38K is a small some to pay to keep me at home listening to music. I spend my time at home and you know where I am. But on the other hand, you will pay and even higher price if I go and find all the nymphos in town..heh heh heh..
Hehe, I am prescient, just as I predicted under maggielurva's entry 'master ken gets pass labs'...
Interesting coincidence.
Guan and I saw a used unit selling for HK$47k (just under RM20k) - which Guan has been tempting me as usual...
So master ken can tell the wife he bought it used for RM20k... ;-)
Used at half price is a reasonable deal. However, even new the dealers usually give a good discount for high priced items.
Hoe,
Have you ever been around ATC owners?They are bunch of addicts;they would walk around naked,sell their house than change to something else;some might even want to be buried with their ATC....
Maggie,If I might disagree[Allowed?]I think of all the components the amp are the ones that hasn't been modernized.A lot of old amp will make today's amps bite the dust...with a caveat..
I hope your dealer will not get angry for me saying this ,but Pass Labs makes very polite amps;in the same mould as JEFF Rowland.What most of my ATC-addict friends use are a CANAdian beast call BRYSTON.The ATC need abusing,kicking,wollaping etc..A SADIST speaker if there ever was one..
Anyway,If you could get good sound from PASS LABs;the JEFF would certainly sound better ;here are my suggestions:
1]Use a multimeter and check that the output is ok,something the capacitors /transformers might be faulty without you realizing it.Send for servicing[Just like women and cars ,amps need servicing too]
2]Change your output plugs with ones made by WBT,their topend nextgen pure silver connecter are just pure bliss..
3.Clean all the internal contacts with deoxit contact cleaner.ARC recommend deoxit highly ,and who makes better tubes amp than them?
4.Control th eresonance of the chasis with new Resonator-type feet.this is an are that older amps are deficient.I love the Finite elemente feet and their new resonators....
5.change the power inlets to the audiophile grade ones.
6.Your sp cables need to havea low impedence[thin,but high current]cables.my friends love the Crystal cables range for their ATC..
Now the JEFF ROwland is ready to fight back!!!!!!
The PASS having a leg up on the Rowland? Impossible! As an (ex)Rowland 8T owner, I've come to believe in a very set pecking order. So, KK, over to you to establish who's who in the New World Order by getting that X350.5 in to test.. ;P
I agree with the above.I suspect there might be a problem with the amp.Jeff rowland amp are no sissy....the above advises seem more than resonable ,especially about servicing .A lot of the time we forget how delicate our gears are.
I do a thorough cleaning cycle with deoxit every 2 months ,and get all my major electronic serviced every 2 years.I can't imagine the amount i have saved from upgrading.....You do not change your car because you have a punctured tire.
Just Like Guan,It is hard for me to find that The Jeff Rowland has been humbled.
To be frank ,when I found out that one of the reviewer was going to pit Pass LAb against Jeff Rowland[old as it is] I thought the PL will be kicked out of sight..hey come on, A 10 year old Merc still drives better than a brand new TOyota...Maybe it is time for me to have a listen to the Pass Lab too.
Dear All,
All I can say is that Maggielurva does have a way with words and I feel he has exaggerated some aspects of our listening sessions. The Pass is a good sounding amp but so is my Rowland 8 amp.
I have never ever regretted buying the Rowland. The highs of the amp is silky and delicate. The mids is wonderful and the bass great (although Maggie would not agree). But I am not saying the Pass is only slightly better than the Rowland and to know, you will have to read my review in the magazine.
The ATC is not a sadistic speaker. It is a very revealing monitor type speaker that will not only reveal a poor recording but will also let you hear any inadequacy of your setup. The ATC is not a hard speaker to push (88db @ 8 ohms) but it can take as much as you can give (max power handling is 1500 watts). And to sound great, you need to play it at a certain volume. Most of the time the volume pot is at 8 to 10 o'clock region.
The problem is not whether my wife will agree to let me buy the Pass. The problem now is how I can come up with the money to buy it;-P
regards
Just how old is the ATM SC100? What about the front end is it up to par with the proposed new amplification? I can't help but wonder if the 38K would be better spent replacing the ATM (newer or active model) or say getting a Wadia 581 etc.
agree with anonymous.
if your love speakers like atc ,there is only one way to go ;active
Dear Anonymous and Joe,
Thanks for your comments.
My system is as follows:
Meridian 508.24 cd player
ARC LS5 Mk II preamp
Rowland 8 pwr amp
ATC SCM100
I/C Audioquest Amazon (cd to pre), Audioquest Anaconda (pre to pwr)
S/p cable Audioquest Volcano
Power cords: PS Audio XStream statement (cd player), PS Audio Lab Cable II (pwr amp)
Power Conditioner; Powertrans 4KVA, RGPC 600
I like to think my system is pretty well balanced. I don't see the point of going active with my ATC SCM100 which is slightly more than 10 years old. I have heard the SL and active versions of ATC and I do not feel that my current speaker are humbled by it. In fact, I like the more organic sound that I am getting with my ATC. As good as the amps produced by ATC, I don't think it will as good as the amps made by Krell, Pass and Rowland. For me ATC is first and foremost a speaker company.
YMMV.
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