Tassie Devil Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 I'm embarrassed about this purchase as it has happened after I declared I had what for me, was an ultimate headphone system. I recently sold my Violectric V281, opting for the simpler V280 so what is this madness - buying a far heavier, larger and more complicated Audio-gd Master 9!! OK, the deed is done and the initial impressions? Cold and just out of the box yesterday it sounded quite impressive. I compared the AQ of two FLAC files of the same album, one CD quality and the other hi-rez and the Audio-gd really surprised me how it leveled that playing field. This morning it had warmed up considerably, a reflection of its pure class A circuitry, and the difference in AQ between it and the Violectric 280 were more defined and more obvious. The bass is cleaner with no hint of overhang while any hint of edginess in the treble completely vanished. And note I used the word "hint" to make it clear the Violectric 280 did not have the music sounding harsh or suffering digitalis, but that the Audio-gd is just that bit better. Individual instruments like the harpsichord (a challenging one to reproduce cleanly at the best of times), piano, violin etc all come through with startling naturalness.. The orchestral sound is open with a lovely soundstage while the saxophone and trumpet on jazz recordings is startling. I have been a bit apprehensive about the Audio-gd purchase as both the Violectriv 280 and Auralic Taurus 2 have served me well with beautiful sounding music and spending significant sums for what might be minimal improvement in AQ is hard to justify. And, at 85, my hearing is no where as good as most of you. So it has been a pleasant surprise and relief to hear a significant improvement. The downside is that it make the non-audio-gd systems here harder to listen to! I'll append a schematic of the headphone madness here. It does not include the SONY and Pioneer portables, items used little these days. 10
Bengineer Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 At 85, don't throw your back out trying to move the Master 9 yourself !
Tassie Devil Posted September 30, 2020 Author Posted September 30, 2020 LOL.. Yes, how heavy it is really surprised me.. And it is now nice and warm
Bengineer Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 That's why people move to Tassie. Be near your system!
Tassie Devil Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 Thanks Guys. I decided to upgrade the schematic showing most linked A/V systems in this house so append it FYI. Madness I know but I'm in good company here 1
Tassie Devil Posted October 5, 2020 Author Posted October 5, 2020 The Audio-gd Master 9 has been on for a week now and, as expected is hot - too hot on top to leave your hand there. If that looks like being a problem in Summer I'll rig up a quiet 120mm PC fan to move air. But I am genuinely taken back by how the AQ has improved. The bass line is now more clearly defined and there is much more "air" and apparent space around the music than there is in the Office here via the Violectric V280. (also left on 24/7). It is much the same story re upgrading as happened with the move from the Sennheiser 800S to Focal Utopia - the previous "best" AQ was improved with more of the music being appreciated. The (very comfortable) Sennies yielded excellent sound but the Focals are obviously better. In similar vein the Violectric V280 performs admirably without hint of digitalis revealing lovely sounding music but the Audio-gd really does sound better. Yes there might be even better AQ from some other combination but I really do feel it is time to lower the anchor and sit back to fully enjoy what I have here. In a perverse way that makes me a bit sad as chasing after Audio Nirvana is (expensive) fun. But I must be honest and admit many "upgrades" were just sideways moves and were not positive moves forward. As I've posted many times there is no such thing as "Absolute Sound" and anyone trying to achieve it is chasing moonbeams. But there is equipment that best suits an individuals music taste and expectation and that is the sensible goal one should aim for. As such is it a very personal, subjective goal and the set of audio items with the most acceptable ying/yang for me is not necessarily acceptable to someone else. And therein lies the reason for a lot of futile debate on audio forums. There is no Absolute "best" that will suit everyone but there are items that any one person can assemble to be "best" for them. Bottom line, if you have the opportunity, do audition the Audio-gd Master 9 and see how you find it. You might prefer the gloss offered by a tube amp. or ....... whatever, but then you might get the enjoyment from it that I'm experiencing!! 2
ray4410 Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 what a stunning room you have there john,made for hifi, great to see a confirmed senior still enjoying av+hifi with such passion.
Tassie Devil Posted October 16, 2020 Author Posted October 16, 2020 Thanks ray. It has been a (expensive) labour of love. The room was designed (by me) in a pentagonal shape so no two opposing surfaces are parallel. Special tiles in the cathedral ceiling and carpet on the floor all contribute to a well damped environment which yields impressive surround sound assiciated with fine video on the 120" screen. However my advanced age has age related hearing problems so serious audio only, particularly classical music, is only fully appreciated with headphones. My mantra for some time has been that the DAC is critical for good digital conversion to analog so the equally important headphones can be free to display nice audio. Yes, I have always realised amplifiers can make a difference if poorly designed but, up to now, have not appreciated how much the amplifier can affect the quality of the music. I’ve been happy with well reviewed amplifiers like the Aurilac Taurus 2 and Violectric V280. Then I made the “mistake” of reading rave reviews of the Audio-gd Master 9. https://headmania.org/2014/07/19/audio-gd-master-9-review/ and https://www.hear.reviews/2018/11/30/audio-gd-master-9/ I was instructed to leave the Master 9 on for another 300 hours to burn in, a process I’ve always been skeptical about but have discovered that yes, the AQ does improve over time and the raves in the reviews are with foundation. I still find it a bit weird to accept but the Master 9 does reveal more of the music, both bottom end and midrange, particularly with vocals. But the strangest aspect of the amplifier is how, as previously posted, it makes the music sound more realistic with “air” around the instruments – it brings music which otherwise sounded clean and good, more to life and more to what hearing the music live would sound like. And it does demonstrate just how good standard formal CD can sound. Many times I’ve double checked when listening on random play to find the album being played was not hi-rez but plain vanilla CD. No, not all albums sound as good as that, but most do and I’ve been impressed at just how good are some albums recorded back in 1959. The headphone set up here now is about as good as I can ever expect it to sound but one big drawback is that it makes lesser systems sound frustratingly poorer. So there is only one thing a deranged audio nutter like myself can do - get another Audio-gd Master 9, so that is what I have done. The second amp is now installed in the office here and I am listening to rather nice music using it as I type. And it still has 250 hours to go to be fully burned in like the first amp but the music is already more than acceptable. In a perverse way the current situation is sad as I see nothing to improve in the 2 main headphone systems and have been satisfied with the home theatre set up for some time now. So are my audio purchases over? I'm sure to find excuses to play with more toys, but that will not be in either headphone system or the HT set up.
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