Hello All,
I recently put a few posts on this forum concerning brightness/glare with my CA 640/Wharfedale 9.1s/Asus Xonar D1 soundcard setup, the mentioned brightness became a bit too much and so I went Richersounds and auditioned the PM6003/650a/a-s500 with MS Aviano 1’s.
Yamaha a-s500:
It was a detailed amp to listen to and to me that’s about all it was, it didn’t shine in any other areas. The soundstage wasn’t enveloping like my 640a was, the bass/mids were decent, but something I noticed straight away was that it was a bright amp and this killed if for me. Also I didn’t like the cheap plastic retro knobs and levers and something else I noticed was that I didn’t feel like an 85w amp, while adjusting the volume it just didn’t feel like an amp double the power of the marantz or the equal of the 650a (or my 640a).
Marantz pm6003:
This amp demonstrated a different and more character full sound, it attacked the music it was fed with more purpose than the a-s500. Bass was deeper and tighter than the a-s500, the vocals and acoustics of Johnny Cash singing his last single “Hurt” came through well with plenty of emotion and the brightness was a lot less evident on this amp. I also played some classical violin pieces that were handled well with a soundstage similar to my 640a except for some minor brightness that I put down to the speakers.
CA 650a:
I was surprised at what I was hearing it sounded dull against these amps, the soundstage and detail was still good, but it was a poor second to the pm6003 in most other areas.
Outcome? I bought the Marantz pm6003 for £220 with a 5 year warranty!
I’ve got it paired with my Wharfedale 9.1s and it still sounds good, but not as good as it did with the aviano 1’s. I think these speakers aren’t in the same class as this amp, it’s throwing too much information at them, the highs are still too bright, the vocals and bass are not as defined as they were with the aviano 1’s. Is my reasoning correct to think of the aviano’s as better speakers than the 9.1’s (but both are still bright speakers)?
If my reasoning is correct and after changing my amp, it looks like there will be further damage to my wallet with a pair of Dali Lektor 2’s doing it, the only other way of fulfilling this amps potential I can think of is a dac?
Hope this helped,
AzurBob
I recently put a few posts on this forum concerning brightness/glare with my CA 640/Wharfedale 9.1s/Asus Xonar D1 soundcard setup, the mentioned brightness became a bit too much and so I went Richersounds and auditioned the PM6003/650a/a-s500 with MS Aviano 1’s.
Yamaha a-s500:
It was a detailed amp to listen to and to me that’s about all it was, it didn’t shine in any other areas. The soundstage wasn’t enveloping like my 640a was, the bass/mids were decent, but something I noticed straight away was that it was a bright amp and this killed if for me. Also I didn’t like the cheap plastic retro knobs and levers and something else I noticed was that I didn’t feel like an 85w amp, while adjusting the volume it just didn’t feel like an amp double the power of the marantz or the equal of the 650a (or my 640a).
Marantz pm6003:
This amp demonstrated a different and more character full sound, it attacked the music it was fed with more purpose than the a-s500. Bass was deeper and tighter than the a-s500, the vocals and acoustics of Johnny Cash singing his last single “Hurt” came through well with plenty of emotion and the brightness was a lot less evident on this amp. I also played some classical violin pieces that were handled well with a soundstage similar to my 640a except for some minor brightness that I put down to the speakers.
CA 650a:
I was surprised at what I was hearing it sounded dull against these amps, the soundstage and detail was still good, but it was a poor second to the pm6003 in most other areas.
Outcome? I bought the Marantz pm6003 for £220 with a 5 year warranty!
I’ve got it paired with my Wharfedale 9.1s and it still sounds good, but not as good as it did with the aviano 1’s. I think these speakers aren’t in the same class as this amp, it’s throwing too much information at them, the highs are still too bright, the vocals and bass are not as defined as they were with the aviano 1’s. Is my reasoning correct to think of the aviano’s as better speakers than the 9.1’s (but both are still bright speakers)?
If my reasoning is correct and after changing my amp, it looks like there will be further damage to my wallet with a pair of Dali Lektor 2’s doing it, the only other way of fulfilling this amps potential I can think of is a dac?
Hope this helped,
AzurBob
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