Agear - I bought a pair of Pass XA100.5 because I needed to feed my obsession and after a year+ with the AMR I wanted to experiment LOL... I can't afford to keep both but I like both equally - whichever pair sells first will go ;(

mantis007 July 24, 2013 14:43

I bought both amps at the same time so I haven't tried using just one. I've pretty much always had mono amps in the past so I guess I am prone to mono amps ;) With the AMR in mono bi-amp mode most of the power supply power is available to the low frequency channel and gives better channel separation. I have 2 JL Audio 112 subs that I might try to integrate into the system. I miss that sub 25hz pumping - the Rosso do an excellent job with bass but only go down so far.. The only problem is the AMR don't have a sub or pre output. Not sure how I can hook them up... Any ideas?

I'm now thinking of selling my analog rig. I don't find myself using it much and have grown tired of using my VPI 16.5 RCM. I have about 200 albums to clean and just can't seem to find the time to do it, hahah..

mantis007 March 14, 2013 14:07

Agear, both are excellent. The amps have plenty of power and the speakers use it to full advantage. They never sound over driven and bass is super tight and tuneful. I really like a sealed box for bass.

mantis007 March 12, 2013 16:25

I would say the AMR has better tonality and dimentionality. I also think it has a bit better resolution. The ASR is a fantastic amp but the AMR is more enjoyable to me.

mantis007 March 11, 2013 00:24

Hi Agear, the AMR amps only have 2 small tubes per amp for the voltage gain stage and they are supposed to last a very long time and do not need bias adjustment. It seems to be the best of both world's IMO. The Rosso are not Kirk's - I think his were wrapped in brown crocodile leather. Kirk was actually at my house to hear my system last year - it helped him decide to buy the ASR gear.

mantis007 February 21, 2013 14:41

break in takes forever! I tried to keep a record of how many hours I had burned it in with the ISOTEK burnin track 2. It definitely opened up and became smoother around about 400 hrs - after about 600 it was even better but I don't notice any more changes. I probably have about 800-900 on mine now - I stopped keeping track. The ISOTEK track is supposed to speed up the process by 2-3X.

mantis007 February 15, 2013 17:34

Thanks Pradeep ;) Yes, the FW sounds much better than USB in my system. I used the Gold X USB cable. FW is much more transparent and open sounding - the USB was a bit muffled in comparison. You might try both and see what you like better.

mantis007 February 13, 2013 19:45

Hi Doug, I really am enjoying the sound ;) The Rosso sounded much better when I bypassed the jumper from the sub box to the mid/tweeter box by using individual cables for each. I don't think Darren ran them that way at the shows - when in mono biamp mode the AMR uses one channel for bass and the other for the highs - most of the power is available to the bass section - it makes a big difference sonically running things this way.
thx
Tony

mantis007 February 11, 2013 16:47

Hi Pdreher, I use a Win 7 quad core PC that feeds the Mytek via firewire. The PC is in another room so no noise. I use JRiver as the server and JRemote on an IPad to control it all - it works great. The Mytek doesn't have wireless but I doubt it would work with DSD anyway.

mantis007 February 10, 2013 14:10

Hi Aaron, yes North would be better but with the measures I've already taken it's really not an issue an longer. The solar screens really do the job. I take most of them off from Nov. to about late March..

mantis007 February 08, 2013 23:15

thanks Aaronknock, I really enjoy the room and only wish the front wall didn't face west. The windows have good tinting so that helps with heat in the summer. I also have solar screens to put on the windows which really cools/darkens in the summer. Yeah, that's a custom sized 2" acoustic panel in the fireplace cutout - works good ;)

thx
Tony

mantis007 January 24, 2013 12:20

Hi Pierre, yes, check both out for sure. It's great that better gear is being produced at lower prices!

How's NJ treating you?

mantis007 January 24, 2013 12:16

System edited: just a few updates: I sold my PS Audio PWD MKII soon after I got my analog rig thinking I would use the $$ to buy vinyl. Well after a while I missed the convenience of digital so I thought I'd get the well regarded Mytek and have been really surprised at it's sound - especially with DSD! At 1/3 the price of the PWD I have to say the Mytek is a much better sounding DAC in all regards. Soon after I got my analog rig I was mostly listening to vinyl and neglecting digital(PWD) - since I got the Mytek and after 500-600 hrs of burn-in I find myself listening to digital more ;) I think that says something about the Mytek. The analog side still sounds outstanding but digital is now much closer and soooo much easier. The Cabledyne cables have been a surprise - I tried several other brands before the Cabledyne and am sticking with these. They remind me of the Purenote brand that I liked very much years ago. At the price they are asking they are an absolute steal.

mantis007 January 23, 2013 18:52

thanks for the comments guys. I haven't been here to check since my last update... I wish Agon would notify when someone posts...

Zephyr - I heard them in Atlanta too and also Jacksonville. They have been my favorite speakers to date - they do everything well and have a glorious midrange.

I've done some updates that I'll list below.

mantis007 January 23, 2013 18:26