Quote from: Anaxilus on October 09, 2014, 12:12:58 AM

Quote from: Clemmaster on October 09, 2014, 12:05:03 AM

Master-9 

So what's the Master 9 beat and what's it close to or not as good as?

In the grand scheme of things, it would compare to the Rag. They have a different sound however.

The Rag has deeper / taller (bigger overall) sound-stage with more texture (almost "smoky" kind of sound). It is smoother, too.

The Master-9 is more on the super clean / transparent side, but not harshness. Very refined all across, too, but does not have the apparent smoothness of the Rag (from the amps I heard, only the Stratus had that apparent smoothness on first listen). Tighter and more impactful mid-bass.
Does not suck me in the music as much as the Rag, though. Did not try ACSS with the Master-7, yet.

A direct competitor would be the Taurus mkII -> I really did not care much for its sound at the last meet. Could be bad condition (LCD-2 felt so congested...) but I did not bother plug in my HE-6 that I had with me at the table... Not an inspiring first listen.

You guys have much more experience with tube gear than I do (I digged your amp and the Liquid Glass with HD-800 but was more focused on enjoying the sound than critically listening to the gear, ha!).

Feel free to borrow the M9 before I sell it to make your own opinion!

Thx.  If you are cool with that, I can see about doing a Rag/M9 comparo.  I'll be surprised to hear it be more transparent than the Rag but willing to be surprised in that regard for sure!

Yup, I think they recently upgraded from NIMH to Li-Ion. I also heard it with a Firestone PSU which was a step up but not as good.

Total +1 on the DT880/600.  Can't believe I haven't listened to mine in such a long time.  Too bad the pricing looks like a sine wave impulse measurement:  https://thetracktor.com/detail/B0024NK35S/

Not bad at $350, but even better when they dip below $300 (or better on Massdrop).

(Ah... just noticed the 'add'.   )

Used prices used to hover around $200 a while ago. I've gone through many iterations of the DTxx0 family, and if I had to pick one it would be the DT880/600 (if I get to pick an amp: Bottlehead Crack + Speedball).

Any good solid-state amps?

No love for Jan Meier's amps there ? I had a Meier Corda Jazz during 5 month before going the tube route last year.  Crossfeed feature and quite powerful if there's no HE-6 or K1000 in the neighbourhood. I still miss it .  not cheap, not expensive : 385$ shipped in th US. If my best friend would ask me for an affordable and versatile but solid amp, tje Corda Jazz would be my first advice. Not heard something like a Lake people G103 though. I'll grab one next month.

Trusted ears  gave me very good impressions about Jan's DAC too : the Corda Daccord.  not tried myself yet

IME, Jan's amps are alright but tend to sound quite SS, perhaps on the analytical edge of things.  No idea about Lake People but if they are  or are like Violectric, meh, it's okay. 

Yup , definitely SS sound . from memory , i liked the Jazz more than the Concerto who had more of this analitytical SS sound IME . Last Jan's amps seemed to gain some smoothness and warmth. I should buy another Jazz to ses if my old impressions are still the same. 

LP G103  is priced at a bit more than 200€ here.  same price than a Matrix M-stage.  Not the last word in terms of amp but a valuable entry point in the game from what I know.  Never tried yet so even its a well regarded amp by trusted ears here in France I can't propose it for the leaderboard