The Good, The Better, Which is The Best?

from the blog of Oldwaverider:

Do You Have Fun at Work? I do, and I’d have to say I’m quite thankful to be here. Playing with, testing new gear and blogging about it in an Audiophile Playground, here at Audible Images is not only fun and a great learning experience, but it’s also an incredible opportunity to really enjoy music in a variety of constantly changing ways!

I had a chance to play with the new Rotel Michi S5 Stereo Amplifier $6995 along with the P5 Stereo Preamplifier $3995 and I have to admit they could easily intimidate some pricier competitor’s gear. Excellent sounding pieces/s with which I could unload a string of audiophile superlative jargon to express just how awesome it/they sounded.  Very impressive and enjoyable to hear.

The Gear

After listening to them for a while, some critical listening followed by some pleasure only time, and after they had broken in some, both Ed Masterson & I decided it would be interesting to compare two other pieces that we just so happened to have on our front showroom floor. One piece that was very modestly priced along with a significantly much higher price piece.  It wasn’t actually about comparing dollars, it just so happens that we brought the new Halo by Parasound A21+ Stereo Amplifier $2995 (along with the P6 2.1 Channel Stereo Preamplifier & DAC $1595) into our showroom and we already had the McIntosh MC 462 Stereo Amplifier $9000 (with the C 2700 Vacuum Tube Preamplifier $8000) all in our front demo room called “The Great Room“. We are going to see how the two above stack up against the new Rotel / Michi S5 stereo amplifier.

Now keep in mind, this is a blog post, not a review, about myself “Oldwaverider” just enjoying himself in the showroom testing out, playing with and comparing gear.  (and with blogs you don’t go through the grammar check obsession like in magazine reviews 😉 ) One thing that is constant, when I am playing with amplifiers, it is being done with a pair of speakers that are accurately tuned in place, within that listening room.  So back to our comparison post.

To create an even amplifier only test environment I used the dCS Bartok Streaming DAC as a preamp and source.  (Note: We us Roon throughout our showroom and use Tidal or Qobuz high rez for streaming) I set the voltage output to 6 volts (as opposed to the default 2 volts) simply because I was using the DAC as a preamp and source.  If it was just being used as a streaming DAC source only, then I would have left it at the 2 volt output which is the safest beginning choice going into a preamplifier.  (Note: Why did I even mention about the voltage setting for the dCS piece? Because there is often discussion as to what is the optimal voltage when using dCS dacs as a source only or as a preamp/source) Additionally, I used a set of of Transparent Musiclink Balanced Interconnects for each amplifier from the Bartok and Transparent Plus Speaker cables leading to a pair of Wilson Audio Yvette Loudspeakers.

NOTE: In the photos below, I goofed and forgot to shoot a photo with all three pieces sitting right there when I did the testing, two on the floor and the Mac in the rack along with the dCS Bartok in the rack.  So, please do me a favor and visualize the A21+ and the Michi S5 sitting on the floor right there in front of the McIntosh rack stack 🙂 So, thus the 3 separate photos portraying 2 of our demo rooms in our showroom and a stock photo of the Michi S5 🙂

My Method

I did something a little different for the first round of testing, and used just one track by Muddy Waters titled “My Captain” off of the ‘Folk Singer’ album.  Normally I use a very habitual select  choice of 5 well known or common test tracks and have at it. But Ed suggested I try this Muddy Waters song because of it’s unique solo instrument “riff” as I’ll call it, that is a very good test for a modest high end piece of gear.  Enabling you to detect venue characteristics (stage and wall echo, reverb, etc) and of Muddy Waters riff that might not even be heard in a modest piece of electronics. The song delivered a timbre and texture that does a really nice job of depicting the actual feel and sound of the stage acoustics and the unique characteristics of Muddy Waters and his guitar.  There were 4 or 5 distinct sounds I listened for.  You could call them a group of licks that work as kind of an intro to the more common riff or riffs of the song. But it boils down to some plucking, thumping and strumming that he does beginning with the top strings of the guitar, followed by some light tapping on the body of the guitar itself, a short plucking on the bottom strings a bellow out of vocals followed by an extended complete strum of all strings coupled with a little lead guitar.  (I don’t play myself, so you’ll need to give me some room on my description of the playing 🙂 )

1st Summary

My summary in short for the Muddy Waters track for all 3 pieces follows: The Michi provided the darkest and most clean and airy detail of all three. I would also add that the imaging was most clear on the Michi. Very interesting test.  Perhaps the Mac provided a little more detail and base thump but surprisingly it had a little bit of an edge added to the mids and highs in comparison to the Michi.  It would probably come down to personal preference and music styles that would tend to steer one toward the Michi or the Mac. Meaning, if I were an avid Rock or Rhythm & Blues listener I might lean toward the McIntosh, and if mostly classical or jazz were my genres, then perhaps the Michi might be my choice.  Now bang for the buck, the A21+ was a no brainer.  Meaning, the only item the Halo was lacking out of the common criteria was the airiness or spaciousness between the instruments.  Which for an Audiophile, that can be the deal breaker, but for the price tag on the new A21+ , the listening pleasure is just plain excellent with no brightness on the highs, no apparent colorations on mids or highs and no shortage of solid base.  Just an excellent starter Audiophile Amplifier with power to spare!

When I moved onto my normal 5 or 6 test tracks to experience an overall music enjoyment comparison, those tracks were:

1. Fade to Black – Dire Straits
2. Come Away with Me – Norah Jones
3. Nature Boy – Lisa Ekdahl/Peter Nordahl Trio
4. Night Mist Blues – Monty Alexander Trio
5. Flight of the Cosmic Hippo – Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

Final Summary

As opposed to doing my standard OCD comparison of all 5 or 6 tracks x 3 amplifers, I think it would be more to the point to share which track I preferred with a choice of the 3 amplifiers.

The McIntosh MC 462 seemed to really deliver best on “Fade to Black” which is a track that really likes to have Amp and Speakers that can deliver the base punch.  Perhaps the Mac delivers just a little deeper base extension, which with a classic rock song like this it just sounded like the artist probably intended. The lead guitar and also the most prevalent guitar in the song comes from the left side of the stage and the Mac just gives you that slightly edgy Classic Rock sound along with plenty of detail.  Again, the bass which often provides the most energy for a song, is most enjoyable from the MC 462 for this track.

The brand new Rotel / Michi S5 brought out in the song “Night Mist Blues” what seemed to be the most transparent delivery of all 3 amplifiers for this song, from Monty Alexanders piano energy.  The stage is just so alive, the image so clear, and the timbre and texture were just spot on.  The recording just has a forward stage perspective the way it places you at the front row table or seat in the venue.  ‘And Monty is just so alive as the piano jumps across the stage from left to right.  And around the 1:20 mark of the song,  right after the piano drops from upper octave chords to low octave with a mellow cadence & tempo, the crowd starts clapping and you can feel the depth of the crowd around both sides of the stage. Just awesome delivery!

For the third amplifier in this pleasure test;  The new Halo by Parasound A21+, I have to close with a repeat what I shared above. You won’t get the same airiness/spaciousness of distinct layers between the instruments on the sound stage as the two much higher end pieces above, but the listening pleasure is just plain excellent with no brightness on the highs, no apparent colorations on mids or highs and no shortage of solid base.  Just an excellent starter Audiophile Amplifier with power to spare!

To hear three pieces like this, with such distinct price point differences, and yet walk away absolutely pleased with the listening experience for each,  I say awesome job to McIntosh, Rotel/Michi and Halo by Parasound. What an enjoyable test experience this was. 🙂

Treat yourself to an exceptional Audio listening experience and stop by to see Ed, Miguel or Myself.  No sales, just passion here, we simply want you to experience the music in 4 rooms, on the right gear and set up just right. 

We’ll leave you in the room and close the door, and let the music transport you wherever you want it to.

Oldwaverider