#314 arrived on Thursday night (3/23). It is quite impressive, I must say. Thanks Justin!
(and yes, I did get an email confirmation of shipping...the amp came about 5 days after that confirmation...and yes, it is worth the wait, in my opinion--i ordered on January 24).
By way of impressions: It seems that it has changed a bit from the original out of the box, since straight out of the box I was a little concerned about the slightly rolled off treble and overly represented bass, but the response has flattened out (with treble extension appearing nicely and bass moving into a better balanced position in the mix). Also, there was a bit of mid-congestion right out of the box that has given way to a warm and inviting midrange. Believe what you will about burn in with this amp, but with only 20-30 hours, there does seem to be a change for the better, making this amp sound now more like the description that has preceeded my listening. Given that "most things burned in" require hundreds of hours, I was, at first, a bit skeptical of the difference I was hearing, but I have no other reasonable explanation for the change in sound to my ears. I can't accept "brain training" as an explanation here since I only listened at the very beginning and then 24 hours later...no time for actual perceptual mechanisms to be affected.
I have to say that the comments others have made about how well this amp conveys transparent upper detail while still handling sibilant recordings so well seems right on. So far, it is a no squint amp...
It also does a REALLY nice job separating individual voices across the midrange without sounding empty. It remains, to me, quite musical and enveloping. I don't find myself pulled into "studying the instruments" so much as pulled into the swoon of the music itself. Very nice presentation of textural detail without creating an overly-analytical or distant experience.
If the amp changes significantly, or if I have anything useful to say, I will post again.
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). But im cancelling my order for the Pico/dac please.
Linear Mode
