Alexx V arrive in NJ

[Kingsrule]

How do u measure listening distance? To each ear? Center of head? Seat back? From were on speaker?

How can the dealer do a finished install when speakers aren't broken?

 

[marty]

How do u measure listening distance? To each ear? Center of head? Seat back? From were on speaker?

How can the dealer do a finished install when speakers aren't broken?

Wilson figured this out a long time ago for all their speakers.



The dealer obviously cannot do a final tweak on set-up unless they are local. But I'm good with that, having helped set up several big Wilsons previously.

 

[marty]

Do you know if the Alexx V charts need any correction specific to the amplifier, like the XVX or the WAMM?

Wilson can provide group delay measurements of a particular amp if they have the opportunity to measure it. Of course, this means they have to have the amp sent to them to do that if it's one they have not measured before. Not sure how many folks will be willing to do that. Alternately, they may be able to reference their files for amps previously measured. In any case, the adjustments they might suggest for set up will be based on comparing your chosen amp to their reference D'Agostino. Since measuring amps for group delay is a time consuming process Wilson said they do not match amplifiers, even by request, for their speakers other than the XVX and WAMM. (OK, I get it. The Alexx V's are not worthy enough. I can deal with it.) Honestly, I'm sure any set-up adjustments based on amp variations are likely minor and it's really easy enough to fine tune this yourself since listening is really the final arbiter anyway. Another point- Can you imagine sending your behemoth amps to Wilson for measurement and then learning several hundred dollars in shipping costs later that no adjustments from their reference amps are needed? Saving some money was never easier by avoiding this scenario all together.

 

[Kingsrule]

I see that in the user manual....but right speaker to right out side of chair, to center of chair, from where on speaker? right side edge, center of speaker, left side edge? Way too many open questions not clear in manual.....

 

[tima]

I see that in the user manual....but right speaker to right out side of chair, to center of chair, from where on speaker? right side edge, center of speaker, left side edge? Way too many open questions not clear in manual.....

The manuals are clear but some reading is required.

"By measuring the distance from the speaker to your ear (measured from the bottom/front of the woofer to directly below the ear canal) when seated in the listening position, as well as height of the listener’s ear (the distance from the floor to the center of the ear canal), you will be able to align the system for your listening position."
- Alexia 2 manual

 

[microstrip]

Wilson can provide group delay measurements of a particular amp if they have the opportunity to measure it. Of course, this means they have to have the amp sent to them to do that if it's one they have not measured before. Not sure how many folks will be willing to do that. Alternately, they may be able to reference their files for amps previously measured. In any case, the adjustments they might suggest for set up will be based on comparing your chosen amp to their reference D'Agostino. Since measuring amps for group delay is a time consuming process Wilson said they do not match amplifiers, even by request, for their speakers other than the XVX and WAMM. (OK, I get it. The Alexx V's are not worthy enough. I can deal with it.) Honestly, I'm sure any set-up adjustments based on amp variations are likely minor and it's really easy enough to fine tune this yourself since listening is really the final arbiter anyway. Another point- Can you imagine sending your behemoth amps to Wilson for measurement and then learning several hundred dollars in shipping costs later that no adjustments from their reference amps are needed? Saving some money was never easier by avoiding this scenario all together.

We can expect that group delay of your Soulution will be very similar to the D'Agostino - both are DC coupled solid state designs without output transformers.

As far as I remember the group delay can be measured in audio amplifiers using modern digital oscilloscopes with the needed accuracy - around 3 microseconds. Probably if users supply the data Wilson Audio will be able to supply the custom tables easily.

We can read in Partimeaudiophilehttps://parttimeaudiophile.com/2018/05/28/precision-in-provo-wilson-audio-wamm-master-chronosonic/,that when using a tube amplifier (VTL Siegfried II) the changes in unit position were up to 3-10 mm.

 

[metaphacts]

We can expect that group delay of your Soulution will be very similar to the D'Agostino - both are DC coupled solid state designs without output transformers.

As far as I remember the group delay can be measured in audio amplifiers using modern digital oscilloscopes with the needed accuracy - around 3 microseconds. Probably if users supply the data Wilson Audio will be able to supply the custom tables easily.

We can read in Partimeaudiophilehttps://parttimeaudiophile.com/2018/05/28/precision-in-provo-wilson-audio-wamm-master-chronosonic/,that when using a tube amplifier (VTL Siegfried II) the changes in unit position were up to 3-10 mm.

Oh that it were that easy. Remember group delay varies with frequency.

Measurement requires the same process as is utilized in the initial measurement of the amp/speaker used for the Nomograph calculations. From those results, offsets are calculated.

Some amps have greater offset variations than the Siegfrieds on the WAMM and XVX, some less.

 

[Mobiusman]

I hate break-in. But as we all know, it’s a fact of life in the world of high end audio. Break-in can be a maddening experience since its mostly a waiting exercise. However, during the waiting process, the hobbyist part of me enjoys the part whereby making some adjustments that might be required in order to capture some beneficial gains of the new gear.. The Alexx V’s are a formidable project in this regard. Surprisingly, there are some attributes of the speaker design that make the experience interesting and even illuminating.

There are two properties that require optimization in order to get the best sound from these speakers. The first is speaker placement in the room. Many audiophiles have heard about the room voicing process Wilson recommends for speaker placement in the room. This can be a tedious task that can take hours to days (or longer). In my case, since there are several similarities in design to the Alexandrias, I am using the former speaker position in the room as the basis for speaker placement for the A V’s. If refinement is required, I’ll revisit this in a few weeks after full break-in.

The second important property is the alignment of the drivers once the speakers are in position. Here’s where things can be challenging. Due to their focused array alignment, the drivers may be rather precisely positioned for optimum listening, but the position of the lower and upper midrange drivers and the tweeter is extremely dependent on the distance of each driver from the listener, as well as the listener ear height. The good news is the mechanism of making these adjustments is a very well thought out and engineered as Wilson offers excellent guidance for set-up using a detailed but easy to understand series of charts that indicate the optimum position for each driver. It’s a beautiful system that makes it easier to render finer adjustments than the comparable Alexandria. The refinement and range of the adjustability is impressive. My overall impression is that of a device that is really more like a laboratory reference instrument. The ability to render fine adjustments of each driver is what allows the speaker performance to achieve one of its founding design goals, which is excellent time alignment.

So far, so good, right? Well, sort of. In a perfect world, it would be great if Wilson provided exact measurements for every possible listening distance in their charts. However, there is a pragmatic limitation to such an approach. This means that in some cases, although Wilson provides guidance for a wide range of listener distances, it often does this in units that may not be what is not ideal for your set-up. For example, there are precise settings for listening position of 12 ft and 14 ft. But what if you are at 13 ft? (which is exactly where I am!). Well, this is where your participation becomes important. You will have to extrapolate from the charts to come up with positioning data that is right for a distance that might fall between 2 known distances. The good news is that the small differences in possible configurations can all be evaluated by the only criteria that really matters, which is listening. There is some downside to doing this since it’s a subjective assessment, but so far, I have not found this to be a particularly difficult task. Having done my first drill down session last night, I found that a simple piano recording is a great way to gain confidence in set-up. When the piano sound like a piano, you’re done! The A V is a precision instrument and fine adjustments of 1-2 mm in driver rake or distance really translates to sonic differences that can appreciated rather easily. So while not every possible listener position is spelled out clearly in the Wilson tables, a combination of extrapolation from the tables as well as listening, makes the process quite doable. By the end of last night’s session, I thought I had achieved a very good sound field. However, since I’m still in the throes of break-in. I’m sure there are further refinements ahead. But I’m impressed that the process is straightforward and will ultimately be very satisfactory for optimizing the sound of the speakers in my room.

Marty,
One of the most erudite descriptions I have heard from you recently. It seems pretty clear when your love of music and respect for science combine, what you get is a pair of Alex V's and a new found acoustic experiment. I am thrilled for you.

 

[microstrip]

Oh that it were that easy. Remember group delay varies with frequency.

Measurement requires the same process as is utilized in the initial measurement of the amp/speaker used for the Nomograph calculations. From those results, offsets are calculated.

Some amps have greater offset

As far as I remember if we sample the different frequencies at input and output in the scope two channels we can find group delay for each frequency using a fitting process based in least squares. Or pehaps we can do it using a null technique and calibrated analog delay lines. It is a common technique in detector experiments in nuclear and particle physics - I will think about it and will try measuring my amplifiers.

I am addressing just the ampliifer, surely when we include the speaker it is a much harder and complicated thing to do - then we must rely on your data!

 

[marty]

We can expect that group delay of your Soulution will be very similar to the D'Agostino - both are DC coupled solid state designs without output transformers.

Francisco, I have not used the Soulution amplifiers for some time now and frankly, it is a painful subject to discuss. Recall I was using 511 monoblocs for a few years but last August I had the opportunity to purchase their revered 701’s at an attractive price so I pulled the trigger. In short, it was the most disappointing purchase of my entire audio career. It was not their sound (which was excellent) but unfortunately their reliability that resulted in blowing up 3 amplifiers (one amp twice) within a period of 6 months. A more detailed story follows.

I purchased these amplifiers from a dealer who took them in in trade. However, one amp required repair at the factory in Switzerland and when I bought them, they were sent to me directly from Soulution in Switzerland thoroughly certified (both amps including soiftware updates) even though only amplifier (#0015) was repaired. However, the companion amplifier (#0016) failed in October 2020. Then in February 2021, amplifier #0015 failed again. Soulution originally wanted to charge me several thousand dollars for each repair, but were receptive to my argument that these failures seemed unreasonable for an amplifier of this caliber (cost 180K per pair) and that they should cover all costs especially since they certified both of them in August 2020. I knew the amps were out of warranty but I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that one might receive more than a "30/30" warranty (30 feet or 30 seconds ) after an unanticipated and major trans-Atlantic repair.. To facilitate an equitable resolution I agreed to pay 50% of all shipping but fighting for that was not a pleasant experience, not to mention that what they put me through with US Customs in delays and paperwork was a nightmare (and in my view unprofessional in the extreme). . You would think they had never shipped to anyone in the US before. To their credit, by the time the 3rd amp was repaired and returned, they figured out how to ship smoothly via FedEx.

On March 11, 2021 Cyril Hammer provided this explanation for why his amps failed repetitively. “Three out of four amplifier channels in your pair of 701s were damaged in exactly the same way only within a few months. We have never ever seen this happen before. We must assume that these units have seen too high input levels. Please ensure that you do not feed any input signal to the 701 higher than 1.35Vrms (1.95Vpp)! If you do so, you risk that the units will fail again”. This explanation seemed disingenuous and a poor explanation for what occurred for several reasons:

• I use a Soulution 725 preamp. I would seem odd to me that their preamp is designed so it could overdrive their amplifier to the point of failure.
• As far as I know, my ears were not bleeding while listening to my 94dB efficient Alexandrias and thus overdriving the speaker seems a poor argument.
• I also do not recall reading anything in the Soulution 701 manual that specifically said “do not play these amplifiers loud” but perhaps I missed that warning.

In my opinion, I think the most reasonable and obvious explanation to account for the failures I experience is that their amplifier is simply one of an intrinsically unreliable design. This is supported by some other relevant findings:

• One of their former dealers in Florida told me he had 3 similar Soulution amplifier failures which is why he no longer carries the line.
• I learned a former distributor also presumably dropped the line due to amplifier failure and unreliability.
• Previous published reports also point to inadequate amplifier design particularly with respect to heat sinking. (https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/59960-are-soulution-amplifiers-class-a-ab-or-d/) This thread discusses that Soulution SMPS amps run heavily in class A and are very hot to the touch (true! you can probably fry eggs on them when they're running) suggesting that “the heatsinks appear to be WAY too small for a Class A amplifier of that power”.
• The person I sold my 511s to told me that his blew up after 6 months! (but thankfully did not blame me). He likewise felt he had not overdriven his amps.

I should reiterate I had no issues with the sound of the amps when they worked (for about 4 of the 7 months that I had them). They are really wonderful sounding amps (as is their 725 preamp which has continued to serve me well). But it will be a cold day in hell before I would ever consider purchasing one of their products ever again. In my view, the company is in clear denial about the reliability of their product. Sadly, customers and dealers do not wish to discuss this issue for obvious reasons which is namely, that it negatively impacts the resale value of several existing Soulution amplifier products in the marketplace. There are frankly too many excellent amplifiers to choose from for me (or anyone) to risk the unpleasantries I have experienced with Soulution amplifiers ever again.

I’ll conclude by answering what you’re about to ask me next anyway. What amps am I currently using? For now, I’m using the remarkable Parasound JC1+ (sourced from Elliot Goldman). I’ve posted before that this is a remarkable amplifier and provides 85+% of the Soulution 701 performance at 10% of the price. Bass performance is the equal of the 701 and even better- it works every time you turn it on! Honestly, it does seem as uber reliable as it gets. (By the way, don’t miss Jacob Heillbrun’s excellent review of the JC1+ in May/June TAS. He nails the amp’s performance in a very thougtful and insightful piece). I’ll sort out my other possible amplifier options in the months ahead, assuming they will sound better than the JC1+, which is no easy feat.

 

[sbo6]

I hate break-in. But as we all know, it’s a fact of life in the world of high end audio. Break-in can be a maddening experience since its mostly a waiting exercise. However, during the waiting process, the hobbyist part of me enjoys the part whereby making some adjustments that might be required in order to capture some beneficial gains of the new gear.. The Alexx V’s are a formidable project in this regard. Surprisingly, there are some attributes of the speaker design that make the experience interesting and even illuminating.

There are two properties that require optimization in order to get the best sound from these speakers. The first is speaker placement in the room. Many audiophiles have heard about the room voicing process Wilson recommends for speaker placement in the room. This can be a tedious task that can take hours to days (or longer). In my case, since there are several similarities in design to the Alexandrias, I am using the former speaker position in the room as the basis for speaker placement for the A V’s. If refinement is required, I’ll revisit this in a few weeks after full break-in.

The second important property is the alignment of the drivers once the speakers are in position. Here’s where things can be challenging. Due to their focused array alignment, the drivers may be rather precisely positioned for optimum listening, but the position of the lower and upper midrange drivers and the tweeter is extremely dependent on the distance of each driver from the listener, as well as the listener ear height. The good news is the mechanism of making these adjustments is a very well thought out and engineered as Wilson offers excellent guidance for set-up using a detailed but easy to understand series of charts that indicate the optimum position for each driver. It’s a beautiful system that makes it easier to render finer adjustments than the comparable Alexandria. The refinement and range of the adjustability is impressive. My overall impression is that of a device that is really more like a laboratory reference instrument. The ability to render fine adjustments of each driver is what allows the speaker performance to achieve one of its founding design goals, which is excellent time alignment.

So far, so good, right? Well, sort of. In a perfect world, it would be great if Wilson provided exact measurements for every possible listening distance in their charts. However, there is a pragmatic limitation to such an approach. This means that in some cases, although Wilson provides guidance for a wide range of listener distances, it often does this in units that may not be what is not ideal for your set-up. For example, there are precise settings for listening position of 12 ft and 14 ft. But what if you are at 13 ft? (which is exactly where I am!). Well, this is where your participation becomes important. You will have to extrapolate from the charts to come up with positioning data that is right for a distance that might fall between 2 known distances. The good news is that the small differences in possible configurations can all be evaluated by the only criteria that really matters, which is listening. There is some downside to doing this since it’s a subjective assessment, but so far, I have not found this to be a particularly difficult task. Having done my first drill down session last night, I found that a simple piano recording is a great way to gain confidence in set-up. When the piano sound like a piano, you’re done! The A V is a precision instrument and fine adjustments of 1-2 mm in driver rake or distance really translates to sonic differences that can appreciated rather easily. So while not every possible listener position is spelled out clearly in the Wilson tables, a combination of extrapolation from the tables as well as listening, makes the process quite doable. By the end of last night’s session, I thought I had achieved a very good sound field. However, since I’m still in the throes of break-in. I’m sure there are further refinements ahead. But I’m impressed that the process is straightforward and will ultimately be very satisfactory for optimizing the sound of the speakers in my room.

I'm curious why you just don't wait until they're fully broken in to make any adjustments? Sounds a bit like double the work.

 

[microstrip]

Francisco, I have not used the Soulution amplifiers for some time now and frankly, it is a painful subject to discuss. Recall I was using 511 monoblocs for a few years but last August I had the opportunity to purchase their revered 701’s at an attractive price so I pulled the trigger. In short, it was the most disappointing purchase of my entire audio career. It was not their sound (which was excellent) but unfortunately their reliability that resulted in blowing up 3 amplifiers (one amp twice) within a period of 6 months. A more detailed story follows.

I purchased these amplifiers from a dealer who took them in in trade. However, one amp required repair at the factory in Switzerland and when I bought them, they were sent to me directly from Soulution in Switzerland thoroughly certified (both amps including soiftware updates) even though only amplifier (#0015) was repaired. However, the companion amplifier (#0016) failed in October 2020. Then in February 2021, amplifier #0015 failed again. Soulution originally wanted to charge me several thousand dollars for each repair, but were receptive to my argument that these failures seemed unreasonable for an amplifier of this caliber (cost 180K per pair) and that they should cover all costs especially since they certified both of them in August 2020. I knew the amps wer out of warranty but I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that one might receive more than a "30/30" warranty (30 feet or 30 seconds ) after an unanticipated and major trans-Atlantic repair.. To facilitate an equitable resolution I agreed to pay 50% of all shipping but fighting for that was not a pleasant experience, not to mention that what they put me through with US Customs in delays and paperwork was a nightmare (and in my view unprofessional in the extreme). . You would think they had never shipped to anyone in the US before. To their credit, by the time the 3rd amp was repaired and returned, they figured out how to ship FedEx smoothly.

On March 11, 2021 Cryri Hammer provided this explanation for why his amps failed repetitively. “Three out of four amplifier channels in your pair of 701s were damaged in exactly the same way only within a few months. We have never ever seen this happen before. We must assume that these units have seen too high input levels. Please ensure that you do not feed any input signal to the 701 higher than 1.35Vrms (1.95Vpp)! If you do so, you risk that the units will fail again”. This explanation seemed disingenuous and a poor explanation for what occurred for several reasons:

• I use a Soulution 725 preamp. I would seem odd to me that their preamp is designed so it could overdrive their amplifier to the point of failure.
• As far as I know, my ears were not bleeding while listening to my 94dB efficient Alexandrias and thus overdriving the speaker seems a poor argument.
• I also do not recall reading anything in the Soulution 701 manual that specifically said “do not play these amplifiers loud” but perhaps I missed that warning.

In my opinion, I think the most reasonable and obvious explanation to account for the failures I experience is that their amplifier is simply one of an intrinsically unreliable design. This is supported by some other findings:

• One of their former dealers in Florida told me he had 3 similar Soulution amplifier failures which is why he no longer carries the line.
• I learned a former distributor also presumably dropped the line due to amplifier failure and unreliability.
• Previous published reports also point to inadequate amplifier design particularly with respect to heat sinking. (https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/59960-are-soulution-amplifiers-class-a-ab-or-d/) This thread discusses that Soulution SMPS amps run heavily in class A and are very hot to the touch (you can probably fry eggs on them when they're running) suggesting that “the heatsinks appear to be WAY too small for a Class A amplifier of that power”.
• 4) The person I sold my 511s to told me that his blew up after 6 months! (but thankfully did not blame me). He likewise felt he had not overdriven his amps.

I should reiterate I had no issues with the sound of the amps when they worked (for about 4 of the 7 months that I had them). They are really wonderful sounding amps (as is their 725 preamp which has continued to serve me well). But it will be a cold day in hell before I would ever consider purchasing one of their products ever again. In my view, the company is in clear denial about the reliability of their product. Sadly, customers and dealers do not wish to discuss this issue for obvious reasons which is namely, that it negatively impacts the resale value of several existing Soulution amplifier products in the marketplace. There are frankly too many excellent amplifiers to choose from for me (or anyone) to risk the unpleasantries I have experienced with Soulution amplifiers ever again.

I’ll conclude by answering what you’re about to ask me next anyway. What amps am I currently using? For now, I’m using the remarkable Parasound JC1+ (sourced from Elliot Goldman). I’ve posted before that this is a remarkable amplifier and provides 85+% of the Soulution 701 performance at 10% of the price. Bass performance is the equal of the 701 and even better- it works every time you turn it on! Honestly, it does seem as uber reliable as it gets. (By the way, don’t miss Jacob Heillbrun’s excellent review of the JC1+ in May/June TAS. He nails the amp’s performance in a very thougtful and insightful piece). I’ll sort out my other possible amplifier options in the months ahead, assuming they will sound better than the JC1+ which is no easy feat.

Apologies for making you plunge in a recent and unhappy past. I hate unreliable electronics and try to avoid them. Unfortunately, as you say, it is hard to know about problems as customers, manufacturers and dealers most of the time are silent about it, and many individual cases are just rumors without statistical meaning.

I have owned until very recently the JC1's. Although they were intended to drive the Wilson Audio Watchdog passive subs I used them several times with the XLF's and the SoundLab's in hot days. I found interesting that John Curl, an audio engineer and designer, uses the Bybee Music Rail technology in his new JC1+amplifiers - yes Marty, you have "quantum devices that speed electrons" in your amplifiers. IMHO it is a case of healthy pragmatism of using the best sounding devices in his design, forgetting the ridiculous marketing claims. The JC1+ should be something special.

I still keep my first power conditioner - the original wood box Bybee Signature Model, signed by John Curl and Jack Bybee, and still use it with the CC power cords from time to time, as it has US power connectors. And never miss a Jacob Heilbrunn review, the one on the JC1+ was a great read, as you refer.

 

[LL21]

Francisco, I have not used the Soulution amplifiers for some time now and frankly, it is a painful subject to discuss. Recall I was using 511 monoblocs for a few years but last August I had the opportunity to purchase their revered 701’s at an attractive price so I pulled the trigger. In short, it was the most disappointing purchase of my entire audio career. It was not their sound (which was excellent) but unfortunately their reliability that resulted in blowing up 3 amplifiers (one amp twice) within a period of 6 months. A more detailed story follows.

I purchased these amplifiers from a dealer who took them in in trade. However, one amp required repair at the factory in Switzerland and when I bought them, they were sent to me directly from Soulution in Switzerland thoroughly certified (both amps including soiftware updates) even though only amplifier (#0015) was repaired. However, the companion amplifier (#0016) failed in October 2020. Then in February 2021, amplifier #0015 failed again. Soulution originally wanted to charge me several thousand dollars for each repair, but were receptive to my argument that these failures seemed unreasonable for an amplifier of this caliber (cost 180K per pair) and that they should cover all costs especially since they certified both of them in August 2020. I knew the amps wer out of warranty but I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that one might receive more than a "30/30" warranty (30 feet or 30 seconds ) after an unanticipated and major trans-Atlantic repair.. To facilitate an equitable resolution I agreed to pay 50% of all shipping but fighting for that was not a pleasant experience, not to mention that what they put me through with US Customs in delays and paperwork was a nightmare (and in my view unprofessional in the extreme). . You would think they had never shipped to anyone in the US before. To their credit, by the time the 3rd amp was repaired and returned, they figured out how to ship FedEx smoothly.

On March 11, 2021 Cyril Hammer provided this explanation for why his amps failed repetitively. “Three out of four amplifier channels in your pair of 701s were damaged in exactly the same way only within a few months. We have never ever seen this happen before. We must assume that these units have seen too high input levels. Please ensure that you do not feed any input signal to the 701 higher than 1.35Vrms (1.95Vpp)! If you do so, you risk that the units will fail again”. This explanation seemed disingenuous and a poor explanation for what occurred for several reasons:

• I use a Soulution 725 preamp. I would seem odd to me that their preamp is designed so it could overdrive their amplifier to the point of failure.
• As far as I know, my ears were not bleeding while listening to my 94dB efficient Alexandrias and thus overdriving the speaker seems a poor argument.
• I also do not recall reading anything in the Soulution 701 manual that specifically said “do not play these amplifiers loud” but perhaps I missed that warning.

In my opinion, I think the most reasonable and obvious explanation to account for the failures I experience is that their amplifier is simply one of an intrinsically unreliable design. This is supported by some other findings:

• One of their former dealers in Florida told me he had 3 similar Soulution amplifier failures which is why he no longer carries the line.
• I learned a former distributor also presumably dropped the line due to amplifier failure and unreliability.
• Previous published reports also point to inadequate amplifier design particularly with respect to heat sinking. (https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/59960-are-soulution-amplifiers-class-a-ab-or-d/) This thread discusses that Soulution SMPS amps run heavily in class A and are very hot to the touch (you can probably fry eggs on them when they're running) suggesting that “the heatsinks appear to be WAY too small for a Class A amplifier of that power”.
• The person I sold my 511s to told me that his blew up after 6 months! (but thankfully did not blame me). He likewise felt he had not overdriven his amps.

I should reiterate I had no issues with the sound of the amps when they worked (for about 4 of the 7 months that I had them). They are really wonderful sounding amps (as is their 725 preamp which has continued to serve me well). But it will be a cold day in hell before I would ever consider purchasing one of their products ever again. In my view, the company is in clear denial about the reliability of their product. Sadly, customers and dealers do not wish to discuss this issue for obvious reasons which is namely, that it negatively impacts the resale value of several existing Soulution amplifier products in the marketplace. There are frankly too many excellent amplifiers to choose from for me (or anyone) to risk the unpleasantries I have experienced with Soulution amplifiers ever again.

I’ll conclude by answering what you’re about to ask me next anyway. What amps am I currently using? For now, I’m using the remarkable Parasound JC1+ (sourced from Elliot Goldman). I’ve posted before that this is a remarkable amplifier and provides 85+% of the Soulution 701 performance at 10% of the price. Bass performance is the equal of the 701 and even better- it works every time you turn it on! Honestly, it does seem as uber reliable as it gets. (By the way, don’t miss Jacob Heillbrun’s excellent review of the JC1+ in May/June TAS. He nails the amp’s performance in a very thougtful and insightful piece). I’ll sort out my other possible amplifier options in the months ahead, assuming they will sound better than the JC1+ which is no easy feat.

Ughhh...what a terrible experience! Given what you say, I would have thought that a well experienced audiotech would have a good idea from experience as to what the more reliable brands are.

Does anyone have any idea about what the most robust, reliable brands are? I have owned CJ and Zanden for 20 and 13 years and only had 2 repairs in all that time. I have had a few repairs with my Gryphons over the years. I have heard same about Vitus, D'Agostino and Constellation...and now your Soulution problem. On the other hand, I hear that Brystons really are tanks...hence the 20-year warranty I imagine.

Boulder? Anything else in high powered amps that people have found to be bullet-proof reliable?

 

[KeithR]

Marty, why don't you get Dags like most other Wilson owners?

Soulution seems to be that brand everyone buys at 30 cents on the $ used. Your experience may sum up some of the reason why. Believe a friend had difficulties with his older 7 series and had to run on 240v.

 

[marty]

Marty, why don't you get Dags like most other Wilson owners?

Soulution seems to be that brand everyone buys at 30 cents on the $ used. Your experience may sum up some of the reason why. Believe a friend had difficulties with his older 7 series and had to run on 240v.

D'Agostinos are obviously excellent amplifiers. Even more important, it is an amp that Wilson uses to design and voice their speakers. So you're question is even more relevant! Why not D'ag? Answer? Once you've heard the magic that a high powered Soulution is capable of, it becomes a very compelling sound. It's one of the few amps I have heard that offers the usual SS attributes (low noise, DC coupling, wide bandwidth, high power) but also has that elusive thing which is soundstage depth and life-like musicality, at least to me. But man o man, nothing has made me want to make my own T shirts that say "Shoulda bought Bose", more than owning those unreliable beasts.

 

[Kingsrule]

I hated the 511's in mono on my Magico's, but never had a service issue. I don't recall the amps running warm/hot either.
U would think the NA distributor would have service here in states...

 

[Elliot G.]

Ughhh...what a terrible experience! Given what you say, I would have thought that a well experienced audiotech would have a good idea from experience as to what the more reliable brands are.

Does anyone have any idea about what the most robust, reliable brands are? I have owned CJ and Zanden for 20 and 13 years and only had 2 repairs in all that time. I have had a few repairs with my Gryphons over the years. I have heard same about Vitus, D'Agostino and Constellation...and now your Soulution problem. On the other hand, I hear that Brystons really are tanks...hence the 20-year warranty I imagine.

Boulder? Anything else in high powered amps that people have found to be bullet-proof reliable?

I am using CH Precision and became a CH dealer. I have a lot of amplifiers in the field in both stereo and mono versions and they are 100 percent bulletproof. We have not had any issues and I don't expect any. They are a wonderful product and an excellent company. By the way I have no issues with their Pre's or DAC either.
I have been an Audio dealer for going on 45 years. I have been involved with most High End lines at some time in my life. Tube amps all break its the nature of the device. That is not to say they sound good or anything else its just a tube is a tube. Bryston's may be tanks but IMO they aren't in the same leagues as most of what else you mentioned. I know Boulder is very well built and have not heard of issues some of the other brands I can't say that about.

 

[LL21]

I am using CH Precision and became a CH dealer. I have a lot of amplifiers in the field in both stereo and mono versions and they are 100 percent bulletproof. We have not had any issues and I don't expect any. They are a wonderful product and an excellent company. By the way I have no issues with their Pre's or DAC either.
I have been an Audio dealer for going on 45 years. I have been involved with most High End lines at some time in my life. Tube amps all break its the nature of the device. That is not to say they sound good or anything else its just a tube is a tube. Bryston's may be tanks but IMO they aren't in the same leagues as most of what else you mentioned. I know Boulder is very well built and have not heard of issues some of the other brands I can't say that about.

Hi Elliot,

Thanks for that and very good to know. I have heard Bryston many years ago and from memory agree with your comments above, though it was 'only' the 4B. That said, I have heard Boulder and really liked it...and that too was an older generation the 2060. I recently heard the 2160 and liked what I heard from a superficial perspective, but because it was not a system I knew well, it was more than difficult to say what was what.

Look forward to hearing the M10 stereo at some point.

 

[marty]

Elliot says he has "over 49 years in the High End Audio Business".

Elliot- here's a news flash- playing with your "pop goes the weasel" music box at age 2 does not count as high end audio!

(Relax folks, I know Elliot well. This is nothing more than a back-handed compliment to say that Elliot does not look his age! )

 

[dminches]

I think Ayre’s MX-R Twenty mono blocks are a great choice for SS. I would put them in a class above Bryston.