Mastersound Due Undici: nice sounding little firecracker

morricab

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Apr 25, 2014
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I picked up one of these to drive my Decware HDTs for late night listening, which will be up in my Attic room. At first I thought that i had made a mistake because in hooking it up to my big Odeons it was quite lightweight in the bass, a bit glary/glassy and ocassionally peaky on top. Also, compared to my now sold Ayon Crossfire, it was lacking depth of soundstage and imaging dimensionality. I thought "oh well it didn't cost much" and left it for a couple of days.

When I went back to listen again it was big improvement: punchy controlled bass (still not as deep though) with a highly nuanced and textured mid and upper bass. Great midrange projection and presence, a return of 3d imaging but still not hte last word in depth and much cleaner sounding highs. Dynamics and subtle shifts in dynamics and texture to the sound were actually really good and competitive with some of the better amps I have tried in-house...it is a lively sucker but doesn't (now) grate on the nerves like I was afraid it would. I think it just needed time to setlle into the system and a good long warmup run in did wonders. I still haven't tried it yet with the HDTs in their new location upstairs so that will be the next trial.

Still for an amp that retails at around 3K Euro it is something of a marvel...

Just for the record, the Ayon Crossfire III was better in every way and this little Mastersound was not bought to replace it...that honor will go to the new Aries Cerat Genus integrated that is on order.
 

bonzo75

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What's supposed to be the difference to the Diana integrated?
 

marslo

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morricab

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What's supposed to be the difference to the Diana integrated?

Diana is three stages and all DHT. It also weighs 120kg. Genus is two stages and input/driver is not DHT. It weighs a "mere" 70kg. This makes it more like Concero 25s and Diana is more like Concero 65s.
 

morricab

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Who is the dealer of AC in Poland, if any?

To the best of my knowledge there is not a dealer in Poland. If not, you are welcome to come visit and have a listen.
 

morricab

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Small update on Dueundici with HDTs. At first a bit harsh and AM radio like but after some extensive re-breakin of the speakers it has smoothed up nicely and is quite holographic and free from speakers. Bass is still not very deep but I have them too far from wall reinforcement, which they need. For now the Mirage bipolar servo sub is filling in the bottom nicely. Highs aren't nearly as nice as Odeons though so a good supertweeter may be needed. Still, for under 3k (including Monarchy DAC) this is a killer system and plays real well at low levels...a key requirement.
 

DSkip

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Aug 26, 2013
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Small update on Dueundici with HDTs. At first a bit harsh and AM radio like but after some extensive re-breakin of the speakers it has smoothed up nicely and is quite holographic and free from speakers. Bass is still not very deep but I have them too far from wall reinforcement, which they need. For now the Mirage bipolar servo sub is filling in the bottom nicely. Highs aren't nearly as nice as Odeons though so a good supertweeter may be needed. Still, for under 3k (including Monarchy DAC) this is a killer system and plays real well at low levels...a key requirement.

Have you played around with any preamp tubes yet?
 

morricab

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Have you played around with any preamp tubes yet?

No, not yet and there is also room to play with the output tubes as well.
 

marslo

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To the best of my knowledge there is not a dealer in Poland. If not, you are welcome to come visit and have a listen.
Very kind of you, thank you.
 

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