Eighteen months ago I began building a new system. The only constant in the system was the speakers - Rockport Lyras.
First, a bit about my tastes and proclivities.
I absolutely love the sound of tubes, particularly SET. The holographic and warm midrange - love it. That said, the warm-up time and upkeep make tubes an unlikely choice. I wish tubes had the dynamics and 'oomph' of the best SS. I have yet to find tubes that do.
Other than just listening and feeling, important criteria I listen for are,
balance sound top-to-bottom,
midrange body and (as Ron R calls it) breath of life,
lower midrange density,
bass drive, speed and definition,
a natural high frequency that never veers into hifi shriek.
My journey has been a long one. As such, I plan to outline it in parts...
Part 1: Soulution
Setup: MSB Select 2 + Director/Horizon 360 -> Pre -> Amps -> Rockport Lyras (Transparent Opus cabling)
I ordered a pair of Soulution 717s and the Soulution 727 pre-amp. While waiting, Axiss Audio (Soulution NA distributor) were kind enough to loan me a 711+ stereo amplifier.
I generally liked the 711+. It was just warm of neutral. It was balanced bottom to top. Never harsh. Good bass drive. All-in-all a very solid amplifier. It gave me great confidence that the 717s would be just what I was looking for.
After a prolonged wait I received the 717s. I believe that I had the very first pair in NA - serial numbers were 3 and 4, as I recall! I hooked them up and I was immediately blown away. Even cold with virtually zero break-in the 717s were among the very best I have ever heard. They sounded natural. While the bass was not quite what my Boulder 3060 had, it more resolved. The high frequency was oh-so natural. The mid-range sounded almost tube-like (somewhat akin to what I have heard on Dartzeels). They were great and I knew they'd only get better with break-in. Unfortunately, I hit a snag. Having the first pair was great. But, it also meant that I was susceptible to early production foibles, which I did. I has an issue with the amps. I am not going to go into the details as I do not feel qualified to do so. Being somewhat superstitious I did not want to move ahead with the Soulution gear. Great as it was, between the long wait and then an issue at launch I wanted to move on. Axiss made sure that I was treated well and the amplifiers were returned. I cannot speak highly enough about Axiss. They are genuinely good people and very professional. I would not hesitate for a second to do business with them i the future.
Part 2: CH Precision
I was able to audition the CH Precision M10 monos and the L10 pre in my system.
Setup: CH C10 -> Pre -> Amps -> Rockport Lyras (Transparent Opus cabling)
The CH was wonderfully quiet. It resolved incredibly. It was balanced bottom to top. It was just the warm side of neutral. But, to my ears, it sounded a bit thin. It lacked mid-range and lower mid-range body and density. I created a spreadsheet to understand every permutation of the feedback settings so i could dial them in. When I go the body into the system, things got flabby (sorry, that's the word that comes to mind). Despite all these great things, without a foundational body & density they were a no-go. So, on I pressed!
First, a bit about my tastes and proclivities.
I absolutely love the sound of tubes, particularly SET. The holographic and warm midrange - love it. That said, the warm-up time and upkeep make tubes an unlikely choice. I wish tubes had the dynamics and 'oomph' of the best SS. I have yet to find tubes that do.
Other than just listening and feeling, important criteria I listen for are,
balance sound top-to-bottom,
midrange body and (as Ron R calls it) breath of life,
lower midrange density,
bass drive, speed and definition,
a natural high frequency that never veers into hifi shriek.
My journey has been a long one. As such, I plan to outline it in parts...
Part 1: Soulution
Setup: MSB Select 2 + Director/Horizon 360 -> Pre -> Amps -> Rockport Lyras (Transparent Opus cabling)
I ordered a pair of Soulution 717s and the Soulution 727 pre-amp. While waiting, Axiss Audio (Soulution NA distributor) were kind enough to loan me a 711+ stereo amplifier.
I generally liked the 711+. It was just warm of neutral. It was balanced bottom to top. Never harsh. Good bass drive. All-in-all a very solid amplifier. It gave me great confidence that the 717s would be just what I was looking for.
After a prolonged wait I received the 717s. I believe that I had the very first pair in NA - serial numbers were 3 and 4, as I recall! I hooked them up and I was immediately blown away. Even cold with virtually zero break-in the 717s were among the very best I have ever heard. They sounded natural. While the bass was not quite what my Boulder 3060 had, it more resolved. The high frequency was oh-so natural. The mid-range sounded almost tube-like (somewhat akin to what I have heard on Dartzeels). They were great and I knew they'd only get better with break-in. Unfortunately, I hit a snag. Having the first pair was great. But, it also meant that I was susceptible to early production foibles, which I did. I has an issue with the amps. I am not going to go into the details as I do not feel qualified to do so. Being somewhat superstitious I did not want to move ahead with the Soulution gear. Great as it was, between the long wait and then an issue at launch I wanted to move on. Axiss made sure that I was treated well and the amplifiers were returned. I cannot speak highly enough about Axiss. They are genuinely good people and very professional. I would not hesitate for a second to do business with them i the future.
Part 2: CH Precision
I was able to audition the CH Precision M10 monos and the L10 pre in my system.
Setup: CH C10 -> Pre -> Amps -> Rockport Lyras (Transparent Opus cabling)
The CH was wonderfully quiet. It resolved incredibly. It was balanced bottom to top. It was just the warm side of neutral. But, to my ears, it sounded a bit thin. It lacked mid-range and lower mid-range body and density. I created a spreadsheet to understand every permutation of the feedback settings so i could dial them in. When I go the body into the system, things got flabby (sorry, that's the word that comes to mind). Despite all these great things, without a foundational body & density they were a no-go. So, on I pressed!
