I was in the high end audio business for 20 plus years and I have personal experience with both companies. I have a chance to meet Gordon Gow and other people who are in the manufacturing side of the business. I have to say that I don’t think that I have a Preference for AR or McIntosh. Sometimes I feel like listening to AR and sometimes I like McIntosh, although I don’t I have any current model of either. I am now retired and somewhat burned out from it. I do still piddle around and stream music to a CJ system with totem speakers , small room and not critical listening. I just enjoy the music and it is very pleasant to find a inexpensive d amp for the grandkids to enjoy. I am reliving my 80s period and building a modded Dynaco ST70 . So I can say that I have to flip a coin to say that one is “Better “ than the other.
It always amazes me how many folks who do reviews and UA-cam videos evaluate sound with poor room choices and completely wrong setups??!! Also, measurements are used to verify a build and do not always insure great sound. I will add that the Purify and Hypex amps are quite good for the $$$ however integration and choice of options takes quite a bit of knowhow, especially when choosing options for power, isolation, wiring, and chassis, etc... Synergy is Key!
Thanks, Chris. A great video. I'm in New Zealand and I'm currently running fairly low powered class-A monoblock amps (home-built) into Acoustat SPECTRA 6600 electrostatics and, like your Martin Logans, they have an impedance of something in the order of 2 ohms at 15kHz and about 1 ohm at 20kHz, so I was particularly interested in hearing your comments that the 1ET7040SA VTV amplifiers drove those MLs without any issues. (Many years ago I had the misfortune to hook up what is in effect a QUAD 405 current dumper amp to the Acoustats and the amps didn't have any current limiting safeguard and I destroyed the output and driver transistors as well as a number of resistors in the left-hand channel and it took me some time to repair it and get it back working again and it's been fine for some years now, running in another system). I wonder what the shipping costs would be to import stereo modules plus a suitable power supply, buffer input and case from either Europe or the US?
I have had the honour of listening to one of these amps running through a pair of Marton music hand made speakers with the nad c 658 pre amp playing a Yamaha CD player.
Congratulations Chris for being the first to bring us an actual demo of Bruno's latest module! I'm a little surprised the 7040 and AHB2 sounded identical, not even a difference in soundstaging or imaging? VTV lists about 6 different Discrete OP Amps to choose from, I wonder if Warren has a floating library of OP amps that clients can try at home (like rolling tubes) and then buy the one that has the best synergy in their system? I'm hearing the most expensive one, Weiss, of course, does it all and might be the #1 pick? Can VTV give any timetable for being able to source a 75Volt PS? Keep your videos coming!
The ability to hear things depends on lots of factors. The more veils you have the less you can hear differences. For those with srious line conditioning, a killer source, a killer DAC and killer cables and cables off the floor and super fuses and great footers and a great room and listen to high rez recordings of natural instruments in space using a time aligned speaker set out in the room....... will hear serious differences between components and you would NEVER say that two components sound the same. It does not take Golden ears. It takes a seriously tweaky system and playing seriously great recordings. Every tiny thing you do changes the sound. I just turned on Warren at VTV to to the New Class D discrete op amps. Warren, on first blush, thinks they are better than the Sparko pros that are listened to here. He just send me a pair and I will be A/Bing against my modified Sparko Pros I have here. I do several mods to the Sparko Pro op amps that make them sound much better. Also, the jacks, wiring, etc. can be improved on this new amp (I already mod the baby Purifi from VTV). So, you have lots to go to make this the best it can be. However, given what I see here, I would not think that this guy, as nice as he is, is the guy to review a serious version or compare op amps, etc. I think you should get a modded new Purifi VTV amp in and a bunch of op amps from Warren and to a tell all. Even a stock VTV would be fine (but, please get the WBT 703 output connectors...way better than the stock ones)........a modded one would put you in heaven......at least for the money heaven. This amp, no matter what you do to it....will not be state of the art......but very very good........maybe even great.
The new Purifi modules have not yet arrived......hopefully sometime this month....before Warren can start shipping. He says it just plain "sounds more real" than the baby version. I believe him. Cannot wait to get one in to mod. Give me a call sometime....would love to talk.
@@jerrysnead2842 indeed Eric Vincent Schultz (usually called Ric).........I wanted to call the company Esctatic Visionary Stereo.........but it sounded too out their.....so Eletronic Visionary Systems it became.
The big power ratings from Purifi are currently unobtainable since there's still no power supply for it. VTV and others are shipping Hypex 1200 series power supplies but of course you don't get any more power than the ET400 module, certainly not close to the specs advertised for the new ET7040SA. NAD really took a bath (ongoing) with their C298 faulty power sensors so they are not in a rush to release another Purifi based amp. March Audio in AU has a good looking ET7040SA based amp with a proprietary PS but for some reason we can't get any measurements to verify it's power, so...
I was wondering if you could tell me if you noticed that much of a difference between the stock factory buffer compared to the Sparkos OP amps. I'm interested in the amp and I also have LRC martin logans and was wondering if I should purchase the 3 channel Purifi with just the stock buffer? I appreciate the review and its exactly what I was wanting to be reviewed.
I hope it commes out soon, I built a Purifi Eval 1 based amp with my dad for his system so I think I will build a new one with thease modules and possibly another buffer board.
I wonder if I could get one of those DIY PCB to make me a copy of that? Not for sale of course but just alot cheaper to get done that way. Would be interesting to find out.
Think i recognize Bruno's shirt from a Yello Album Cover....., However I am a Class convert after falling for the Wyred 4 Sound sx1000r Monoblocks, fantastic valve for $$$, hope Class D keeps advancing - just for efficiency reasons it is the future. PS great channel thx
wow! I just found this video, I just completed a build of the Eval1 Eigentakt, based on 2 Purifi 1ET400A modules.... and now reconsidering, because I added a Schiit Freya to get a bit more bass but am not so happy about the lost clarity and resolution when using this as a preamp to an S.M.S.L. dac.... tempting..
Beware that Freya+ has 600 ohms output impedance balanced and Purifi unbuffered has only 4.4k ohms, there is no 10:1 minimum impedance bridge match, so it may sound rolled off. If you use Freya as a preamp you should bypass Purifi input buffer because you get the gain from the preamp.
I would LOVE to hear this amplifier with Sound Lab Audiophile 645 or 745. This would be the ULTIMATE combination. I've had full range electrostatics (old timer here) KLH, Koss Model 1a 4 way 1st order crossovers with compound bass units did go down to 30Hz, and heard Stax 81(very inefficient but Quads were in transition) and no bass, Martin Logan CLS - Wife never wanted anything other than Electrostatics after hearing Harp solo on these but again no bass. Currently heavily modifying Magnepan 3.6R (the only original parts will be the drivers themselves). I've also had tramped Accuton/Focal with Threshold / Pass equipment which never broke up when pushed VERY hard.
Could you post the music you used, esp the Finish singer whose name I didn't catch--something like Sylgie Nogard? OH ad thanks for the review. Sounds like a beast that could make those ML speakers dance should you choose.
I have personally found that class D amps work best on very low output speakers that are difficult to drive, or very low output. On very high output speakers, it can become a bit hard on extended listening. 😉
i have DIY 8 inch in transmission boxes 2 ohms and 1 ohm rated speakers. They are made in Serbia and those sounds absolutely fantastic. I do have handmade germanium stereo amp at 2 ohms. at about 40 watts. Also i have various NAD amps and recievers that can handle those speakers without any problem, but the sound is dull and not that detailed in comparison with germanium amp. In germanium amp ther are main 2x4 AD 161/162 transistors in amp section and drive BC 187/188 transistors. In general i am looking for a good class D or class AB amp handmade or factory amp.
The following is probably going to make you mad, but you have potential, because you have some quality, and well thought out gear selections. You also have good industry contacts. However video wise- I would like to offer some suggestions: 1) We don’t need several minutes of artsy shots with music. A nice quick artsy/musical transition- sure…but maximum of 5 seconds. 2) We don’t need to hear any detailed breakdown of your song selection unless you are immediately correlating an aspect of the song to a strength or weakness of the gear. If you want to discuss demo songs make a video on that (more short videos do far more for your channel than long ones). No one that wants to hear things like Trent Reznor wrote Hurt that was sung by Johnny Cash. Most of us know that, but more importantly nothing to do with the amp modules. 3) We like comparisons, especially when you note Benchmark as the top SINAD dog, have there and then don’t compare. Huge missed opportunity. 4) If you have design knowledge, it would have been great to hear more technical breakdown of the new design. I am subscribing, in hopes future videos will be more on topic. I think you have the knowledge to do well, but you need to refine your method, by staying on topic and outlining your videos beforehand and thinking what do the ppl want. Adding value to peoples lives, who now have goldfish level attention spans is the name of the game. There is lots of good advice on how to make good videos- so take advantage of googling. I used to own a digital marketing company, and I promise this is meant to be helpful. We need more good knowledge and experienced audiophile reviewers, like you. All the best!
Dang I initially couldn't decide between the vtv purifi 1et7040sa modules vs the benchmark AHB2, and now after this video i further totally can't decide between the two : ( I have 1.7is and SR1A to run off whichever I choose and I really cant decide. I also noticed that schiit released a new Tyr amp that could be up there with those. I really hate blind purchases...
You can't go wrong with the Benchmark AHB2, but looking at the VTV prices, you can 2 separate 1et7040sa monoblocks for $2200. I doubt you would be able to hear any difference between the Benchmark and 1et7040sa, even though the sinad is 113dB for the benchmark.
the Tyr is not up there with those amps. I just sent my pair back, loud transformer hum. Also the bass from Hypex NC500 (Nord) is noticeably better than Tyr.
You will not get real drum sound from those speakers . And that ps dac that hisses away ! Ps audio is cheaply built Paul is a liar and he cant hear ! And will not pay to use top notch parts !
ASR is Garbage. Please don’t make buying decisions based on Amir’s “measurements”. He doesn’t really know what he’s doing, and sound quality is judged by EAR not by measurements.
What's the point of listening tests. They are completely irrelevant. Measurements are all that matters. I just listen to test tones all day long and I live the clarity and lack of distortion. Who cares about music. SINAD is all that matters. So just stop talking about your albums. They're just trash. You shluld throw them away. High definition test tones are where it's at.
Anyone who bases their purchasing decisions in audio strictly by what Amir has discovered, should find another hobby or passion . Hearing and Listening matters .
I was in the high end audio business for 20 plus years and I have personal experience with both companies. I have a chance to meet Gordon Gow and other people who are in the manufacturing side of the business. I have to say that I don’t think that I have a Preference for AR or McIntosh. Sometimes I feel like listening to AR and sometimes I like McIntosh, although I don’t I have any current model of either. I am now retired and somewhat burned out from it. I do still piddle around and stream music to a CJ system with totem speakers , small room and not critical listening. I just enjoy the music and it is very pleasant to find a inexpensive d amp for the grandkids to enjoy. I am reliving my 80s period and building a modded Dynaco ST70 . So I can say that I have to flip a coin to say that one is “Better “ than the other.
Great review. Very informative and complete. Not only very accurate but extremely stable, without being over 100lbs!
Love the soft-focus glamour shots of all your hifi techno-pr0n ;).
Awesome review, thanks! I was wondering, instead of comparing with the Benchmark, how does it compare to the old ET400 module? Thanks!
It always amazes me how many folks who do reviews and UA-cam videos evaluate sound with poor room choices and completely wrong setups??!! Also, measurements are used to verify a build and do not always insure great sound.
I will add that the Purify and Hypex amps are quite good for the $$$ however integration and choice of options takes quite a bit of knowhow, especially when choosing options for power, isolation, wiring, and chassis, etc... Synergy is Key!
Thanks, Chris. A great video. I'm in New Zealand and I'm currently running fairly low powered class-A monoblock amps (home-built) into Acoustat SPECTRA 6600 electrostatics and, like your Martin Logans, they have an impedance of something in the order of 2 ohms at 15kHz and about 1 ohm at 20kHz, so I was particularly interested in hearing your comments that the 1ET7040SA VTV amplifiers drove those MLs without any issues. (Many years ago I had the misfortune to hook up what is in effect a QUAD 405 current dumper amp to the Acoustats and the amps didn't have any current limiting safeguard and I destroyed the output and driver transistors as well as a number of resistors in the left-hand channel and it took me some time to repair it and get it back working again and it's been fine for some years now, running in another system). I wonder what the shipping costs would be to import stereo modules plus a suitable power supply, buffer input and case from either Europe or the US?
I have had the honour of listening to one of these amps running through a pair of Marton music hand made speakers with the nad c 658 pre amp playing a Yamaha CD player.
Congratulations Chris for being the first to bring us an actual demo of Bruno's latest module! I'm a little surprised the 7040 and AHB2 sounded identical, not even a difference in soundstaging or imaging? VTV lists about 6 different Discrete OP Amps to choose from, I wonder if Warren has a floating library of OP amps that clients can try at home (like rolling tubes) and then buy the one that has the best synergy in their system? I'm hearing the most expensive one, Weiss, of course, does it all and might be the #1 pick? Can VTV give any timetable for being able to source a 75Volt PS? Keep your videos coming!
When I had my Nord NC500 mono amps I had 2 opamps I would switch out
The ability to hear things depends on lots of factors. The more veils you have the less you can hear differences. For those with srious line conditioning, a killer source, a killer DAC and killer cables and cables off the floor and super fuses and great footers and a great room and listen to high rez recordings of natural instruments in space using a time aligned speaker set out in the room....... will hear serious differences between components and you would NEVER say that two components sound the same. It does not take Golden ears. It takes a seriously tweaky system and playing seriously great recordings. Every tiny thing you do changes the sound. I just turned on Warren at VTV to to the New Class D discrete op amps. Warren, on first blush, thinks they are better than the Sparko pros that are listened to here. He just send me a pair and I will be A/Bing against my modified Sparko Pros I have here. I do several mods to the Sparko Pro op amps that make them sound much better. Also, the jacks, wiring, etc. can be improved on this new amp (I already mod the baby Purifi from VTV). So, you have lots to go to make this the best it can be. However, given what I see here, I would not think that this guy, as nice as he is, is the guy to review a serious version or compare op amps, etc. I think you should get a modded new Purifi VTV amp in and a bunch of op amps from Warren and to a tell all. Even a stock VTV would be fine (but, please get the WBT 703 output connectors...way better than the stock ones)........a modded one would put you in heaven......at least for the money heaven. This amp, no matter what you do to it....will not be state of the art......but very very good........maybe even great.
The new Purifi modules have not yet arrived......hopefully sometime this month....before Warren can start shipping. He says it just plain "sounds more real" than the baby version. I believe him. Cannot wait to get one in to mod. Give me a call sometime....would love to talk.
@@ericschultz9925 Are you with EVS?
@@jerrysnead2842 indeed Eric Vincent Schultz (usually called Ric).........I wanted to call the company Esctatic Visionary Stereo.........but it sounded too out their.....so Eletronic Visionary Systems it became.
I see the Hanns B channel influences in your transitions! Stumbled across this as I just ordered an Audiophonics Puri LDA model from France.
great channel! keep it up
like the way you talk about music too. Clearly an actual music lover and not just a gear head
Great vid!video! Great stuff!! Music Reviews?
Chris I got to come here this amp
The big power ratings from Purifi are currently unobtainable since there's still no power supply for it. VTV and others are shipping Hypex 1200 series power supplies but of course you don't get any more power than the ET400 module, certainly not close to the specs advertised for the new ET7040SA. NAD really took a bath (ongoing) with their C298 faulty power sensors so they are not in a rush to release another Purifi based amp. March Audio in AU has a good looking ET7040SA based amp with a proprietary PS but for some reason we can't get any measurements to verify it's power, so...
Yes I hate that too like buying a car with a 289 v8 but it can go faster with a 489 but there's no such thing like wtf ?
another great review...
I was wondering if you could tell me if you noticed that much of a difference between the stock factory buffer compared to the Sparkos OP amps. I'm interested in the amp and I also have LRC martin logans and was wondering if I should purchase the 3 channel Purifi with just the stock buffer? I appreciate the review and its exactly what I was wanting to be reviewed.
I hope it commes out soon, I built a Purifi Eval 1 based amp with my dad for his system so I think I will build a new one with thease modules and possibly another buffer board.
I wonder if I could get one of those DIY PCB to make me a copy of that? Not for sale of course but just alot cheaper to get done that way. Would be interesting to find out.
Think i recognize Bruno's shirt from a Yello Album Cover....., However I am a Class convert after falling for the Wyred 4 Sound sx1000r Monoblocks, fantastic valve for $$$, hope Class D keeps advancing - just for efficiency reasons it is the future. PS great channel thx
The Staccato discrete op amp worked best for me after trying about 20 options.
wow! I just found this video, I just completed a build of the Eval1 Eigentakt, based on 2 Purifi 1ET400A modules.... and now reconsidering, because I added a Schiit Freya to get a bit more bass but am not so happy about the lost clarity and resolution when using this as a preamp to an S.M.S.L. dac.... tempting..
Beware that Freya+ has 600 ohms output impedance balanced and Purifi unbuffered has only 4.4k ohms, there is no 10:1 minimum impedance bridge match, so it may sound rolled off. If you use Freya as a preamp you should bypass Purifi input buffer because you get the gain from the preamp.
I would LOVE to hear this amplifier with Sound Lab Audiophile 645 or 745. This would be the ULTIMATE combination. I've had full range electrostatics (old timer here) KLH, Koss Model 1a 4 way 1st order crossovers with compound bass units did go down to 30Hz, and heard Stax 81(very inefficient but Quads were in transition) and no bass, Martin Logan CLS - Wife never wanted anything other than Electrostatics after hearing Harp solo on these but again no bass. Currently heavily modifying Magnepan 3.6R (the only original parts will be the drivers themselves). I've also had tramped Accuton/Focal with Threshold / Pass equipment which never broke up when pushed VERY hard.
What is the light above yout turntable? I've been lookong for one that isn't too tall. Thx
Could you post the music you used, esp the Finish singer whose name I didn't catch--something like Sylgie Nogard? OH ad thanks for the review. Sounds like a beast that could make those ML speakers dance should you choose.
My memory is trashed from covid s but if you're thinking of a guitarist nils Lofgren.
The datasheet says +-35v to 70v +-, the ICEpower 1500S 69v should work
Chris - have you discussed the Puffin anywhere? I'd be very interested in understanding how you use it and your impressions...
Great review! Try Vlatko Stefanovski's recordings. One of the best guitarist.
ps thanks for the beautiful music suggestion (e.g. london grammar)
I have personally found that class D amps work best on very low output speakers that are difficult to drive, or very low output. On very high output speakers, it can become a bit hard on extended listening. 😉
Lord of class D
Hey Chris! Any plans to review the revels you have here?
Website says coming soon how did get one
i have DIY 8 inch in transmission boxes 2 ohms and 1 ohm rated speakers. They are made in Serbia and those sounds absolutely fantastic. I do have handmade germanium stereo amp at 2 ohms. at about 40 watts. Also i have various NAD amps and recievers that can handle those speakers without any problem, but the sound is dull and not that detailed in comparison with germanium amp. In germanium amp ther are main 2x4 AD 161/162 transistors in amp section and drive BC 187/188 transistors. In general i am looking for a good class D or class AB amp handmade or factory amp.
Please show always 3 sound sample. Videos with sound sample get like button.
How did it work with the LRSs?
The following is probably going to make you mad, but you have potential, because you have some quality, and well thought out gear selections. You also have good industry contacts. However video wise- I would like to offer some suggestions:
1) We don’t need several minutes of artsy shots with music. A nice quick artsy/musical transition- sure…but maximum of 5 seconds.
2) We don’t need to hear any detailed breakdown of your song selection unless you are immediately correlating an aspect of the song to a strength or weakness of the gear. If you want to discuss demo songs make a video on that (more short videos do far more for your channel than long ones). No one that wants to hear things like Trent Reznor wrote Hurt that was sung by Johnny Cash. Most of us know that, but more importantly nothing to do with the amp modules.
3) We like comparisons, especially when you note Benchmark as the top SINAD dog, have there and then don’t compare. Huge missed opportunity.
4) If you have design knowledge, it would have been great to hear more technical breakdown of the new design.
I am subscribing, in hopes future videos will be more on topic. I think you have the knowledge to do well, but you need to refine your method, by staying on topic and outlining your videos beforehand and thinking what do the ppl want. Adding value to peoples lives, who now have goldfish level attention spans is the name of the game. There is lots of good advice on how to make good videos- so take advantage of googling. I used to own a digital marketing company, and I promise this is meant to be helpful. We need more good knowledge and experienced audiophile reviewers, like you. All the best!
Wow, now we have 750 watts instead of 450. I don't think more than 50 watt in a living room with 88db/w/m is of any good.
what HAT do you use for the pi?
I’m sure I’ve seen that putzeys interview somewhere else. 🤔
Test it with music from Perfume, from Japan.
Dang I initially couldn't decide between the vtv purifi 1et7040sa modules vs the benchmark AHB2, and now after this video i further totally can't decide between the two : ( I have 1.7is and SR1A to run off whichever I choose and I really cant decide. I also noticed that schiit released a new Tyr amp that could be up there with those. I really hate blind purchases...
You can't go wrong with the Benchmark AHB2, but looking at the VTV prices, you can 2 separate 1et7040sa monoblocks for $2200. I doubt you would be able to hear any difference between the Benchmark and 1et7040sa, even though the sinad is 113dB for the benchmark.
the Tyr is not up there with those amps. I just sent my pair back, loud transformer hum. Also the bass from Hypex NC500 (Nord) is noticeably better than Tyr.
They meausere very good, but i always feel like im missing something, clinical sound
too much markup. may as well go Benchmark (unless you actually need more power)
Do you enjoy music? Or, do you like toys?
You will not get real drum sound from those speakers . And that ps dac that hisses away ! Ps audio is cheaply built Paul is a liar and he cant hear ! And will not pay to use top notch parts !
ASR is Garbage. Please don’t make buying decisions based on Amir’s “measurements”. He doesn’t really know what he’s doing, and sound quality is judged by EAR not by measurements.
What's the point of listening tests. They are completely irrelevant. Measurements are all that matters. I just listen to test tones all day long and I live the clarity and lack of distortion. Who cares about music. SINAD is all that matters. So just stop talking about your albums. They're just trash. You shluld throw them away. High definition test tones are where it's at.
If they sounded identical, then as you stated in the video you may not be the best judge to review products on the sound quality side of things.
Anyone who bases their purchasing decisions in audio strictly by what Amir has discovered, should find another hobby or passion . Hearing and Listening matters .