I assume its a similar architecture/chipset as my Virtue Audio Two - and so many other d-amps (mine also runs off a 30v power supply, b/c that’s pretty much the max. voltage you can throw at the chipset …) … and boy, it surely is sweeeet sounding and really well put together.
I have a 24v (well 12+12v) battery between the power supply and the amp, so it can draw really high amps for short peaks … so, very velvety, yet sparkling, punchy and quicksiverish sound …
you should try it
edit to add: just went back to my emails and I bought mine in 2010 - so already 15 years of happy smiley face …
Eh, it’s not a steal, full MSRP is only like $70. I’ve got a pair of PA speakers (Mackie C300 12") that I’m dying to try with a digital amp instead of the rackmount roadcase 40lb+ Ramsa amp I otherwise use.
there is a lot of “fetish-ish” stuff going on in audiophilia … and just like in the sexual context, the fetish while originally a token or placeholder (e.g. high-heels) for the real thing (e.g. intercourse) takes on a life and a dimension of its own.
In audio, the “intercourse” is listening to music in the highest quality possible.
The “fetish” are frequency-sweeps, sound pressure diagrams and all that technical information … and quite often people drool over those “objective measurements” more than they spend listening to music …
Stuff like “I had a 6db hump at 70hz that made for a wooly bass, but since I moved the subwoofer 6” to the left (and buried a dead chicken head at the north wall), that hump disappeared and nicely filled up the little 80hz valley that I had previously and that sucked the life out of the kick drum in the tower-of-power reference disc” …
quite often, there is little music listened to … or its always the same 10 reference tracks …
I managed to set my system up to “good enough” standards, and now spend more time listening and less times on my knees moving around furniture or buying the latest and greatest audiophilia, that will significally up my bass game ;o)
I guess going to the track to watch and bet on horse races qualifies as a hobby.
The wheels (or hooves) started coming off that one, demographically speaking, quite awhile ago. Apart from the Triple Crown and Breeder’s Cup, most non-equiphiles would have trouble naming big races, and it’s easy now to lose money with online betting on just about any sporting event, so no need to go to the track.
Here in Kentucky attention is still paid to racing colt sales, and we have an ongoing equine scandal.
I’ve had one of these for a couple years now. I use it to test speakers and sources, so it lives in our craft room. It sounds OK, but it absolutely does not have much guts. Works fine for most bookshelf speakers…not so well with bigger floor-standing (non-powered) speakers. It also has a sensitivity to lower impedance speakers. But, overall, a very worthwhile amp for the money.
1980’s me: Vinyl records. Who will want this $#!^ when we have cassettes (and later CDs).
2025 me: Why did I get rid of all of my old records? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!!!
Late 1970s you: These 8-tracks will be worth something someday when us kids get old and nostalgic for our youth. I’ll save all of them to sell to collectors.
2025 you: Those 6 crates of 8 tracks have been through 10 household moves now and are full of spiderwebs. Should I finally get rid of them before this next move? Naah, the next generation of kids will totally want to collect them. Just like LPs.
For every ordinary sort of consumer item that becomes a collectible, there are a dozen or a hundred contemporary items that don’t.
This recently revived thread from 2023 reminds us of all the things that used to be widely underfoot and hence potential surprise latter day collectibles that instead today’s yute have no idea about. LPs could easily have been another such.
I’ve been hauling my family’s record collection around for the last thirty years or so. We haven’t had a record player since the Reagan administration. But I’m sure my copy of Herb Alpert’s Whipped Cream and other Delights must be worth a pretty penny by now. I’ve staked my retirement on it!
I got rid of my vinyl collection 30 years ago. Besides a few that aren’t available on streaming, the only things I miss about those albums are the full-sized artwork and liner notes that don’t require a magnifying glass to read.
It’s worth $15 to $40 (U.S. dollars) depending on the condition. A sealed copy (i.e., the shrinkwrap still on the album) makes it more valuable than that. An autograph from Alpert makes it more valuable still. A copy of the numbered 2012 box set of his albums called Herb Alpert’s Is . . . is worth even more.
On the other hand, you can probably pick up a copy at almost any Goodwill store for 50 cents. (I’m not dissing Herb Alpert, I’ve always enjoyed his music)
I’m honestly surprised it’s worth that much. While I’ve schlepped my family’s record collection around for a few decades now, I’m not really a collector, but once in a while I do run across that album at flea markets. I assume it was fairly popular at some point.
