A quick note regarding the B&W's.
First; I agree with the statement regarding Krell and B&W, great HiFi, lousy musicality, IMO. Last year I went looking for new speakers, auditioned dozens, I listened to the B&W's, but they never convinced my ears they should be in the running. (Yes I took my own CD's for consistency). I finally went with Coincident's, but many speakers where more musical than the B&W's.
Second; There was a B&W at my local store which had a nice cut away. I saw this before my final decision but after listening. The cut away was there to show the insides. This was a factory demo of their construction, and judging from what I saw, they have no desire to satisfy the true music lover. They use simple cheap wiring, (though the colours where nice), connected like your average car stereo speaker leads. No soldering. The crossover used what looked like the least expensive parts on the planet. No hard wireing anywhere I could see. Simple Mass Market, advertise the hell out of it and the rats will come to the piper.
Regarding Mike Elliot and his amps. I had his Counterpoint SA-12, 15 years old, up till last year. I brought to my home a lot of todays really good amps for comparison, (Lumely, Canary, BAT, Pass, Krell, Rotel, Parasound, and a few others). Yes they sounded a bit better, but not enough to make me want to buy them. That was untill I heard the Atma-Sphere M60's. It was better in every way, but even at that, not near what I thought. I would love to hear one of his upgraded Counterpoint amps or his Aria's. He is a great designer, and is now using the best parts available. I don't see how someone could go wrong.
First; I agree with the statement regarding Krell and B&W, great HiFi, lousy musicality, IMO. Last year I went looking for new speakers, auditioned dozens, I listened to the B&W's, but they never convinced my ears they should be in the running. (Yes I took my own CD's for consistency). I finally went with Coincident's, but many speakers where more musical than the B&W's.
Second; There was a B&W at my local store which had a nice cut away. I saw this before my final decision but after listening. The cut away was there to show the insides. This was a factory demo of their construction, and judging from what I saw, they have no desire to satisfy the true music lover. They use simple cheap wiring, (though the colours where nice), connected like your average car stereo speaker leads. No soldering. The crossover used what looked like the least expensive parts on the planet. No hard wireing anywhere I could see. Simple Mass Market, advertise the hell out of it and the rats will come to the piper.
Regarding Mike Elliot and his amps. I had his Counterpoint SA-12, 15 years old, up till last year. I brought to my home a lot of todays really good amps for comparison, (Lumely, Canary, BAT, Pass, Krell, Rotel, Parasound, and a few others). Yes they sounded a bit better, but not enough to make me want to buy them. That was untill I heard the Atma-Sphere M60's. It was better in every way, but even at that, not near what I thought. I would love to hear one of his upgraded Counterpoint amps or his Aria's. He is a great designer, and is now using the best parts available. I don't see how someone could go wrong.