2. amps-preamps
  3. 125923-20253

Would you go all 1 brand for electronics?

When I was younger I used to dream of stacks. Especially Tandberg. The sexy black and chrome gear was amazingly sexy, and sleek. Ahead of it’s time really in that respect. Kyocera, Studer, Sumo, Amber, Hitachi, Yamaha, Technics, were all making gear that stacked beautifully together. Of course, so was McIntosh.

Then I got to hear a demo of Conrad Johnson gear driving a Martin Logan single panel speaker. It was good, but as soon as the CJ amp got switched out for a solid state amp, it was absolutely magical. That broke the spell for me. When I got older I found myself mixing and matching more and more, as well as often wishing there wasn’t a single damn cable in the system and it all just worked. :)

I tried going all 1 brand with Parasound, but then I discovered great sounding digital amps and instead of going with many Parasounds I went with little monoblocks, and the whole stack idea was broken. They don’t make sources anyway.

So my question for all of you, especially those of you who do not have all 1 brand stacks of gear. If you had to choose, from source to amp, a single brand, what would it be? Of course your paying for it, so keep the cost in mind. :)

I think we should reasonably exclude record players, though some like McIntosh DO make them.


Best,


Erik


erik_squires

Showing 3 responses by theothergreg

theothergreg
222 posts
 
I agree, so that's why I said "can be" instead of "are."  I have not personally heard a built-in perform at the stand alone level, but not ready to say definitively that it does not exist.

Regarding your thoughts on having a single piece of electronics, I have a Parasound HINT in a secondary system and it does a lot and does everything well (and at a very reasonable price).  If I HAD to get down to one piece, it might be it, but I know exactly what I would be missing.  That's why it's in a secondary system :)
theothergreg
222 posts
 
Some say that built-in phonos can be as good as a stand alone (DarTZeel, Audio Note, Luxman for instance), but I have not personally heard them.

My C1100 preamp is superb in every way except for the built-in phono.  I tried really to love it but just couldn't, so ended up getting a stand alone from another brand.  I have not heard the new stand alone Mac phono but have absolutely no desire to replace mine now. 
theothergreg
222 posts
 
My grandfather had an SAE system back in the day with first Walsh Ohm speakers I ever saw.
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