Mark Levinson No. 23 amp. Nothing but problems with this dud of an amp. The first unit went up in smoke. The second one overheated and shut off. When driving Apogee speakers (which love power) I kept blowing ribbons. And the sound was complete dullsville. Muffled and closed-in. You needed a lot of EQ to open up the sound.
Ensemble mini monitors. This speaker was made by the Swiss company Ensemble. It got great reviews and it was supposedly Swiss made. So, I figured why not? Anyway, I was appalled by the build quality. Hollow cabinet, and what looked like a styrafoam cup for the midrange/woofer. And the sound was dreadful. Dull, muffled, no dynamics whatsoever. Flat as a pancake. They were driven by an FM Acoustics 611 amp, so it wasn't the amps fault even though the stupid dealer insisted that it was.
Goldmund Mimesis 12 dac: This got a great review in TAS. I bought it used. Build quality was ok, but the sound was very restrained, not dynamic, and uninvolving. A real turd in my book.
Ensemble mini monitors. This speaker was made by the Swiss company Ensemble. It got great reviews and it was supposedly Swiss made. So, I figured why not? Anyway, I was appalled by the build quality. Hollow cabinet, and what looked like a styrafoam cup for the midrange/woofer. And the sound was dreadful. Dull, muffled, no dynamics whatsoever. Flat as a pancake. They were driven by an FM Acoustics 611 amp, so it wasn't the amps fault even though the stupid dealer insisted that it was.
Goldmund Mimesis 12 dac: This got a great review in TAS. I bought it used. Build quality was ok, but the sound was very restrained, not dynamic, and uninvolving. A real turd in my book.