Coincident Dragon MK I vs MK II

Have you compared the Dragon's to the Black Shadows btw Ernie?

Yes, although I never had them both at the same time, plus I was only able to listen to the Black Shadows for a short time. It was after listening to them, that stimulated me to purchase tube mono blocks because they sounded so damn good. Easily better than my Pass XA30.5 amp. The only short coming was that the Black Shadows weren't a proper match for my speakers (Tyler Acoustics Linbrook Signature system). My speakers needed more juice to really shine and this was only apparent with demanding/powerful classical music passages.

I don't have this problem with the Dragons which put out 80 wpc. The Black Shadows put out a tad more warmth than the Dragons, which I really like. Both are lightening fast and have excellent separation. I wish I could say more, but like I said I only had them briefly and they weren't paired with the right speakers.

Morgan, Have you had a chance to listen to the Black Shadows?

Yes, I heard the Black Shadows at 213Cobras a few weekends back. It was an enlightening two visits over two weekends. We listened and compared the Melody M845's to the Audion's. We also had a Pre-amp shoot out, and listened to the Druid V's and the Def's. It was quite a blast.

I would agree with your assessment of the Black Shadows as lightning fast, with a very holographic sound stage. And the most impressive atribute, was their "shove" as Phil likes to call it which I have not yet found the words to express in any other way! It was similar to the "shove" of the Joule Electra Mono Blocks that a friend uses (but the Joules are very noisy and not as warm).

Update: I upgraded the tubes on my Dragon to Psvane 300B and Psvane 211's and it was a nice improvement.

The external power supply for my Chord QuteHD dac was also a great improvement. The external power supply added more weight and smoothed out the top end so that it no longer had a bite.

My Fathom F110 sub blew out its amp, so my system has been limping along, until I can get that repaired. Lately I'm noticing that I miss the weight, bass and wallop of my Pass Labs XA30.5. I was thinking about selling the Dragons and buying another XA30.5, or getting the XA60.5 mono blocks, or trying out a Luxman M-600a.

In an effort to improve my situation I bought a Sablon Audio Uber Robusto power cord and I have to say I'm impressed by it. It adds more bass weight and dimensionality.

Here's what I concluded so far: I definitely need to get my sub repaired as this could be a big part of the problem of my recent desire for more weight, bass and wallop. I'd also like to hear what it would sound like to have these Sablons power my Dragons. This could help too. I could test this out easily because my friend has a Sablon and I could ask to try it. Bottom line is that after getting my sub fixed and trying the warm sounding Sablon power cords, if I'm still missing the weight, bass and wallop then I'll have to seriously consider selling the Dragons.

It seems the subwoofer contributes significantly to your system`s performance,so step one is to get that fixed. I`ve haven`t read complaints about the Dragons`s bass before.Could simply be your speaker is better matched with a SS amplifier or you may just prefer the sound of SS to tubes.
Regards,