Welcome to the forums richter250! Here is the link to the Herbie’s
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Thanks to @stuartmc for the recommendation!
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Thanks! Just put a pair of M1200’s into the system this week. I also have a P15 supplying the power which is also very new. Still breaking them in but they sound fantastic already with my Maggie 3.7is.
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Welcome, and congratulations on the new additions to your system!
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Congrats on the new gear! The M1200s do really well with Maggies.
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I agree. 3.7is with DWM bass panels, driven by M1200s in my setup sounds mighty good.
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Just make sure you don’t put them on to tight because it will degrade the sound. Sounds like a great system. I’m waiting for my preowned P10 to arrrive.
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Please keep us posted on your developments. In my near future will be 1200s and either 3.7is or 20.7s. I’m thinking 3.7is will be enough when properly juiced with 1200 watts of beautiful control of such speakers.
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I’ve had the opportunity to listen to 3.7is, 20.7s and 30.7s at The Listening Room in Chestertown, MD. The 3.7is and 20.7s are generally in stock. Michael was able to have Magnepan bring the 30.7s in for a weekend in February 2019. We also got to meet factory reps and talk to them. I personally think the 3.7is sound so close to their bigger brothers that the larger ones aren’t worth the money. You start to notice the difference when you really crank them up. 3.7is don’t have quite the slam factor as the bigger ones. In my setup I’ve gotten around that by adding a pair of DWM bass panels. You can save about $6K over 20.7s if you like the smaller setup. It’s also nice to be able to tune placement of the main panels and DWM bass panels separately. Oh, I also have an I-beam in my basement that limits head height so 20.7s wouldn’t fit anyway. Good thing. In spite I’ve what I’ve said above, I’d probably be tempted.l
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I totally agree. I hear improved bass that is tighter and an overall improvement to the soundstage. It’s like I was looking through an SLR camera and got the focus just that much better.
Well I have had the M1200s in my system for about 3 weeks now running pretty much continuously to break them in. They are fed from a P15 and are powering Maggie 3.7is. All I can say is THANKS to Paul and Darren and everyone at PS Audio. They are wonderful. I have tried several amps with these speakers. Parasound A21, AVA Fet Valve 600R, and an old Carver Sunfire Signature. All are fine, powerful amps that I really enjoyed but the M1200s bring the Maggies to life. I could not be happier. I took the plunge after reading the @stuartmc review in Positive Feedback. I am not good at describing what I hear but everything that @stuartmc said in the review is spot on. I thought that the review was a little over the top when I read it but damn if everything he said isn’t true. He said it best when he described the performance as “realism”. That is it. They make you want to listen to your music more often and for longer periods. One particular characteristic that I love is that they make drum kits sound like drum kits! Track after track the drummer is there in person in the back of the soundstage. Many long term Maggie owners believe that Maggies always respond well to increased power and tubes somewhere in the circuit. My Maggies responded wonderfully to these spectacular little amps. Well done PS Audio!
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Great review! I am glad you are so pleased.
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Thank you richter250. It’s gratifying when someone else can hear the voices in my head and thinks they’re worth listening to. Yea, that review certainly was a rave-a-roo. I might have been more hesitant and dialed my excitement back a bit, had I not had plenty of past experience with both tube and Class D amps. I also had the ability to confirm my experience by direct A/B comparisons with some excellent amps I had on deck. … and of course, there’s the fact that I have huge cajones! LOL.
Glad you’re enjoying your Nephilims, like I’m enjoying mine.
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Stu, did you review Arek’s Hattor pre-amp? It’s the only pre-amp I ever owned, bought it in 2015 and the one thing I could say about it is that I could not notice it having any sonic influence at all. As to Nephilim, are you referring to hybrid amplifiers?
@richter250 congrats on the M1200’s! After reading @stuartmc review I decided to try the Herbie’s RX-9 stabilizer rings and the Gold Lion tubes. I can let you know that was a great decision and took my M1200’s to a higher level of performance! After you get some more hours enjoying your M1200’s give the Herbie’s/Gold Lion combo a try! It gave my Martin Logan’s a more precise and clean sound while also enhancing dynamics!
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Steven,
I haven’t reviewed the Hattor yet, but I will as soon as I get some other review obligations completed. It absolutely crushed every other preamp I tried. The way it showed the Benchmark LA4 to be colored was quite amusing to me. I would never have guessed that until I did the A/B comparison. I built a custom power supply for mine and run the Sonic Imagery Labs 994Enh-Ticha Dual opamps in it (instead of the Dexa’s that Arek supplies) and the gain buffer is so close to the full passive mode in terms of transparency that I now seldom run it without some minimal gain. The M1200s seem to like it best like that. I would put this combo up against anything regardless of price.
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I forgot to mention that “Nephilim” is in fact my name for the M1200 hybrid. I used this biblical allusion in the review, because the amps are giants of a new breed.
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My recollection from Noach is that the Nephilim were corrupting forces of evil that required an epic flood to wipe them off the face of the earth. I hope the M1200’s are not corrupting forces that need to be destroyed!
Arek’s passive was fairly new when I got one from him, I think $800 delivered from Poland. He was still doing it under the Khozmo brand that he used for his stepped attenuators that he’s made for years.
I think I was using a PS Audio DAC at the time and 300w Quad QMP monoblocks. You might call them Brobdingnagian. I call them current dumping hybrids.
I will take issue with you on what you say about switch mode power. VTV is hardly a fair comparison given they are a third the price of M1200 with very cheap input stages and power supplies.
I’m currently on day four with my new M700s. Everything being said about the improvements from M700 up to M1200 is what I’m experiencing moving up from the S300. I wasted a year trying to make up my mind between bhk 250 or M700. Decided against the 250 due to size and weight.
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I just bought something that is 9kg and am a bit concerned, and I’m not 81!
I’m thinking of an S300 for my son as it’s very well reviewed, one box and seems the best value for money. Really depends on your speakers and listening levels at that power rating.