Stellar GCD and M700 have arrived

Audio Components Amplifiers
1

No more sleepless nights tracking a package.
The delivery guys hadn’t brought the third box from the truck while I was already slicing the tape of the first box.
Immediately hooked some KEF Q-100 to the amps, and the Airport Express to the analog 1 inputs. The idea being to test run the smallest bookshelves, with the lowest quality source. And then take notes.

Straight away, transparency, solidity and neutrality was what came through. Reference tracks opened to the limits that the KEFs could reproduce, but letting a lot more come out. To my delight everything sounded exactly as I had hoped, analog and uncolored. I can only anticipate the beauty of proper size speakers and top quality sources to be reproduced. No other amp had openened those bookshelves as the Stellar did, that for me is enough to evaluate the amplification signature and analog nature of the GCD. Had I used better speakers to test, and the waves could have been muddied with analysis parálisis. The moment that came to form a real emotion during listening was Chuck Mangione’s Feels So Good, after the brass intro. It gave me goosebumps when it just flooded me with the being in the studio moment. Yes, a mere pair of bookshelves always being described as needing a subwoofer. That was the point of starting from the bottom and work my way up. I have no doubts that the SVS Ultra towers was the correct choice, after this first test of an easily discarded small speaker. Will continue to run a size up speaker one pair at a time to contemplate dynamics and other factors that only bigger enclosures can deliver.

I’m happy

2

Of course there was no hum, ground loops or clicks and pops. All was hastily hooked with a surge protector and cheapo interconnects and cables. One source at a time so in case anything appears, I’ll easily ID the offender in the chain.

3

What other towers did you try before arriving on SVS ultras?
I’m on older def techs and an anthem 225. I think my next upgrade should be speakers, then the sgcd, then m700s.

4

KEF Q700s, Infinity Prímus 360, Technics SB-200. Wharfedale 250s. Almost kept these, had not been for the SVS side firing woofers which worked the best in my main room.

The only speaker I would move up from the SVS would be the Dynaudio X44 or X38, it was out of my budget. I still got me the X18 stand mounts, and they please a lot.

I would rank the Whaferdale as the best bang for the buck, but not as performance oriented as the SVS. I suspect that SVS truly voiced the ultras after the Dynaudio products. Very close except for the tweeter. SVS used metal and the Dyns use soft dome. Aside from that, hard to beat them. They are not a warm speaker. Very balanced.