Your setup looks REALLY nice!
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Dave,
Visually, a beauty of a setup. The spacing of the components adds to the visual enjoyment. Congrats,
Chas
How are the rel subs with the M1200? Any hum or noise issue?
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Wow, this is beautiful! I bet the new amps are pairing really well with the Contour 60s.
Regarding the terminal through holes, I do remember it being a critique from a number of folks on the old Stellar amps. In all honesty, I think it’s one of those things that no matter what you do, you’re going to have folks that prefer it the other way.
just ordered a set in black for my system to compare to my Nord One Up mono amps that use the NCore NC500 boards, hope they are better
Ferom what i have researched there was a thread on Audiocircle and Audioshark where people compared the NC500 amps to the IcePower 1200AS2 amp modules and it was 60 to 40 like the Icepower better
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David, thanks so much for the review. Glad you’re enjoying them!
…that is a beautiful freakin’ system man!
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Craig here…with a report on my first listening session last night. My kit is doc’d in post 48 above so my comparisons are relative to my previous M700s.
As I had said previously, the M1200s are in a different league!! It’s almost too bad that they look a lot like the M700s because they are so much better (in my system, to my ears, etc).
I had them on all day streaming quietly in the background…then sat down to seriously listen to owned media. I started with Mark Knopfler’s SACD Shangri-La…since I am very familiar with it. Three initial impressions: tonal balance top=>bottom is excellent/much better; bass is full, but extremely well controlled and NOT at all bloated and blended much better with my REL (driven high level by the amps); and finally, DAMN, the music is IN MY ROOM!! Yeh, that’s the same description I used when first hearing the Stellar Phono Pre. Ok, I wanted to further explore the bass reproduction. I put on Brian Bromberg’s CD of The Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers…with his upright bass. I had never before heard his strings/fingers/picking like that!! It seems the M700s just couldn’t control the woofers and mid bass like the 1200s do. (My first impression was that there was less bass, but no, there is less bloat/boom and MUCH better weight and authority ==> better control over the speakers). Then I moved to James Taylor’s SACD Hourglass. Still evaluating the bass, I wanted to hear the drums in Gaia. I started the music with Line 'em Up and got sidetracked hearing the 1200s tonal balance vs the 700s. It is So Much more to my liking than the 700s. It is even/natural top to bottom (more about that later). The Gaia track next and those drums moved my ribcage and, sorry, but my eyes welled up and I got shivers. I played it again and found I can turn it up in a way I never could before…(maybe I had heard overdriving with the 700s??..)
I moved on to some of my best recorded vinyl. I started with The LA4 Going Home, direct to disc. The soundstage was better/precisely laid out than I had ever heard. Bud Shank’s flute hung in the air, his vibrato delicately reproduced. Then The Great Jazz Trio, D2D, 1978…again In My Room!! Then Lee Ritenour’s Sugarloaf Express D2D, definition and tonal balance! Then Bob James/Earl Klugh 1979 1/2 spd mastered…again bass impact but with previously unheard control.
When I got the M700s a few years ago they were the first modern amps I had had. I always had an experience of my system being a bit bright with some sheen. I had changed cables, fiddled with speaker placement and wondered if my old ears just couldn’t take “accurate treble”. OK, Now with the M1200s, that is gone. The tonal balance is such that the old sheen/glare is gone and the midrange just blooms into the room and the bass is so well controlled that I feel I am as close to my musical nirvana (my system, my room, my ears, etc).
Sorry if this review seem too effusive/emotional, for me, it’s the truth. I can’t wait to get back to listening…and, the M1200s are just burning in on the stock PSvane tubes!! I have a set of Gold Lions, and several sets of NOS Mullards to try in the future!
More later.
Craig
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Nice room and a gorgeous table, what is it? Also, what arm did you add to it?
So far, fantastic! No hum or noise for me. I am running the high level input and the black cable is on the ground rather than the black post.
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Thanks! They are pairing quite well. 
Re: terminal holes, its no biggie, just something that was different. It actually made connecting the cables from the RELs easier as they didn’t slip out from gravity while I connected the spades from my main speakers.
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Awesome review Craig. Thanks for putting in so much effort to describe what you are hearing!
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Would love to hear impressions of these vs bhk250.
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The table is a Dr Fieckert Blackbird, my friend is a a dealer and I set up tables on the side for him here in Maryland/Dc/VA The main arm is the Thales Simplicity II pivoted linear tracking, the back arm is a Jelco 850M 10"
OK, the other betas are showing their systems so I’ll share mine.
The Rockport Atria speakers have Mark Levinson 536 monos between them. Each mono has a Transparent power conditioner.
In the rack is a VPI Classic 3 with a Soundsmith Paua cartridge. The table is resting on a Silent Running Audio isolation base. Next is a Esoteric K-03X disk player/DAC. Below it is an Audio Research Ref 6 preamp. Phono Pre is a Pass XP-17. On the bottom shelf is a Bryston BDP-3 streamer. Below the bottom shelf is a Transparent Reference Powerisolator…Yes, I haven’t been consistent in the selection of black vs. silver components.
My Levinson amps are very heavy and I didn’t want to move them for the beta test. I’ll place the Stellars on top of the Levinsons for now. The Levinsons are in perfect condition & I don’t want any nicks or scratches. I found this in my pantry to protect the tops of the 536s.
The shelf liner is about 1/16" thick and kind of spongey. I tacked it place with a little painter’s tape to keep it from sliding.
OK, I’m ready for the Stellars. They come out of quarantine in a few hours.
Assuming no out of box issues, I’ll let them run for a day or two & provide my thoughts on the Stellar M1200 amps.
Stay well everyone.
Jeff C
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This should a cool and interesting comparison/contrast with the Levinson’s combined with the Audio Research Preamp, with the M1200 retailing at 20% of the cost of the Levinson’s
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And 20% of the Levinson’s weight.
The quarantine is over and they are connected to the system.
Comments later but for now, they are obviously not broken and they are loud.
Jeff C
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Following this email, I will send my first comments. I am a dyed in the wool tube guy. All I can say is, Wow. All good. Impressive. I was worried if I’d miss my tube midrange glory. Not at all!
My following email does not delve into comparisons with my current rig. Instead, I just tried to describe what I heard and enjoyed. At this point, only 4 hours in, I have not a single criticism. And, now after 4 hours, I think they are even smoother and more natural than when I started 4 hours ago. Yikes. Bravo Paul, Darren, and the team. Let me know if you want me to post the next email that I will send in a few minutes. I will also draft another one, comparing what I heard to my current amps.
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
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After a mere 12 hours of overnight burn in via streaming SOMA FM’s Groove Salad channel at normal listening volume, and volume matching pink noise within 1 dB of my current rig, I began serious listening.
The first telling thing I can say is that despite my analytical intentions of writing detailed notes, I instead found myself immediately drawn into the music. I put the pen down and was struck by the involved and yet relaxed presentation. It was pressing all my buttons. Timbres and harmonic structures were accurate and balanced. Dynamic. Excellent imaging and deep wide soundstage. Deep textured bass. Excellent inner detail and ambience recovery and decay without exaggeration. Overall impression is incredibly smoooth and enjoyable. But don’t interpret this comment to mean that these amps are boring or that they lack excitement. They easily made Frank Sinatra’s 1952 “Only The Lonely” ballads sound powerful, full of life, and emotionally gripping. Bravo! So, more about the music.
My first selections were a combination of both progressive and classic style jazz ( 480 East, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Hirome Trio, Melody Gardot, Eva Cassidy, Frank Sinatra), and rock (Underworld, De-Phazz, Bjork, Richard Dorfmeister). These offered opportunities to hear solo female and male vocals, acoustic piano/bass, orchestral horns and strings, as well as some complex electronic keyboards/guitar. The electronic keyboards often producing subterranean bass.
All of these selections were satisfying, often causing me to listen to more selections from each artist than I had originally intended. Another powerful indication of the engagement quotient of these amplifiers. I was listening to the music!
I’m a bit of a drum snob, and very much appreciate when the drum kit sounds “in the room real”. Cymbals, stick and brush snare work are all to telling if a system can’t get them right. Kick drum also shines a light on the system’s heft and it’s ability to deliver punch and authority. The M1200’s delivered the goods and I often noticed myself smiling as I often would do when seeing live performances with exceptional drummers (Vinnie Colaiuta anyone?).
On a technical note, I can say the M1200’s run only luke warm to the touch and are dead quiet without any mechanical noise or hum, even with an ear to the speaker. I run a fully balanced system all with XLR interconnects from the tube phono preamp, SACD player, tube line stage preamp, and the M1200’s. Speakers are full range Soundlab electrostats. My current amps are 250W/ch tube Wolcott Audio Monoblocs Room is large 42x26x16 (Golden Ratio).
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Thanks so much, for posting the pictures.
These look great.
Which level of regenerator would be minimum necessary to supply m1200s?
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