Wow! That is above and beyond the call. 200 hours should pretty much take care of burn-in, although they suggest up to 300 hours. Improvements beyond the 200 hour mark are likely pretty subtle but let us know your experience.
I’d be curious as to what they are playing to–speakers, dummy loads? Looks like speakers in the photo, although I only see one. Also have been wondering if it matters how loudly they are played for burn-in purposes–I have had mine going almost non-stop for two weeks but mostly playing at very low volume so as not to disturb other people (wife, neighbors on a common wall, etc.).
…well…I believe we are both lucky to have or look forward to having the 700’s…I believe all Paul’s statements about the sound qualities and have no doubt that they will be a revelation for me considering that I’ve been using the Carver Sunfire 7 channel amp for almost a lifetime.
hey stevem2- these things are perfectly happy to have no load at all. Darren can explain in better detail about that. We’re trying to determine whether just having them on, with the voltage on the caps being steady, or giving them an AC input is best for the burn. Darren suspects the latter, so we’re going with that.
I have had the 700’s for several months now and all I can say is…“WOW!” Even after the burn in period at PS Audio, that was not the end of the burn in process. It’s taken a few more months and I don’t even know now if they will continue to do this. However, I can’t tell you enough of what these amps have done for me in terms of detail and no compression of sound in loud passages of music/film. For me, they are a revelation! It’s only been in the last month or so that actors, orchestras, soloists have exited the speakers and are in my home theater room! The Maggies are so much more in richness and dynamics that I really can’t believe it! I had a gut feeling prior to purchasing them that I was in for something very special and that’s putting it mildly! I’ve received Paul’s emails over the years and actually this was a blind purchase but the price was certainly right for each of the six amps and the trade in of my Carver 7 channel amp was financially sufficient enough that the value given me would cover one and a half of the 700’s!
And thanks to you, Edward. We appreciate the time you spend writing this and sharing with others. The 700s are indeed one of the more remarkable amplifiers out there. The more people we can convince to move off their duffs and replace that aging power amplifier the better systems will sound. It’s tough on amps. They just sit there and work and we rarely think of them. DACs and other new toys are much more interesting to update.
Duncan and/or Paul. I’m considering three M700s for the front and center channels and a S300 for the rears to replace my McIntosh MC205 5 channel SS amp with 200 wpc. How much of an upgrade are we talking about here? I use my system mainly for 2 channel but we do have the occasional family movie night to consider. If it’s a significant upgrade from this solid (IMHO) Mcintosh amp, I might take the plunge. Thanks!
While the McIntosh are fine amplifiers, I have every confidence the M700s will be noticeably better - not just because of the increased headroom they provide - but because we’ve really tailored their sound to be as close the BHK 300 as possible within the price constraints. Further, the McIntosh is a 5-channel sharing a power supply and the M700s enjoy separate regulated supplies for every channel. I think you’re going to be blown away at the difference and never look back.
Wow. That is VERY tempting. My only reservation is that the M700s will have that classic class D thin, rolled off treble. From what I understand the newer NCore based class D amps (are the M700 and S300 based on NCore?) don’t really have those problems. Specifically, the Bel Canto REF600m are very well reviewed. Has anyone heard the M700 against the Bel Canto units?
I have not, but I can tell you the M700s display none of that class D sound you refer to. We’re more than aware of what reputation class D has and were determined that sonic character not be in our units. One of the hallmarks of the M700 is its full and rich sound without a trace of thinness or class D’ness.
So I received 3 M700’s today and will receive an S300 next week. I’ve already set them up and dialed them in so to speak with my speakers and subs. At first I noticed a little harshness in the treble. A slight brittleness, if you will. The midrange was a little recessed too. After having them play just for 4 hours, their sound has already changed significantly. Almost gone is the etch at this point and I’m really enjoying the dynamic punch these monoblocks provide! Percussion sounds more real and I’m definitely getting more detail and separation between the players. If they sound this good this soon, I can’t wait for them to finish opening up! I’ll give an update on the full HT experience once I get my S300 to complete the system. Thanks, Paul and @darren for these gems. Well done!
Quick addendum to my initial impressions. Since jazz piano is one of my favorites, I decided to have a late night session with a couple Bill Evans recordings and one by Brad Mehldau. Specifically, I spun my Ultradisc “Sunday at the Village Vanguard” and the very unappreciated “Trio '65” in addition to the wonderful collaboration by Brad Mehldau and Chris Thile. One thing that has really surprised me is how much more solidly the M700’s portray hard piano strikes, particularly in the upper register. With my McIntosh, harder strikes seem to break down a little bit with the leading edge almost distorting. I figured this was just a characteristic of the recordings I was listening to in that the microphone was being overloaded. It does happen, after all. But with the M700’s, these harder strikes are more robust and realistic, and with a greater presence. I think piano on vinyl is a challenge, mainly due to speed accuracy and stability issues. The better tables overcome this, not only with better regulated speed controls, but also with dampening, platter weight, etc. I never realized that the amp was so instrumental in obtaining a more realistic presence. Stringed instruments like guitar, violin, and bass are relatively easy in delivering a sense of “you are there”. Percussion is more difficult, but good systems can pull it off. Up until now, I had never had the illusion that the piano was just behind the speakers like I had experienced with other instruments. But that has now changed with the M700’s. I am getting a more realistic listening experience across the board and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Excellent news. That slight harshness will continue to diminish over time. Just keeping the units powered up (even with no music playing) seems to help. The M700’s are giant killers.
Yep. The M700’s keep getting better and better. Last night I really dialed in the sub integration (phase and time aligned with seamless frequency response curves) and the results are amazing. Incredible impact and dynamics. I feel like someone is tapping my chest on bass and percussion even at lower volumes. That mild upper frequency harshness is now totally gone. Great detail and tone. I love these things!!
