My friend finally dragged me to a high end audio boutique in Orange County, we kicked back and listened to a $10,000+ AR tube amp and preamp hooked up to a pair of really expensive Thiel speakers, enjoyed a mug of their high quality coffee and some terrific jazz. All I can say is that we both figured that an Antique Sound Labs MG S1 15DT 5 watt per channel SET (KT88 driven), a modified Ah! Njoe Tjoeb tube output CD Player, a pair of M22 like Michaura M55s modified with Jensen paper/oil caps and Caddock resistors, a Vance Dickason Titanic sub sounded at least as good.

BTW, my ASL tubie cost about $700. I swapped stuff which cost me a bit under $400 but for which they credited me for more than $700 for the ASL. I gave them a giant Yamaha 5 channel amp (so big I would've needed a new house which I picked up from a local penny saver ad for about $250) and a Parasound preamp which I picked up on uBid for a bit over $100. They gave me the ASL and some jazz CDs. We all walked away happy.

ASL also has the WAV8 monoblocks for about $100 each. They've received rave reviews, but require a preamp. A pair of these puts out much more wattage than my MG SI 15DT, but watts aren't everything. The MG is smoooooooth, liquid mids, sparkling crystaline highs, punchy rich bass.


Enjoy the Music. Trust your ears. Laugh at Folks Who Claim to Know it All.