I got my SMSL SA-50 amplifier in, and I've spent some time listening to these things.
First of all, I can't stress how much I love the bronze brush aluminum finish on the T-Amp. I was kind of concerned about getting random ebay asian brand instead of something like the dayton equivalent... but this thing is pretty. I'm driving it off my old Soundblaster Audigy sound card and it can honestly play louder than I care to listen - in the nearfield of course. It's rated at 50wpc, so assuming it's even half that, it's still more power than I'd need.
Since I don't really have my music collection up here on this desktop, I'm just listening to what I do have, from back when I used to use this computer more often.
Here's what I thought today:
Bara wa Utsukushiku Chiru - Hiroko Suzuki - Rose of Versailles OST
...Her voice sounds so smooth. You'd have to imagine these speakers were made for female vocals. Even my old sennheisers, which seemed to be along the same lines as far as emphasizing female vocals, didn't come close to this smoothness. I wanna comment on other aspects of the track.. the drums... the strings... but I can't. Her voice is too distracting.
Yasashisa no Okuri Mono - ??? - Rose of Versailles OST
Okay first of all I could listen to this on the crappiest wal mart radio and it would still bring me to tears. Anyways you could close your eyes and just get lost in the music listening to these speakers
. Around the 1:15 mark there's some some small low level details that i've never heard before. On a whole there's an interesting balance of "things going on" in this track and the EMPs seemed to make them each just a little more distinct in the mix. I can't remember the last time I actually listened to this, but I definitely remember there being a lot less action going on. I've heard it enough times to know it pretty well, but never resolved entirely.
Ai no Hikari to Kage - Hiroko Suzuki - Rose of Versailles OST
More of the same. Her voice / smooth / etc. Besides that the tweeters really shined on this track, resolving the recording without muddying up a thing.
Adhi Holi Mar - G-Sharmila
- the sparkle in the treble was nice and distinct.
- the vocal imaging seemed to be anchored just right at the computer screens. It was well centered but had width too.
- the
dhol line is punchy but seemed to be a smidgen recessed to the back. Might have been the mix.
Rinbu Revolution - Revolutionary Girl Utena OST1
I remember
something about this particular version of this track really bothering me back in the day on my old Klipsch Pro Media computer speakers that have long been retired. The main thing I heard was how lacking a 192kbps MP3 is. I couldn't help but feel the source was being "suffocated" listening to this. I think what used to bother me was something about "the gaps" in between vocals. I wonder now if it has to do with the poor encode quality. The "bothersomeness" seems to be that much more distinct. I'll have to go downstairs and dig out a HQ version of this.
Yoake Umare Kuru Shojo - Youko Takahashi
The ability of these speakers to reproduce the ambience at the start of this track was really startling. Nothing else in the track "stood out", which might mean that the speakers are pretty balanced. It was just a treat to listen to this track again though after all these years. I normally dislike synth beats but this one's always had a sweet spot in my heart. I feel 15 again
Juunigenmukyoku Piano Solo - 12 Kingdoms OST
The decay of the strings is pretty clean. Fan noise from the now warm computer is getting noticible during the silence. I'm going to have to do
something about this
I couldn't detect any bloat or other "speaker sounds". When I closed my eyes, all i could think was "there's a piano in front of me".. and a really annoying computer fan. In fact this fan has gotten so annoying that I can't listen any more.
I'll maybe post some pics in the morning. G'Nite. Sorry for all the positive comments. If I had TLS Guy's ears i'd tear these speakers apart properly
