Posted by Roy on April 05, 2003 at 14:29:38:
In Reply to: M-2 and MA-1MKII.2's posted by Tom Merritt on April 05, 2003 at 06:50:45:
My situation replicates yours closely, except that you have a larger room.
I have A3’s which are essentially the same as your M2’s. I purchased my MA1 amps about a year and a half ago and I was totally blown away by the OTL magic. I really loved the combination, the sound was glorious and immediate. The trouble was that after extended listening the sound was almost too glorious, every piece of music that I played had a richness that felt on occasion wrong. Another aspect the MA1/A3 combination seemed to miss was the convincing percussive attack of the piano. I dare say the much more powerful MA2 amp is much better with a M2 but you would need to spend much more money to buy it.
I read many times the posts made by others in this forum about the Wolcott amps. Everything that contributors said seemed to confirm my feelings. I also spoke by email to others who have Wolcotts. I had no opportunity to listen first but based on the recommendations I got a pair in. The Soundlab/Wolcott combination is everything everyone says it is, made in heaven. I am now back to listening to solo piano music, it sounds spot on now. You now when you read a review and the reviewer talks about the difference being so profound that they are now listening to their Record/CD collection again as if it were new, well I have to say that I feel the same. I am hearing more MUSIC now. Sections in a CD that I had not really paid attention to before now make me sit up, I have found myself thinking many times, how come I hadn’t noticed this before.
I am sure that the MA1 will drive the M2 to a satisfying level for you, the question will be if you like the presentation of the music at those levels. Your personal taste will be the judge of that. I am sure that Duke will be able to demonstrate all of the combinations to you so that you can confirm your choice though. Lucky to have it all under one roof.
I do miss looking at my MA1 amps though. I love the retro look and those lines of glowing tubes.
The bottom line for me is, the Soundlab/Wolcott combination is a winner.