Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra Amp Tour!

Excellent news. That is some wild speaker technology.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

 

I want to thank Leo for allowing me to participate in the tour and listen to his wonderful Starkrimson Ultra amp. I’ve had to delay auditioning it a couple of times because I moved in November and I had boxes everywhere and just couldn’t get my system set up. Fortunately, I finally had room and put it all together.

When I first started, my system consisted of the following:

AVA SET 120 amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
Border Patrol SEi dac
iFi Zen Streamer with Mojo Audio LPS
Fritz Carrera BE speakers
Audio Envy power cords
Wywires Platinum digital coax
Wywires Silver ICs and SCs

As I write this, I have substituted these items:

JM Reynaud Voce Grande speakers
Hapa Audio complete loom of hand polished silver cables

I wanted to mention that, as of yet, my room is not treated in any way.I have furniture in place and an area rug in the open floor plan living room but there is a window directly behind the audio rack, and the speakers are located on both sides of the glass. I just haven’t had the time and the money to buy window coverings for the entire house.

The Starkrimson Ultra is solid and well-built. I don’t care that much for the white company logo and lettering. I would’ve preferred a gold or blue or maroon on black look. But I’m sure there are many who simply like the white on black look. I will say that I really thought the powder coating on my AVA SET 120 looked very good and it sure would’ve been nice to have a finish like that on the Ultra. But I understand this all adds to the cost and that Leo was very likely trying to meet a price point.

As I was receiving the Ultra, Jason at Hapa Audio sent me his latest Haiku Silver digital cable. The RCA connectors are solid silver and the cable is hand polished to a nano level and inspected with a microscope to confirm that. I listened with my Wywires Platinum digital coax for an extended time and was really pleased and impressed with the Ultra. The first thing that struck me was the increased clarity and increased detail. Although I have a short list of reference songs, I really don’t like to evaluate gear that way. I’m not a professional reviewer and I don’t want the evaluation process to be tedious and be like a job. Music is my hobby, my passion, and it’s supposed to be fun! So I just turned on Roon and listened to my favorite songs and albums and let Roon radio kick in to pick my songs based on preferences I’ve previously given. I’ve griped about Roon on occasion for it’s software glitches, but it’s really enjoyable to use with it’s tremendous features and functionality. So I played a lot of music and really appreciated new instruments and vocals appearing in songs I’d listened to dozens or hundreds of times. What a treat! Thanks, Leo! My AVA SET 120 is a very musical amp and I’ve really enjoyed it. Fun, plenty of slam, wide soundstage, musical… It’s been a treat to have that amp. But the Ultra does a few things the SET 120 can’t…play with power 250 watts vs 60, have increased clarity and resolution with a quieter background. These are traits I value and the Ultra presents the same competence … and much more….across the musical spectrum as the SET 120 did.

I then substituted the Hapa silver digital coax for the Wywires and was treated to more clarity and refined resolution. Very enjoyable! I never put the Wywires Platinum back in. This combination gave me a very wide soundstage and good front to back depth. It was so interesting to listen to songs that I was so familiar with and suddenly hear additional instruments and vocals that I had not heard previously. I did not hear any emphasis in one area of the musical spectrum over another. Treble, the
midrange and bass all seemed equally balanced. I played with this combo for a number of days until it was getting close for me to forward the amp onto the next guy on the tour. Then I received word that I had the new JM Reynaud Voce Grande speakers coming and asked Leo if I could possibly have just a few more days with this wonderful amp. He agreed and I started breaking in these great speakers. They were a bit rough at the start, but started smoothing out a little bit after 10 hours and then at the 40-50
hour mark became very listenable and enjoyable.

It was at this time frame that Leo offered me the opportunity to buy thedemo Ultra. I thought about it for an hour or two…. I did have more expenses coming up for landscaping the backyard… but decided this was too good an opportunity to pass up. So now, there was no more stress dealing with time frames on returning this amp. Also, Jason at Hapa told me that his polished silver ICs and speaker cables were on their way for me to audition. As soon as they arrived, I put them in the system and started enjoying what was a revelation and new benchmark in playback quality and sound. I’m so gladto have the Ultra amp to reveal what the addition of the Voce Grande speakers and the full Hapa Audio silver loom have done for my system.The refinement on the musical presentation is really extraordinary.Female vocals are reproduced so beautifully without stridency or sibilance. Male vocals have extra weight and the additional timbre on vocals and instruments is excellent and adds a whole new level of enjoyment.
I am thrilled to have this amp and enjoy this wonderful musical presentation.It is the best my system has ever sounded by a significant margin and I’ve been an audio enthusiast for over 30 years.

If you get an opportunity to get on this tour and audition the Ultra amp, I strongly encourage you to do so! It was because of EJK1….Evan… and his glowing description of this amp that I decided to ask to be included on the tour. Otherwise, I would not have done so. Thank you Leo and Evan!






Sent from my iPad

 

Please note: Starting with @rhing the tour amp is now the dual mono configuration with caps MSRP at $3500.

Reviews with $2900 MSPR unit (single power supply and cap upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- here and here
@james -- the review is at this link (post #7)
@Oliver Meyer -- the review is at this link (post #37)
@Jaytor -- the review is at this link (post #66)
@gguy -- the review is at this link (post #111)
@naru1980 -- the review is at this link (post #147)
@okc_craft -- the review is at this link (post #165)
@ejk1 -- the review is at this link (post #171)
@RonN5 -- the review is at this link (post #192)
@barondla -- the review is at this link (post #214)
@DennyCrane -- the review is at this link (post #224)
@nymarty -- the review is at this link (post #278)
@MValentiner --the review is at this link (post #287)
@jimbones -- the review is at this link (post #360)
@thomaskong -- the review is at this link (post #425)
@Paul_In_WA -- the review is at this link (post #440)
@Nick BZ -- the review is at this link (post #502)
@OBLuver -- the review is in the works
@buckdog58 -- the review is in the works

Reviews with $3500 MSRP unit (dual power supplies, with capacitor upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- the review is at this link (post # 89)
@rhing -- the review is in the works

Upcoming Individuals:
2. @jcn3 -- the amp has been received by this individual
3. @Gibsonian -- the amp will be shipping to this person next in about 1 week
4. @CarmineRed
5. @panhead
6. @Barry_NJ
7. @barryso
8. @Devg
9. @rhale64

Joining the Tour:
For anybody else who is looking to join the tour please send me a message through the contact us form on the website.
The tour amplifier is the "middle" configuration (single power supply with caps) at a $2900 MSRP.
Starting with @rhing the tour amplifier is the "fully loaded" configuration (dual power supplies with caps) at a $3500 MSRP.

Tour Rules:
Participants are responsible for the cost of shipping to the next person.
After trying out the amp, participants have to write their thoughts in this forum thread.
Participants get to try the amplifier for 7-days

P.S.
I will be at AXPONA.
Orchard Audio amps and streamers will be in rooms 1229 and 1230 powering Endow Audio (www.endowaudio.com) speakers.

 

$500 off Starkrimson Stereo Ultra for a limited time.
Starkrimson Stereo Ultra

 

I did the review late last night. Reread it this morning and thought this summary would be helpful:

1) tremendous clarity
2) increased resolution
3) balance across the musical spectrum
4) best reproduction of piano and brass instruments ever in my system
5) beautiful reproduction of female voices without harshness or sibilance
6) beautiful reproduction of male vocals with a very rich character
7) wonderful additional timbre to vocals and instruments
8) ability to dig deep into the soundstage and hear voices and chorus and identify individual voices with the chorus

 

Geeze people. Now I am thinking seriously about this amp. I can't wait. I again am so glad I found this. I had been wondering about trying one for a long time. But I have these three way active speakers. So I kept asking Leo for way too much. I actually need two three channel amps. Or as I have now six mono amps. And that is a lot to buy to try out. And way too much to ask for. This way I can try this thing on one speakers high and mid section. Then do a swap. I can adjust the gain accordingly. I will also be trying it on my buddy's Aerial's and another buddy's Sierra 2's.

I am so looking forward to it. With more people involved maybe I can get a couple sales. Or maybe our amps will sound better. Who knows. But I will give an honest assessment and I can probably get both of my buddies do the same in here. So possibly 3 reviews to one person.

Ron

 

My primary purpose in joining this amp tour is to find a Class D amp that can handle warm weather month duty, where a Class A SS amp or vacuum tube amp can run unbearably hot.

I didn’t expect the amp to match Class A performance of my Pass DIY Aleph J, but what I didn’t expect was how solid and musical the Starkrimson Ultra sounded in my system. It effortlessly drove my KEF LS50’s to room filling proportions with a deep soundstage. It reminds me a bit of my other Pass DIY amp running complementary pairs of Sony VFETs in Class A—detailed, musical and a wide, deep soundstage.

I’ve noted my apartment system in Minnesota in a prior post. I can say that the Starkrimson Ultra was very complementary to my other components. Leo posted photos of my setup in a prior post as well.

Frequency Response

This amp delivers a clean, defined bass with some punch without being boomy or heavy. Both male and female vocals in the midrange are clear and breathy. I had recently purchased Samara Joy’s “Linger Awhile” on vinyl. And this album showcases where she really owns the standards as Sarah Vaughn or Ella Fitzgerald would. For highs, cymbals and brushwork were articulate and clean with air. I never sensed any sibilance with vocals or any high frequency material.

Dynamics and Scale

Compared to my Aleph J am, the Starkrimson presents greater dynamics with headroom. The pairing of the Schiit Freya+ line stage preamp provided nice separation of performers in the soundstage and clear imaging. My speakers disappeared in the room and created an image that was larger than the space between my speakers. With the Schiit Freya+ in balanced vacuum tube mode, the image had a greater center density giving more presence to the music.

Detail and Articulation

I have never heard a GAN FET amp until now, and this amp is articulate in a natural way. I believe this is what lends to really good separation of performers in the soundstage. This amp has a smooth presentation that is liquid and not grainy or harsh.

Tonality

I would characterize the tone as neutral. Certainly, using tubes generated a warmer, fuller sound. I do believe the additional +12dB gain with the balanced tube mode with the Freya+ added to the fullness or center density that I mentioned before. That said, I still enjoyed the the more neutral tone with the JFET balanced buffer on some material.

Transparency

The Starkrimson Ultra amp is like a straight wire with gain. Whatever is in front of the amp in the audio chain comes through the speakers. Spinning records on the Dual 1229 was fun and engaging, especially playing The Police’s “Regatta de Blanc.” Sting’s bass notes and Stewart Copeland’s drums came alive. I also enjoyed Patricia Barber’s “Blue Cafe” 45 rpm disc set with greater dynamic range and vibe than the FLAC files playing through the Denafrips Pontus II DAC. No matter the source components, the Starkrimson Ultra did a faithful job conveying the musicality.

Additional Notes

This amp runs cool quiet. I could not detect any noise from my speakers or from the amp other than the components of the soft start circuitry upon power on.

In comparison to the Pass DIY Aleph J Class A Amplifier

The differences were not as great as I expected, but there are slight differences in that the Aleph J projected more sustained notes. With the Aleph J, the center image density was greater whether the Schiit Freya+ was in balanced JFET buffer or tube preamp mode. The tonality is a bit darker and more organic with the Aleph J. The Starkrimson Ultra has a bit more sparkle offering a sense of vibrancy and liveliness, without any overly bright character.

The Starkrimson Ultra shines nicely with the Schiit Freya+ and Mani 2 phono stage when playing vinyl. The presentation was very engaging spinning records. Interestingly, I love the Denafrips Pontus II DAC with the Raspberry Pi 4 running Volumio 3 and playing high resolution digital material, but the system seemed to dig further into the music with my analog source.

Conclusion

I am very impressed with the Starkrimson Ultra dual mono stereo amp, and would definitely consider this as a possible future purchase as a DIY build for a warm weather amplifier.

 

I want to express my deepest gratitude to Leo for his generosity in making this fine amplifier available to evaluate.

 

Starkrimson monoblocks sounds nice driving main tower of Scaena 3.2 from 180 hz and up.

 

Please note: Starting with @rhing the tour amp is now the dual mono configuration with caps MSRP at $3500.

Reviews with $2900 MSPR unit (single power supply and cap upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- here and here
@james -- the review is at this link (post #7)
@Oliver Meyer -- the review is at this link (post #37)
@Jaytor -- the review is at this link (post #66)
@gguy -- the review is at this link (post #111)
@naru1980 -- the review is at this link (post #147)
@okc_craft -- the review is at this link (post #165)
@ejk1 -- the review is at this link (post #171)
@RonN5 -- the review is at this link (post #192)
@barondla -- the review is at this link (post #214)
@DennyCrane -- the review is at this link (post #224)
@nymarty -- the review is at this link (post #278)
@MValentiner --the review is at this link (post #287)
@jimbones -- the review is at this link (post #360)
@thomaskong -- the review is at this link (post #425)
@Paul_In_WA -- the review is at this link (post #440)
@Nick BZ -- the review is at this link (post #502)
@OBLuver -- the review is in the works
@buckdog58 -- the review is in the works

Reviews with $3500 MSRP unit (dual power supplies, with capacitor upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- the review is at this link (post # 89)
@rhing -- the review is at this link (post # 507)

Upcoming Individuals:
2. @jcn3 -- the amp has been received by this individual
3. @Gibsonian -- the amp will be shipping to this person next in about 1 week
4. @CarmineRed
5. @panhead
6. @Barry_NJ
7. @barryso
8. @Devg
9. @rhale64

Joining the Tour:
For anybody else who is looking to join the tour please send me a message through the contact us form on the website.
The tour amplifier is the "middle" configuration (single power supply with caps) at a $2900 MSRP.
Starting with @rhing the tour amplifier is the "fully loaded" configuration (dual power supplies with caps) at a $3500 MSRP.

Tour Rules:
Participants are responsible for the cost of shipping to the next person.
After trying out the amp, participants have to write their thoughts in this forum thread.
Participants get to try the amplifier for 7-days

P.S.
I will be at AXPONA.
Orchard Audio amps and streamers will be in rooms 1229 and 1230 powering Endow Audio (www.endowaudio.com) speakers.
RSVP here: Orchard Audio at AXPONA

 

Please note: Starting with @rhing the tour amp is now the dual mono configuration with caps MSRP at $3500.

Reviews with $2900 MSPR unit (single power supply and cap upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- here and here
@james -- the review is at this link (post #7)
@Oliver Meyer -- the review is at this link (post #37)
@Jaytor -- the review is at this link (post #66)
@gguy -- the review is at this link (post #111)
@naru1980 -- the review is at this link (post #147)
@okc_craft -- the review is at this link (post #165)
@ejk1 -- the review is at this link (post #171)
@RonN5 -- the review is at this link (post #192)
@barondla -- the review is at this link (post #214)
@DennyCrane -- the review is at this link (post #224)
@nymarty -- the review is at this link (post #278)
@MValentiner --the review is at this link (post #287)
@jimbones -- the review is at this link (post #360)
@thomaskong -- the review is at this link (post #425)
@Paul_In_WA -- the review is at this link (post #440)
@Nick BZ -- the review is at this link (post #502)
@OBLuver -- the review is in the works
@buckdog58 -- the review is in the works

Reviews with $3500 MSRP unit (dual power supplies, with capacitor upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- the review is at this link (post # 89)
@rhing -- the review is at this link (post # 507)
@jcn3 -- the review is in the works

Upcoming Individuals:
1. @Gibsonian -- the amp is on the way to this person
2. @CarmineRed
3. @panhead
4. @Barry_NJ
5. @barryso
6. @Devg
7. @rhale64

Joining the Tour:
For anybody else who is looking to join the tour please send me a message through the contact us form on the website.
The tour amplifier is the "middle" configuration (single power supply with caps) at a $2900 MSRP.
Starting with @rhing the tour amplifier is the "fully loaded" configuration (dual power supplies with caps) at a $3500 MSRP.

Tour Rules:
Participants are responsible for the cost of shipping to the next person.
After trying out the amp, participants have to write their thoughts in this forum thread.
Participants get to try the amplifier for 7-days

P.S.
I will be at AXPONA.
Orchard Audio amps and streamers will be in rooms 1229 and 1230 powering Endow Audio (www.endowaudio.com) speakers.
RSVP here: Orchard Audio at AXPONA

 

Leo, what is the difference between the Ultra and non-Ultra versions of your amp? And, what are the advantages of the various cap upgrades?

 

The big difference is power. Ultra will have better bass and sub-base everything else will be very close.

Capacitor upgrades for the ultra help to further improve bass and transient response especially with hard to drive speakers.

 

I just realized that the reviews widget on my website was not working, and I don't know for how long. I fixed it last night. For those of you who participated in the tour please copy and paste your reviews there.
Starkrimson Stereo Ultra

 

I had the pleasure of spending a week with Leo’s Starkrimson Ultra amplifier. I haven’t seen a manufacturer do this kind of thing before – hat’s off to Leo for providing a creative way to get to know about a very interesting product.

The Amplifier
Out of the box, I was impressed with the build quality of the amplifier. The black case is understated yet substantial with much more weight than I was anticipating from a class D product. The back panel is very simple with two pairs of five-way binding posts for the speakers, one set of XLR jacks for the inputs, and an IEC jack for the power cable. The front panel is flat with the power button in the center, the Orchard Audio logo on the left and the model of the amplifier in the bottom right corner. As has been mentioned, the Orchard Audio logo is very large with white printing. I would prefer to see the logo be substantially reduced in size and the color of the printing be muted a bit.

Reference Set-up
My system configuration is at follows: Simaudio Moon Mind2 > Chord DAVE > Quicksilver RC Line Stage > Quicksilver Mid Monos > KEF Reference 1s. Optical cable connects the Mind 2 to the DAVE; RCA cables connect the DAVE to the pre-amp and the pre-amp to the amps. The speaker cables are copper with banana connections.

For this comparison, the Ultra replaced the QS pre-amp and the QS Mid Monos. The DAVE was connected directly to the Starkrimson Ultra with 13’ XLR copper FMS cables.

Cable Sensitivity
I immediately found that the amplifier is sensitive to the XLR cables used. I typically use Signal Cable Silver Resolution cables and have never had anything but positive outcomes with them. When I originally connected my Silver Resolution XLR cables, which have a reasonably low 18pf/ft capacitance, I found the treble heavily rolled off and the overall presentation very flat. I pulled out an older set of FMS copper XLR cables to see if that would be better. It turned out to be a much better match, eliminating the roll-off high-end and delivering a multi-dimensional soundstage. Bottom line – it’s worth experimenting with cables to optimize the sound.

Reference Playlist
Here are the songs I used to evaluate the Ultra. As you can tell, I’m a sucker for women vocalists – I really enjoy the complex texture that singers like Diana Krall and Bonnie Raitt deliver. The Madonna and Billie Eilish songs are well recorded pop with a few studio tricks in the mix that show a lot about imaging and the size/depth of the soundstage. If you haven’t heard of Yuko Mabuchi (specifically Yuko Mabuchi Trio Live and Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis), please check her out – wonderfully recorded jazz.

· Bonnie Raitt – “Not Cause I Wanted To” (Slipstream)
· Bonnie Raitt – “I Will Not Be Broken” (Souls Alike)
· Bonnie Raitt – “So Close” (Souls Alike)
· Madonna – “Medellin” (Medellin)
· Madonna – “Vogue” (The Immaculate Collection)
· Kinks – “Waterloo Sunset [Stereo Mix]” (Something Else By The Kinks)
· Yuko Mabuchi – “What Is This Thing Called Love” (Yuko Mabuchi Trio Live)
· Yuko Mabuchi – “Blue In Green” (Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis)
· Yuko Mabuchi – “Ikumi’s Lullaby” (Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis)
· Diana Krall – “Maybe You’ll Be There” (Live in Paris)
· Diana Krall – “‘S Wonderful” (Live in Paris)
· Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – “The Nearness of You” (Ella & Louis)
· Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy” (version with Justin Bieber)

What I Really Liked
There is a lot to really like about the Ultra. For me, the highlights were:
· Complete Silence – I often read about people talking about how black the background is for components as a proxy for low noise. The Ultra is so quiet that there is no background at all. There is no black; there is simply nothing at all. Instruments and voices just float in space in a nice holographic way.
· Pinpoint Imaging – Instruments and voices are placed in the soundstage in their own spaces and are clearly defined – almost razor sharp. Imaging is an important factor for me and I really appreciated the sharp, clearly articulated placement.
· Full Bass – The one thing my system doesn’t do is dig down to the lowest bass octaves. You can only expect so much from a 40-watt amplifier with relatively inefficient speakers. The Ultra fixed that, providing plenty of bass. At times, I found the bass almost a bit boomy, but I believe that was the material more than the Ultra.

What My System Did Better
It’s worth noting that we’re really talking about apples vs. oranges in this comparison. An EL34-based tube amplifier and a modern class D amplifier do sound different. Not remarkably different, but a few items were evident:
· More Texture – As mentioned above, I’m a sucker for women vocalists. An EL34 tube is known for its glorious midrange and shines with vocals. Bonnie Raitt’s voice is a great mixture of smoothness with a gravel-like texture on the low end. The Ultra didn’t provide that degree of texture in the lower register. Likewise, Louis Armstrong’s voice on The Nearness of You wasn’t presented as fully as on my system.
· Slightly Wider and Deeper Soundstage – As mentioned above, the imaging of the Ultras was top notch. However, the soundstage didn’t have the layers and depth that I’m used to – the presentation was a bit flatter. The soundstage between the speakers was very good, but the soundstage didn’t go outside the speakers as much as with my system.
· More Emotive – I think this is also a function of the beauty of an EL34-based amplifier. Songs like Bonnie’s “Not Cause I Wanted To”, Diana’s “Maybe You’ll Be There”, and Ella & Louis’ “The Nearness of You” reach into my soul on my system – I get goosebumps every time. The Ultras didn’t quite do that.

Conclusion
The Ultra is a very well made, very good sounding amplifier. It did a lot of things very well and can easily fit into a wide variety of systems. My experience is only one sample. System synergy is a very real thing -- I would like to have had the opportunity to play around with more equipment combinations to better understand the full capabilities of the Ultra.

Congratulations to Leo for developing such a capable amplifier!

 

Please note: Starting with @rhing the tour amp is now the dual mono configuration with caps MSRP at $3500.

Reviews with $2900 MSPR unit (single power supply and cap upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- here and here
@james -- the review is at this link (post #7)
@Oliver Meyer -- the review is at this link (post #37)
@Jaytor -- the review is at this link (post #66)
@gguy -- the review is at this link (post #111)
@naru1980 -- the review is at this link (post #147)
@okc_craft -- the review is at this link (post #165)
@ejk1 -- the review is at this link (post #171)
@RonN5 -- the review is at this link (post #192)
@barondla -- the review is at this link (post #214)
@DennyCrane -- the review is at this link (post #224)
@nymarty -- the review is at this link (post #278)
@MValentiner --the review is at this link (post #287)
@jimbones -- the review is at this link (post #360)
@thomaskong -- the review is at this link (post #425)
@Paul_In_WA -- the review is at this link (post #440)
@Nick BZ -- the review is at this link (post #502)
@OBLuver -- the review is in the works
@buckdog58 -- the review is in the works

Reviews with $3500 MSRP unit (dual power supplies, with capacitor upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- the review is at this link (post # 89)
@rhing -- the review is at this link (post # 507)
@jcn3 -- the review is at this link (post # 515)

Upcoming Individuals:
1. @Gibsonian -- the amp is on the way to this person
2. @CarmineRed
3. @panhead
4. @Barry_NJ
5. @barryso
6. @Devg
7. @rhale64

Joining the Tour:
For anybody else who is looking to join the tour please send me a message through the contact us form on the website.
The tour amplifier is the "middle" configuration (single power supply with caps) at a $2900 MSRP.
Starting with @rhing the tour amplifier is the "fully loaded" configuration (dual power supplies with caps) at a $3500 MSRP.

Tour Rules:
Participants are responsible for the cost of shipping to the next person.
After trying out the amp, participants have to write their thoughts in this forum thread.
Participants get to try the amplifier for 7-days

P.S.
I will be at AXPONA.
Orchard Audio amps and streamers will be in rooms 1229 and 1230 powering Endow Audio (www.endowaudio.com) speakers.
RSVP here: Orchard Audio at AXPONA

 

Please note: Starting with @rhing the tour amp is now the dual mono configuration with caps MSRP at $3500.

Reviews with $2900 MSPR unit (single power supply and cap upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- here and here
@james -- the review is at this link (post #7)
@Oliver Meyer -- the review is at this link (post #37)
@Jaytor -- the review is at this link (post #66)
@gguy -- the review is at this link (post #111)
@naru1980 -- the review is at this link (post #147)
@okc_craft -- the review is at this link (post #165)
@ejk1 -- the review is at this link (post #171)
@RonN5 -- the review is at this link (post #192)
@barondla -- the review is at this link (post #214)
@DennyCrane -- the review is at this link (post #224)
@nymarty -- the review is at this link (post #278)
@MValentiner --the review is at this link (post #287)
@jimbones -- the review is at this link (post #360)
@thomaskong -- the review is at this link (post #425)
@Paul_In_WA -- the review is at this link (post #440)
@Nick BZ -- the review is at this link (post #502)
@OBLuver -- the review is in the works
@buckdog58 -- the review is in the works

Reviews with $3500 MSRP unit (dual power supplies, with capacitor upgrade):
@Ted Torres Jr -- the review is at this link (post # 89)
@rhing -- the review is at this link (post # 507)
@jcn3 -- the review is at this link (post # 515)

Upcoming Individuals:
1. @Gibsonian -- the amp has been received by this individual
2. @CarmineRed -- confirmed that the amp going to this individual next
3. @panhead
4. @Barry_NJ
5. @barryso
6. @Devg
7. @rhale64

Joining the Tour:
For anybody else who is looking to join the tour please send me a message through the contact us form on the website.
The tour amplifier is the "middle" configuration (single power supply with caps) at a $2900 MSRP.
Starting with @rhing the tour amplifier is the "fully loaded" configuration (dual power supplies with caps) at a $3500 MSRP.

Tour Rules:
Participants are responsible for the cost of shipping to the next person.
After trying out the amp, participants have to write their thoughts in this forum thread.
Participants get to try the amplifier for 7-days

P.S.
I will be at AXPONA.
Orchard Audio amps and streamers will be in rooms 1229 and 1230 powering Endow Audio (www.endowaudio.com) speakers.
RSVP here: Orchard Audio at AXPONA

 

Hi Leo, Someone mentioned your amps and I found this forum when google searching. I am in the market for a new amp and it just so happens I will be at Axpona on Saturday. I will stop by to take a listen.

Thanks

 

I will be at Axpona and will be at the Orchard audio room right when the show starts on Saturday. So I may see you. I will be wearing a gray Satori shirt. I will have my wife with me. She is my sidekick. She loves all artforms. And she is the bomb when it comes to this stuff.

 

Come early, the check in line got quite long today.

 

Post some videos

 

Sounds great. Lol

 

I'll try to get a video tomorrow.