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Now we swapped the nCores for the Maraschinos and started the with/without procedure all over again. Playing the same 24/176.4 tracks at the same SPL, there was a bigger difference. It did appear that the Maraschinos offered the super tweeters more material to process. The resultant sound was more fluid and resolved. More analog perhaps? For some reason, the >50kHz frequency response of the Hypex nCore 1200 amps was challenged by the >85kHz reach of the Maraschinos. Either is relatively low compared to the animal kingdom where dogs hear up to 60kHz, mice to about 70kHz and bats beat them all at 200kHz. Just so, there apparently was extra signal sent to the super tweeters by the American mini amps.
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With the yes/no phase behind us, we could get on with undisturbed listening. We played a wide variety of music and tried to put our fingers on the pulse behind the phenomenon of the more analog open presentation. After many discs and still more discs, we concluded that on purist recordings with a minimum of studio processing, extended frequency response offers more of what the Germans call Stoßwelle or shockwave. That is the impulse which leads any sound, its first attack. In live music, that attack makes the music come alive. Its absence betrays the fact that we deal with a recording. In many recordings however, that undulled attack is still part of the signal and not eroded by manipulation. It is then only a matter of retrieving said impulse. To us it appeared that wider frequency response—and perhaps 85kHz is just the beginning—enables superior retrieval of the attack information. [Goldmund for example talk of HF phase shift and that to avoid it requires bandwidth at least x 10 in excess of human bandwidth, i.e. 200kHz at minimum but many of their amps reach into the MHz band, a feat well beyond current class D. That argument isn't about hearing more information per se but more accurate reproduction of what occurs inside the ears' limited bandwidth - Ed.]
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During the time we spent with the D.A.C. King V60 Maraschinos, we learned quite a lot. First of the lessons was that the onset of sounds really matters. That leading micro-second edge defines what is going on. An audio system that gets that first bit right makes the day. When these small American switchers combine with equally fast wide-bandwidth gear, they can and will do just that. On the critical side, we didn't like the effect of the amps' boot-up sequence with what over highly sensitive speakers became a loud pop. The amps' operational quietness and low noise floor while playing begs for such speakers and the available power headroom is nice to have. Where the 'always on' advice for the previously reviewed 48V version limited the choice of preamp whose turn-on transients would be amplified in full, the 60V version has power switches to address this. For us the passive Music First whose transformer attenuators eliminate upstream DC was a good match. Our Trafomatic preamp with its own delayed power-up sequence first triggered the Maraschinos out of hibernation, then caused a hum before a final click settles the peace accord between components. Here a classic power-up cycle of source, preamp and power amp is more advisable. When this sequence is chosen, the Maraschinos need some 20-30 minutes to come on song.
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We asked Tommy O'Brien for some inside photos of his power supply and amps. Of course we can and do take our own pictures but the construction of both power supply and amp offered no easy way in without breaking something. Tommy replied: "Regarding photos, we feel this creates an unfair bias because readers don't see the bulk associated with similar equipment. Plus, in the Maraschino monoblocks, the PCB is upside down with the component side facing the case, so looking inside you see what appears to be a board with no components. We do this to create a shield sandwich for lower noise. The case is one slice of bread and the solid ground plane on the bare side of the board is the other slice. Our proprietary design allows much more power output than similar sized amps from other manufacturers but without compromising sonic performance. We also make physically large amplifiers by the way, the Classic Cherry. We feel the Maraschino represents greater value to our customers than big bulky amplifiers. We hope you realized the sonic advantage they represent. Ironically, physically larger amplifiers with similar performance to Maraschino are generally less expensive to produce. Using direct sales, low overhead and atypically low margins, we are able to use premium parts while maintaining reasonable prices."
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