Bricasti Design M15 power amplifier . . . 125Wpc into 8 ohms, 250Wpc into 4 ohms, 500Wpc into 2 ohms

[Mr Spock]

"There are 24 bipolar output devices per channel, bolted directly to the heatsink on the side of unit. The power supply has a very large capacitor bank—there are large, US-made electrolytics in the main cap bank—as well as lots of smaller, German-made, high-frequency WIMA film caps throughout the unit."

The M15 accurately delivered the extraordinarily wide soundstage and warm midrange captured by engineer John Atkinson in his recording of the Portland State Chamber Choir in performances of Eriks Ešenvalds's Northern Lights, from Into Unknown Worlds (24/88.2 FLAC and 24/44.1 MQA.FLAC, CD Baby). However, the M15 curiously favored the voices of the men over the higher voices of the women, to the detriment of director Ethan Sperry's carefully balanced choral sound, and the radiant shimmer of glockenspiel and glass harmonica that make the conclusion of this work so mesmerizing lost some of its glisten. Through the dCS Rossini, the MQA version of this track sounded more transparent, as if a veil had been lifted, but the tonality was still a bit gray, and the "sparkle" that the choir sings of, and that Ešenvalds depicts in sound, had lost its, well, spark.

There were some positives to this sort of sound. "Electrified II," from Yello's Toy (24/48 WAV, Polydor 4782160/HDtracks), is a hot recording with electronic sizzle deliberately added to voices. Not only was that annoying component of this otherwise stellar recording toned down to the point that I could raise the volume without pain, the undertones of voice and accompaniment were also well fleshed out. The music may not have been as electrifying as usual, but the ability to play it louder than before made for an exciting few minutes.

Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Inputs: 1 unbalanced (RCA), 1 balanced (XLR). Outputs: 1 pair speaker binding posts. Power output: 125Wpc into 8 ohms, 250Wpc into 4 ohms, 500Wpc into 2 ohms (all 21dBW). Frequency response: 10Hz–150kHz, ±0.5dB. Gain: 27dB. Signal/noise: >85dB at full rated power. Input impedance: 100k ohms unbalanced, 200k ohms balanced. Output impedance: N/S. Power consumption: 60W standby, 2W idle.
Dimensions: 17" (430mm) W by 10.5" (265mm) H by 18" (455mm) D. Weight: 90 lb (40.8kg) net, 110 lb (49.9kg) shipping.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 1017.
Price: $18,000. Approximate number of dealers: 14. Warranty: 5 years, limited.
Manufacturer: Bricasti Design, Ltd., 2 Shaker Road, Building J100, Shirley, MA 01464. Tel: (978) 425-5199. Web: www.bricasti.com.



Bricasti M15, frequency response at 2.83V into: simulated loudspeaker load (gray), 8 ohms (left channel blue, right red), 4 ohms (left cyan, right magenta), 2 ohms (green) (0.5dB/vertical div.).

Bricasti Design was founded in 2004 by two former employees of Lexicon, a division of the Harman Specialty Group: sales executive Brian Zolner and DSP software engineer Casey Dowdell


https://www.stereophile.com/content/bricasti-design-m15-power-amplifier




Bricasti, Brian Zolner introduces the new Bricasti M15 Stereo Amplifier, RMAF 2016

 

[dapost]

Και ο σχετικός χαμός μετά το review στο stereophile:

"A review in Stereophile is very important to Bricasti Design and to our dealers and export partners, so we took our responsibilities in this matter very seriously. We did our best, in hopes that the process would be transparent and fair, and that Stereophile's reviewer would report on the best that our product the M15 stereo amplifier can sound. We don't think that is what happened, and are very disappointed.

When Jason Victor Serinus approached us at the 2017 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest while we were demonstrating the M15, we told him that in view of previous experiences we have had, for the review to go forward, our West Coast–based setup expert would have to deliver and set up our amplifier. Bricasti's amplifiers are designed to work directly with high-quality sources with true dual-differential balanced analog outputs. The M15 was also designed to sell at a price point half that of our M28 monoblocks.

Bricasti's US Sales Manager, Damon Gramont, delivered an M15 stereo amplifier to JVS and set it up. Damon connected the M15 directly to the balanced outputs of JVS's dCS DAC. Damon reported to me that, after careful setup, the sound was excellent.

At that time, JVS had no complaints about the way his system sounded with the M15 operating as we intended it to. For whatever reason, JVS then ignored our very strong recommendations that our amplifier be driven directly by a high-quality source with balanced outputs. For his review, he used a single-ended vacuum-tube preamplifier with our balanced solid-state amplifier. (Per the Lamm Signature's rear panel: XLR jacks have pin 3 dead. The jack legends say "Pseudo Balanced." True balanced tube preamps are very rare—footnote 1) As noted in the M15 User Manual, care must be taken when driving the M15 with an unbalanced source, as the design is a true differential circuit; otherwise, performance will be compromised. At Bricasti, we do not believe that our products need sonic Band-Aids such as unnecessary vacuum-tube circuits.

So, Damon set up the M15 to sound the way we intend it to, but JVS seems to have decided that he did not want to review that sound; he wanted to review some other sound. In the process, he added in excess of $22,790 to the cost of the system.

As if that were not enough, JVS then compared our $18,000 stereo amplifier to massive monoblock amplifiers, which cost $55,000/pair—and with 500W into 8 ohms vs the M15's modest 125W into 8 ohms.

We respect Stereophile's policies regarding not pestering the critics during the review process. Therefore, receiving the preprint of this review was a shocking disappointment. We have never heard anyone say that the M15, when set up properly, sounded "dull."

Bricasti's M28 and M15 amplifiers were used for stereo and multichannel monitoring during the mastering of the 2018 Grammy winners in the categories Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical. That recording does not sound dull, and those engineers would not have purchased Bricasti M15 amplifiers for their studios if they thought the M15s sounded dull.

Bricasti's M15 amplifier is a great-sounding amplifier that has a very strong "family resemblance" to our $30,000/pair M28 monoblock amplifiers. We wish that John Atkinson would give the M15 a careful listening under the conditions we recommend and write a brief Follow-Up. If JA is willing to make Follow-Up comments that include comparisons, we would hope that he compare our $18,000 stereo amplifier only to similar products in that general price and power tier.

For the reasons we state above, we conclude that the review the M15 received did not meet Stereophile's standards, as we have understood them to be.


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content...er-manufacturers-comments#0KSypWoEJaodP80W.99"

 

[costas EAR]

Κι όλη αυτή η "φασαρία", για 125 βατ ενισχυτή...

Ρε δε πάμε για μπάνιο;

 

[argi]

18 χιλιαρικα ? για τοσο λιγο ρευμα ?

 

[Mr Spock]

Κι όλη αυτή η "φασαρία", για 125 βατ ενισχυτή...

Ρε δε πάμε για μπάνιο;

- 500@2ohm όμως . . . πάμε και για μπάνιο πάντως

 

[dapost]

- 500@2ohm όμως . . . πάμε και για μπάνιο πάντως

"...when I tried to measure the clipping power into 2 ohms, the amplifier turned off at 362W."

Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content...er-amplifier-measurements#KQEBpOWwJSbe2qpV.99

 

[wizzy]

Κι όλη αυτή η "φασαρία", για 125 βατ ενισχυτή...

Ρε δε πάμε για μπάνιο;

Ακριβώς. Υπάρχουν ενισχυτές λυχνίας που είναι είναι οικονομικότεροι και βγάζουν πιο πολλά Watts! Τι να πεις κανείς...

 

[Mr Spock]

Ακριβώς. Υπάρχουν ενισχυτές λυχνίας που είναι είναι οικονομικότεροι και βγάζουν πιο πολλά Watts! Τι να πεις κανείς...

- και εγώ λυχνίες προτιμώ αλλά δεν τα πάνε καλά στα 6 ohm και κάτω

 

[wizzy]

- και εγώ λυχνίες προτιμώ αλλά δεν τα πάνε καλά στα 6 ohm και κάτω

Δεν ήταν αυτό το νόημα του post μου.

 

[Mr Spock]

- αλλά ;

 

[wizzy]

Ότι εν έτη 2018, υπάρχουν ενισχυτές σταθερής κατάστασης (solid state), οι οποίοι στοιχίζουν όσο ένα μεσαίο αυτοκίνητο, "διαφημίζουν" απόδοση 125W@8Ohm (!!!) και δεν ντρέπονται...

 

[Mr Spock]

- εμπόριο κάνουν , προφανώς κάποιοι αγοράζουν . . . σε όλα τα προϊόντα υπάρχουν υπερβολές , και κανείς δεν είναι υποχρεωμένος να αγοράσει , ούτε είναι ντροπή η υπερκοστολόγηση ( που μπορεί και κάποτε να δικαιολογείται - δεν γνωρίζω )



- άλλο ένα παράδειγμα . . . που για υπάρχει καιρό στην αγορά , προφανώς θα πουλάει

Rated Power 27W + 27W @1kHz, 5% THD

http://www.audionote.co.jp/en/products/power_amplifier/ongaku.html




Retail Price: $190,000.00
Your Price: $149,900.00


https://www.higherfi.com/amplifiers/audio-note-kondo-ongaku

 

[stathis]

Όποιος ανοίγει τέτοια θέματα πρέπει να τρώει και απο ενα warning!

 

[Mr Spock]

Όποιος ανοίγει τέτοια θέματα πρέπει να τρώει και απο ενα warning!

 

[costas EAR]

"...when I tried to measure the clipping power into 2 ohms, the amplifier turned off at 362W."

Δηλαδή, πρόκειται για έναν αξιόλογο ενισχυτή 90 βατ στα 8ωμ, που διπλασιάζει ισχύ μέχρι τα 2 ωμ.

Κι έλεγα γιατί ξύπνησα με φαγούρα.

 

[Costas Coyias]

Και ο σχετικός χαμός μετά το review στο stereophile:

"A review in Stereophile is very important to Bricasti Design and to our dealers and export partners, so we took our responsibilities in this matter very seriously. We did our best, in hopes that the process would be transparent and fair, and that Stereophile's reviewer would report on the best that our product the M15 stereo amplifier can sound. We don't think that is what happened, and are very disappointed.

When Jason Victor Serinus approached us at the 2017 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest while we were demonstrating the M15, we told him that in view of previous experiences we have had, for the review to go forward, our West Coast–based setup expert would have to deliver and set up our amplifier. Bricasti's amplifiers are designed to work directly with high-quality sources with true dual-differential balanced analog outputs. The M15 was also designed to sell at a price point half that of our M28 monoblocks.

Bricasti's US Sales Manager, Damon Gramont, delivered an M15 stereo amplifier to JVS and set it up. Damon connected the M15 directly to the balanced outputs of JVS's dCS DAC. Damon reported to me that, after careful setup, the sound was excellent.

At that time, JVS had no complaints about the way his system sounded with the M15 operating as we intended it to. For whatever reason, JVS then ignored our very strong recommendations that our amplifier be driven directly by a high-quality source with balanced outputs. For his review, he used a single-ended vacuum-tube preamplifier with our balanced solid-state amplifier. (Per the Lamm Signature's rear panel: XLR jacks have pin 3 dead. The jack legends say "Pseudo Balanced." True balanced tube preamps are very rare—footnote 1) As noted in the M15 User Manual, care must be taken when driving the M15 with an unbalanced source, as the design is a true differential circuit; otherwise, performance will be compromised. At Bricasti, we do not believe that our products need sonic Band-Aids such as unnecessary vacuum-tube circuits.

So, Damon set up the M15 to sound the way we intend it to, but JVS seems to have decided that he did not want to review that sound; he wanted to review some other sound. In the process, he added in excess of $22,790 to the cost of the system.

As if that were not enough, JVS then compared our $18,000 stereo amplifier to massive monoblock amplifiers, which cost $55,000/pair—and with 500W into 8 ohms vs the M15's modest 125W into 8 ohms.

We respect Stereophile's policies regarding not pestering the critics during the review process. Therefore, receiving the preprint of this review was a shocking disappointment. We have never heard anyone say that the M15, when set up properly, sounded "dull."

Bricasti's M28 and M15 amplifiers were used for stereo and multichannel monitoring during the mastering of the 2018 Grammy winners in the categories Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical. That recording does not sound dull, and those engineers would not have purchased Bricasti M15 amplifiers for their studios if they thought the M15s sounded dull.

Bricasti's M15 amplifier is a great-sounding amplifier that has a very strong "family resemblance" to our $30,000/pair M28 monoblock amplifiers. We wish that John Atkinson would give the M15 a careful listening under the conditions we recommend and write a brief Follow-Up. If JA is willing to make Follow-Up comments that include comparisons, we would hope that he compare our $18,000 stereo amplifier only to similar products in that general price and power tier.

For the reasons we state above, we conclude that the review the M15 received did not meet Stereophile's standards, as we have understood them to be.


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content...er-manufacturers-comments#0KSypWoEJaodP80W.99"

Αντίστοιχες καμαρωτές παπαριές είχε να αντιμετωπίσει αυτός ο κατασκευαστής και παλαιότερα, για τον μονομπλόκ. Προφανώς δεν τα έχουν μπήξει επαρκώς για διαφήμιση στο περιοδικό, ίνα το θέσω ευσχήμως...

 

[costas EAR]

Αντίστοιχες καμαρωτές παπαριές

Που να δεις στο TAS τι γράφουν.

Καλά, εκεί θα μου πεις παίρνουν ληγμένα (και προφανώς τους τα έχουν μπήξει επαρκώς).

Ένα σκέτο παιχνίδι μάρκετιγκ είναι αυτά τα περιοδικά. Γραφικές τραγικογελοιότητες.

 

[jazzair]

Σε αυτό το ποσό και ίσως και λιγότερα, αγοράζει κάποιος τον ASR Emitter II, ο οποίος αποτελεί μηχανολογικό επίτευγμα στην κατηγορία του...