Well, I may have spoken too soon. Strange how this business works. Now at 100 hours the MA352 is nearly unlistenable. Very very bright with little bass. The sound is steely, cold with a massive pyrotechnical display of sibilants on male and female voices. Can't believe what I'm hearing. The MA352 is replacing an Accuphase E480 I had on trial which itself was destined to replace a Naim Supernait 2. That amplifier was very very good with the Sopra 1s.
Incomprehensibly, I checked and verified with numerous dealers and owners, in multiple countries by the way, to ensure that the MA352 would marry well with the Focal Sopras. Everyone agreed in the affirmative. What I'm hearing now is totally unacceptable. It's a bit premature but I've alrezdy rolled some current production GL AX and ATs and they're slightly better than the (probably) rebadged JJs from McIntosh. Worse yet, I also acquired some authentic NOS Telefunken 81 and 83 smooth plates. Still too bright. I will spare you the endless power cord, interconnect and speaker cable changes. Atleast three of each recently to experiment. Not sure what went wrong but I'm in deep trouble now.
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