The Rethm Gaanam Hybrid amp went into production last week. So the folks at Rethm asked me if I could let them have the proto back. I took it back to them with a heavy heart.
However, they had something
very nice planned for me in replacement.
Yesterday, they gave me a somewhat battle-tested prototype of the current Gaanam Valve amp, that uses 6C33C tubes in the power section, and 6922 tubes in the preamp section. The pre, power and the power supply are 3 separate units. The Pre has a separate on-board power supply, and the main power supply unit and the power amp unit are connected by a beefy umbilical cord. This is a proto amp, and so the three units are built on plywood boards, with the innards open to the elements. The power amp and the power supply units weigh a ton, even without cabinets!
The good folks at Rethm have also been really gracious enough to let me have this amp as a long term standby, till I can comfortably save up enough to buy an amp.
I set things up yesterday night, and even after substantial cable rerouting, things are a bit ugly. But, for the first time, thanks in part to Magma's Barracuda power distribution box and to a really long (and nice) power cord bibin3210 made for me, I've been able to have all RCAs and digital cables and speaker cables run fairly distant from all power cables. Even the RCAs or speaker cables or the digital cables don't run too close to each other! (Not that it matters, I guess).
A friend's brother who records in a studio and sets up venues for live sound had suggested that I not coil up the speaker wires, and leave them running long with loose 'U' bends where necessary to run them in the opposite direction. I set this up too yesterday (though it looks ugly).
Except for the way things
look, the wire management is now, I think pretty perfect.
I'll spring for a good rack, and wall-mount the TV once I make my amp purchase, and the "prettification" of the wire management can wait till then.
Now about how it sounds! I thought the Gaanam Hybrid sounded great, but the Gaanam Valve sounds even better! You simply can't beat a tube-based power section!
The Gaanam Hybrid had excellent control over the speakers, and percussions were extremely precise and delineated, with great slam. And bass was really tight and impactful, without being physically intrusive. It also had a nicely extended high-frequency response.
The Gaanam Valve I'm using now is a beast of a different character. It seems to have a wee bit less control over the speakers, and the percussion section does not have the kind of visceral slam the Hybrid did. I'm not saying the percussions don't sound good with the Gaanam Valve, but I'm saying the Hybrid had set a pretty high bar for me, for how drum sections should sound, and the Gaanam Valve falls a bit short of that standard. The bass is tight, but lesser so, than the Hybrid. The Hybrid also had noticeably better imaging.
BUT, and this is the 'but' that really matters to me, the Gaanam Valve imparts a certain texture and delicacy and sense of freedom to the music that the Hybrid can't quite manage. And, as important, the Gaanam Valve is more musical and open sounding. The emotions in the vocals come out oh-so-easily! The bass slam is lesser than the Hybrid, but the bass feels more tuneful and enveloping, and more in sync with the sense that the overall music is trying to being out. The Gaanam Valve is also slightly more laid back and warmer sounding than the Hybrid, which is very much to my personal taste.
The stage width of the two amps is identical, but the Hybrid definitely images better, with instrument placements far better etched out. I'm not saying the Gaanam Valve images badly, it images really well! I'm just saying the Hybrid images better. How the system images is something quite important to me, and normally that would have tilted me in favour of the Hybrid. But the Gaanam Valve is so much more musical to my ears that I can definitely take images that are a bit less etched out.
I'd originally planned to pick up a Gaanam Hybrid once I could afford one. Based on the indicative pricing of the Hybrid that Rethm had told me about confidentially, the Hybrid would also have been more within my reach. The Gaanam Valve is significantly (to me) more expensive, but for my tastes, the extra will be worth it. So, the savings account head has now been changed from Gaanam Hybrid to Gaanam Valve
hyeah:
