Posting again after a bit of time. These days I am generally far from the madding crowd. Do not take this offensively, please. Just busy with my own business. Selfish, one may say. But I feel compelled to write something today.
After a couple of years, I went to SR's place this afternoon for a listen. SR is the person principally responsible for Ali's (magma's) recent class A amp. The equipment I wanted to listen to was basically a new power amp made by SR and his team in Kolkata. This power amp is made for a person who apparently finds a lot of the equipments used by him so far very bright. As a result the mandate was to make a high class amp devoid of any brightness, however, still with all the standard requisites of a high class power amp.
A tough ask indeed.
SR had the amp warmed up as I arrived. I had my standard set of test CDs. Some of these were mastered in Germany and pressed in Japan. But I had one made in Bollywood and another one done in Kolkata too. Music played was Indian classical vocal and instrumental, Indian semiclassical, Western pop vocal and guitar, Western pop vocal in a large and loud ensemble with many instruments, Bollywood vocal (music based on Indian melody), and a Bengali vocal-instrumental fusion based on melodies in Tagore songs.
Half a minute into the audition, I chimed, "very tube-like sound, very very smooth". Indeed, the amp (a solid-state) is as smooth-sounding as it gets. It's probably the smoothest amp I have ever heard. That's saying a lot, considering the number of years I am in this hobby. However, at the same time, the amp is very very detailed. Frankly, I do not know how that is possible.
SR said, this one is a very different amp from Ali's. Both this and Ali's again are very different from the one that Pratim has. I heard Pratim's amp, a few months ago, coupled to his adorable Tannoy Turnberrys, and I liked that amp also very very much - much better than all amps Pratim had before (Pratim had a lot in the last 6 years - a Cyrus 6vs2, a Jaton Operatta, an Odyssey Kismet, a Line Magnetic 216ia, and finally this one). That's a different sound indeed. I missed a great opportunity of listening to Ali's amp before all its 66 kilos got shipped to Ali. I got terribly busy during that time, and could not make it.
No sound had an edge on today's amp - it's that smooth. But also very detailed. At the same time, the bass was absolutely tight and detailed, and not boomy at all. It abhors brightness, as requested by the person commissioning it. All the above is a strange combination. But it's true. I have seen and heard it myself today. I carried a female vocal with me with a biting top end voice, and that was rendered absolutely smooth and wonderfully musical.
However, a poorly made recording got a bit exposed today. It was quite clear that the mixing involved unnatural boosting of both extreme frequencies. That was the only music that sounded less than desirable today.
Tracks from my CDs were reaped and then played through SR's Benchmark DAC2. DAC's volume control was used for the audition. I heard, there is a pre-amp almost ready to be paired with this amp.
Forgot to mention, we heard a couple of tracks which had very complex and loud music with a lead vocalist. Just wanted to check out if the amp sounds muddy in such a situation, or sounds a bit unpleasant. No problem - the amp performed like a rock with all its intended characteristics. There was absolutely no unpleasantness.
I should also add, I am not a big fan of SR's speakers - the Usher Mini Dancers (with pre-Diamond Tweeters). But I have never heard his speakers sound so nice before.
SR says, the design is still not completely his own. But it is inspired by quite a few designs by the famous people mentioned by Ali earlier in the thread.