I originally contacted John to repair the broken LEDs on the feet of my kW550 Amp, however he also sent me a comprehensive reply regarding the upgrade options. After reading the various testimonials I decided some 6 months later to take the plunge and go for the full upgrade.
I have to admit it felt like a gamble as individual opinions differ and when you can’t audition the finished product ahead of time you just never know. I decided to take my amp directly to John rather than putting it in the post and meeting John definitely eased my concerns. After a few minutes conversation it was obvious he knows his stuff so I returned 2 weeks later with great anticipation to collect.
John was quite insistant that it would take some time for the amp to produce its best and that it needed a long running in period. However, once I got it home the transformation was immediately obvious when playing the first track, and some 6 months later it has got better and better.
For me, the most impressive improvement is how natural my system now sounds. It’s just so much more life like and musical than before, even with CDs I had previously written off as poor quality. The sound staging and depth of presentation is immense that makes live recordings so realistic. The bass is much deeper and defined, this aspect has definitely matured as the amp has accumulated more hours. The higher frequencies are sweeter, cleaner and overall the sound is so much more detailed than before but like I say not at the detriment of being musical. It seems to excel with all types of music, solo vocals are 3 dimensional, the power and control of the amp (which is the reason I originally purchased a kW550) is so much stronger than before.
The upgrade is truely exceptional and a significant step change over anything I have done previously. It has rekindled my enthusiasm to spend more time listening and more importantly enjoying the music and not just listening to the hifi! If you have a kW550 and are thinking about upgrading, don’t hesitate…..you will honestly not be disappointed.
My system: Muscial Fidelity kW550, Wilson Bensch Discovery (speakers), Cairn Fog 3 (CD), Inspire Quest (turntable).