|
163ljy
- 论坛博士后
- 19720110
- 847
- 922
- 男
- 2005-09-20
|
2#
t
T
发表于 2012-03-12 16:23
|只看楼主
Listening to the Reference 9.9C Along with the 9.9A, Opera also sent along a pair of their 9.9C amplifiers, which sell for $5900. The decision was made to measure and review the 9.9A, but the 9.9C was more than deserving of passing mention. In many ways the 9.9C is similar to the 9.9A -- from the front the two look identical. On the rear are three binding posts instead of four-- a negative and two positives -- one each for 4- and 8-ohm speakers. The biggest difference (structurally) between the two amps is the tube complement. The 9.9C uses a single Chinese 300B tube in each amp for a claimed 10-watt output.Of course, two different tubes make for two very different-sounding amplifiers. If the 9.9A using the 845 output tube is vanilla, then the 9.9C with its richer-sounding 300B would have to be French vanilla. The two amplifiers share much in common sonically, like the pure and grain-free treble and the uncommonly transparent and unfailingly musical midrange. What separates the two amplifiers is the 9.9C’s warmer overall character, its deeper bass, and its even higher degree of focus.The 9.9C’s bass is a completely different animal as compared to that of the 9.9A. Where the latter is clean and tight, if a little truncated in extension, the 9.9C's bass goes deeper with more subjective power. While the bass is more powerful, it is also a bit more ripe. It gives up some of its sibling’s precision in exchange for a bit more embellishment. On some pop music, such as James Taylor’s Hourglass, the bass could be a little overdone, a little uncontrolled, and a little bit obscuring of harmonic detail. On well-recorded classical discs, such as Sony’s Rostropvich Return to Russia [Sony SK 45836], the added adornment sounded magnificent. I could imagine that the 9.9A’s complete honesty through the upper bass and lower midrange could leave some intrinsically stark speakers sounding lean and threadbare. If this is the case, the 9.9C offers a gentle warming that even with my speakers was not what anybody could term disagreeable. OK, it was rich and endearing, and it never seemed to get in the way of musical integrity.The other difference between the two amplifiers was a subtle one but one hard to turn away from once I heard it. One day a friend of mine brought over a CD of Japanese drum music. With its more prolonged periods of deep silence between notes I noticed that the 300B variant was a little quieter than its 845-based sibling. I’m not talking about hum or any other artifact, but a very subtle electronic mist that overlaid the 845 amp’s presentation. This happened very early in the review period, and I was never again made aware of its presence. But I suppose it is due to its absence that the 9.9C had a higher degree of focus than the 9.9A. While the 9.9A did an excellent job with soundstaging, the 9.9C did a spectacular job -- the best I’ve ever experienced. Voices were highly focused and seemed to emanate from a very highly defined point in space. Instrumental outlines were incredibly delineated. The 9.9C is a wonderful amplifier that varies from its very capable 845-based cousin in some sonically meaningful ways. But with roughly one-third the power, it does have its down side. On one hand it would seem that I’ve failed to discover the proverbial free lunch, but on the other, what I have discovered is some exceedingly delicious fare at a very fair price -- no matter which Opera amp you choose....John Potis
 
|
