Listening

After a brief settling in period and streaming a half-dozen albums, one descriptor comes to mind: sophisticated. There is a certain elegance that is the domain of many of the best amplifiers in the world. An effortless flow to the music without a hint of mechanical artifacts.

Playing music through the 760A quickly becomes addicting.

Streaming a number of recent Elvis Presley live reissues -- like Prince From Another Planet, Aloha: Live Via Satellite, and Elvis: The Way It Is -- all newly mixed from the original multitrack tapes, is quite a revelation. As close to the Presley live experience as you can experience, the mix engineers put you right on stage with The King, to the point you can hear the position of every instrument, how far Presley is from the microphone, and venue ambience. Here the 760A revealed another one of its strengths: precision. Transient attacks were amazingly quick, and bass notes stopped and started on a dime.

Listening to a slew of Robin Trower CD rips was also a thrill. His classic, Hendrix-inspired guitar tone and timeless compositions were well served by the Simaudio amp. Trower’s classic power trio from the '70s sounded vibrant, with pacing utterly superb. Even Trower’s late period, underrated, comeback albums are shown in a new light, with overlooked, terrific songwriting, and his signature Uni-Vibed Strat billowing out of the speakers. The 760A is a progressive rock lovers dream because of its sheer speed, scale, and and the aforementioned soundstaging precision.

Speaking of soundstaging, the stage depth the 760A creates is top shelf. It is as if one can visualize the recording venue from back to front. Depth, even more so than width, is what the very best electronics do to create the illusion of live musicians in a space. The 760A also creates a distinct air around each instrument, so much so that one could venture to guess how far each musician is from a boundary during the recording.

The 760A is also capable of a wonderful delicacy and is beautifully nimble on smaller scale acoustic music. Vintage Verve jazz recordings rendered with finesses, while piano, horns, and double bass all sound like wood and brass. This is especially apparent on a DSD download of Johnny Hodges classic, Blues A-Plenty, which has a relaxed and swinging mood, and the 760A swings right along.