Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/dagostino-relentless-800

For the obverse of these two clear-voiced warblers, I looked to Ozzy Osbourne, his masterful Under Cover [Epic 82876743142] showing exquisite taste in his versions of rock classics. Listening to ‘Mississippi Queen’, with its originator Leslie West providing a ferocious lead guitar break, Ozzy’s rasp demonstrated vividly that the ’800 was not even remotely saccharine, despite my ears telling me that it sounded as sweet as any massive solid-state amp I have ever heard – including the ‘original’ Relentless.

But there was more. Out came a vinyl copy of Led Zeppelin II [Atlantic SD 8236] with the famed Bob Ludwig cut. Within ten seconds of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, cranked up to 11, I experienced a rare audiophile epiphany. The mass, the slam, the scale, the presence: it was as close to real as it gets.

The characteristic of the central Voxativ field-coil driver in its exquisite response to the integrated amplifier alone spoke volumes. Even when playing famously “dry” sounding digital recordings, the delicacy of the driver as driven by the SW1X unveiled textures of the strings and woodwinds to such degrees as to be unprecedented. One could almost surmise from experiencing the AMP V Titan Special that those dry recordings are purer sounding. Here, perhaps even a mere four 300B or 2A3 watts would’ve sufficed, and the quality of every watt coming out of the SW1X AMP V Titan Special cannot be overstated