Winsome Mouse Amp review thread

RichPA

Don't drive angry
Subscriber
This thread is for reviews of the Winsome Mouse Amp - watch this space!

I've moved this from the private subscribers area to a public forum so more people can see the reviews - demo opportunities like this are one of the perks of being a subscriber!
 
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Driving Cornwalls, being fed by a Yamaha CDC/Entech DAC combo.

So far, so good. I'll be chasing the mouse around the house.

But it needs a wood case.

It's going to take some more listening and some various configuration changes before I want to say too much.

I will say this much: It sounds better with a direct source feed than through the pre-amp section of my aged MA-6100. I'll have to dig out my Hafler pre-amp for further testing. Also, it's taken a few hours for my ears to break-in to it. Some things I like, some I'm not sure of just yet (psychoacoustic crosstalk?).
 
The Stage One test is complete. In this test, I simply placed it in my main system running the Cornwalls. I ran it through the MA-6100's pre-amp, and on it's own with a direct feed from the Yamaha CDC through the Entech dac.

Overall sound very good. Brighter than the old SS Mac (but it's an OLD Mac that is overdue an overhaul... darn you Terry, why are you so far away?!?), more "presence" on the mid range. On the lows, it doesn't seem quite as gutsy as the Mac, but I don't think that's really a fair conclusion.

On the highs, it's very crisp and detailed (the overall sound is what I'd call "detailed"), but at times just a bit "grainy". Could be truth-telling from the amp, or it simply could be the amp itself.

Stage Two will find it placed against the Scott 299-D running some Frazier Monte Carlo bookshelfs.

Stage Three will be a cheap-shot (literally), as I will pit it against the Sonic Impact T-Amp driving the Best Buy Insignias, and the JBL Athena 99s (less of a "cheap-shot").

It will be on it's way to the Natural State on Monday, via FedEx Ground.

Next report before Sunday.
 
Stage Two in progress.

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The amp "crackles" faintly with what sounds like static electricity when I touch the gain knob. At first I thought it was a noisy pot, but then I realized that couldn't be/wasn't the case. This Old House doesn't have properly grounded outlets in all the rooms, so I'm guessing that's what I'm hearing.

The little bugger's got plenty of oof.
 
Stage Two in progress.

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The amp "crackles" faintly with what sounds like static electricity when I touch the gain knob. At first I thought it was a noisy pot, but then I realized that couldn't be/wasn't the case. This Old House doesn't have properly grounded outlets in all the rooms, so I'm guessing that's what I'm hearing.

The little bugger's got plenty of oof.

Hmmm...

I wonder if Luther installed and soldered the grounding lug. That was an issue with the prototype. The shaft of the ALPS pot was floating and would pick up static electricity. The production units have a bonding lug that grounds the volume control shaft. Do you get the same crackle if you touch the chassis? If so it could be your outlets, etc. The Panasonic volume pot has a plastic shaft so not an issue there.
 
Hmmm...

I wonder if Luther installed and soldered the grounding lug. That was an issue with the prototype. The shaft of the ALPS pot was floating and would pick up static electricity. The production units have a bonding lug that grounds the volume control shaft. Do you get the same crackle if you touch the chassis? If so it could be your outlets, etc. The Panasonic volume pot has a plastic shaft so not an issue there.

I know it is installed and I thought I soldered it in. Then again after building three of these, my old brain plays tricks on me. I guess you could say I have a RAM (random access memory) brain these days.

If you have a small allen wrench you can remove the knob, take out the screws and side the unit out the back of the case. Look at the lug attached to the front of the pot where it goes through the PCB. It should be soldered.
 
I know it is installed and I thought I soldered it in. Then again after building three of these, my old brain plays tricks on me. I guess you could say I have a RAM (random access memory) brain these days.

If you have a small allen wrench you can remove the knob, take out the screws and side the unit out the back of the case. Look at the lug attached to the front of the pot where it goes through the PCB. It should be soldered.

Luther, I'll do that (just look) and report back. I won't solder anything, because I tend to get soldering and welding confused.

;)
 
Stage Three

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The Winsome took on the McIntosh MA-6100 with Klipsch Cornwalls.

The Winsome took on the Scott 299-D with Frazier Monte Carlos.

And today, the Winsome dukes it out with the Sonic Impact T-Amp and JBL Athena 99s!

Final opinions soon (like, tomorrow).
 
Third and Final Report on Throbbing Winsome.

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The Winsome took on the McIntosh MA-6100 with Klipsch Cornwalls.

The Winsome took on the Scott 299-D with Frazier Monte Carlos.

And today, the Winsome dukes it out with the Sonic Impact T-Amp and JBL Athena 99s!

Final opinions soon (like, tomorrow).

The Winsome with the Cornwalls was clear (not bright), but grainy sounding on some highs. Great sound-stage, but for me, not a great match.

On the Fraziers (tube-era speakers usually driven by tubes), the graininess was gone. The Mouse sounded so good, in fact, I forgot it was what I was listening to while I worked. Great "contrast", but lacking a little of the subtle instrument details that the Scott brings out. But very enjoyable.

On the JBLs, it made better sound than either the old Tandberg receiver, or the cheap SI T-Amp. The same characteristics as before: clean, detailed, no graininess or harshness now, but just a little "edgy" for my taste.

As one might expect, it bested the Sonic Impact, making it sound a little muddy.

Finally, I hooked the Winsome and then the SI up to the old "new-rage" speakers... the only "digital ready" speakers I own... the Insignia 5.25" coaxials. The Mouse actually sounded the most "impressive" with these speakers, mating well with them.

Final opinion? It's a great little amp that I could easily see using long term. On a short term basis, it could substitute for any on my amps without my going into shock, or withdrawal. If I were to have one long term, I'd love to set it up with some single-driver transmission line speakers like the Tekton Fostex speakers, or that Madisound kit.

Thanks to Jay and Luther and Rich for setting this up! Great fun! :thmbsp:

On to you, Dave.
 
Thanks, PM, for the nice review. Looking forward to a report from Celt next, after he's had a chance to do some listening.
 
BTW:

One thing I totally forgot to do was run some inefficient acoustic suspension speakers with this. I should have run some EPI 100s or AR-2axs through it, ESPECIALLY against the little Sonic Impact. I don't think I gave the Mouse's 30+ wpc a real chance to shine. At 45 wpc @ 4 Ohms, maybe I should have hooked up the AR-3as.

Every speaker I used only required a few watts to sing, and even though the headroom was nice, I should have let it show its balls.
 
Next!

Our records indicate that the following shipment has been delivered:

Tracking number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ship (P/U) date: Aug 6, 2007
Delivery date: Aug 8, 2007 12:08 PM
Sign for by:
Service type: FedEx Home Delivery
Packaging type: Package
Number of pieces: 1
Weight: 3.70 lb.

Shipper Information Recipient Information
DALLAS Paragould
TX AR
US US
 
Yep! It's here and playing. :music: Working in the shop and using it for background noise at the moment. Gonna let it and the rest of the system get good and warmed up before I do any critical listening. More later.
 
I know it is installed and I thought I soldered it in. Then again after building three of these, my old brain plays tricks on me. I guess you could say I have a RAM (random access memory) brain these days.

If you have a small allen wrench you can remove the knob, take out the screws and side the unit out the back of the case. Look at the lug attached to the front of the pot where it goes through the PCB. It should be soldered.

Yep, lug installed, but not soldered. Only took a few minutes to fix. It's quiet as a *Mouse* now! :)
 
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