ok! time for a quasi review of the ck2iii, and i'll try to restrain myself from blubbering like a fool, which i'm tempted to do after listening to it. I didn't do any side by side with any other gears, i just can't draw myself away from listening to this
In one word, "natural". This is the most natural sounding amp i've ever heard, everything just sounds so right. It takes less away from the music than i'm used to, not that i realised this before, but now i know. I'm trying to work out what exactly if anything it adds to the music, as
everything has a warmth and sweetness to it that i'm not used to at all. Even stuff that's supposed to sound awful still sounds sweet, lol. Details and dynamics are superb, revealing so much micro detail, but at the same time leaving them as micro details, not letting them spoil the show.
But the dynamics is where this beast has really opened my eyes (ears). This is dynamic, without being aggressive. This amp just opens up the dynamic range of the source material to a whole new level, stretches the dynamic range out, from the most prominent sound to the slightest detail, they just get stretched across a lot more space than i'm used to, although seemingly further apart still all perfectly clear and articulated. I'm somewhat used to amps with a good attack on transient notes, and this amp is no exception, but where this amp is most remarkable is on the decay side of things. This amp is so "fast" on the way back down. A transient note will be hit instantly, and just as quickly it is gone. Any percussive instrument just sounds awesome. The sizzle of cymbals is sweet as. Any dynamic variation, this amp will track it with a ruthless precision. This will make some things seemingly move up or down in the mix from what i'm used to, but i'd say this is just a result of the music being played more truthfully than the studio ever intended. One bad thing i noticed about the dynamics being so great, is it makes it too easy to listen to music too loud, a bit of a trap to watch out for there.
As for the frequency response or tonal characteristic of the amp, i can't fault it, if the music is bassy it'll sound bassy, if the music has a lot of mids it'll sound like a lot of mids, and likewise with the top end. The lows are brutal like a pit fighting dog, the highs are graceful and athletic like a female gymnast, and the mids are just sweet, sweet, sweet. Hit a real thumping bit of bass it this'll wanna mush your brains. The mids are great, vocals are always amazing with this amp as is a screaming guitar solo. The treble is so slick too, remaining composure and not going splashy or harsh at all.
Bass guitar just sounds so damn right from this amp, as do normal guitars too for that matter. Plain simple rock this thing really performs. It's also awesome for any acoustic instruments, jazz, or orchestral, esp. chamber or make that almost anything for that matter.
One area i did notice this amp falls down is when listening rather loud to rather busy passages of heavy distorted music, it did start to distort and blend everything together. But when this amp distorts, it doesn't go anywhere near as harsh as other amps, just a bit fuzzy and blurred detail, no high frequency harshness though.
Anyway i'll finish this here, lets just say i love it
. I'm never getting into Stats. I guess I might one day.
