REVIEW: Enlightened Audio Designs PowerMaster 1000 Amplifier (SS)

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First of all, please excuse my writing. Iâ€™m not a professional author, nor an English teacher. I
will try to do my best to describe what I heard during my listening session. This review is in a purely subjective manner. I wrote this for the sake of those who been waiting for this amp for a long time. Your personal experience will differ depending on your taste, preference and listening style. most important, your room,speakers and other components. Ok, enough bragging.
Letâ€™s talk about Watt. This new EAD Powermaster 1000 is actually designed in a bridged and balance mode. So, basically, it is 2 powermaster 500 in 1 chasis with slight modification to ensure stability. It is rated at 200W x 5 into 8ohms and 375Wx5 into 4 ohms all channel driven. (Full specs at EAD User webpage) Just like it's big brother, it's power is limited to the amount of juice it can suck out from the wall. I received this amp about 2 weeks ago and to date, it has over 200 hours of burn in time already. The first day I saw this amp, I was impressed with its enormous size, tank built quality and a massive weight!
At almost 80lb it obviously showing a huge power supply is used. It has the usual 5 way binding post, and a set of sturdy female RCA jacks. Hovewer, I was disappointed when EAD chose not to include a balance input for this amp like the Powermaster 1000.
My initial listening session begun on the same day the amp arrived with a couple of CDâ€™s. Paula Cole and Creed. System ws calibrated at 85dB using Radioshack SPL level and EAD internal meter to double check. First thing that struck me at the moment of listening of this amp is its huge and extended soundstage with super precise imaging. I was expecting it to be only slightly better than PM500 I previously had. It surpassed my expectation. It was wide, goes beyond the wall with enveloping sound. The bass was also first rate. Tight and articulate. Thereâ€™s no sense of overhang that I could detect. It rivals the lower octave from my citation 7.1 in bridged mode. But I thought the 7.1 has better grip and has more weight on the bass. However, when I paid my attention to the midbass region, I was disappointed that it was thin and lean. male vocal like Boyz 2 Men's a Capella sounded chesty and congested. The Citation 7.1 has more balance lower and midbass. Midrange from Pm1000 was not as I expected, it was brittled, smeared and has over-emphasized region in upper range. I canâ€™t stand 5 minutes listening to Creed or Santana. I remember my PM500 which needs long burn in time. So, I quickly locate a static AM radio and start the burn in process. please read on.
Today, after over 200 hours burn in time with regular listening and that Static radio, I begun my listening session again. I removed the amp from the rack and place it on several â€œyellow pagesâ€ so that I can easily switch them back and forth. This time I will compare to my trusted citation which was unanimously chosen by everybody in my house as the best sounding amp among Acurus 100x3, 200x3, B&k 7250 and Parasound 800II. Side by side. (sorry no DBT). Again I used the same cds plus a few others recording that I really like. I listen to citation bridged first. I like the presentation of this 7.1 where it has a very smooth top end, liquid midrange and most important, the thunderous high quality bass! Despite its slightly forward presentation, it keeps me listening without any fatigue or headache.
Several songs finished and I switched the amp to PM1000. I listened to Creed and Santana again, surprisingly the burn-in has fixed the brittled upper midrange. The overall sounds character of this sound changed marginally. I felt like I was listening to a different amp. The lower bass is as tight as it was during the first day. The midbass now has recovered from its thin and lean character. It is now more balanced without bloating or booming. Still, the bottom end does not have the power of the 7.1.
Though it is now very defined and you can easily diffentiate among those different drum beats in santana, it doesnâ€™t have authority and punch like the 7.1. Well, no amps are perfect.
PM1000 also has a very tranparent sound with images that you can almost touch. cymbal decay sounded better with PM1000. Both 7.1 and 1000 are "sibilance free" with female voice, you don't get that ear piercing "SSSS" with these amps. Music was so satisfying that I listen to several other cd's as well. After switching back and forth between amps 3 times, I began to notice that the 7.1 is a more dynamic amp. Bass slam and transcient are definetely better with 7.1. The difference is not huge, but enough to make you notice the difference. It's not surprising because 7.1 has more headroom and more power reserve. This doesn't mean that 1000 has no dynamic or bass slam, it's just not powerful enough to rival the mighty 450W 7.1. At least 1000 has come VERY close with added bonus of a very well define bass. Both amps have the accuracy and excellent low level details retrieval. Music layering and sense of "space" are slightly better & more stable with PM1000 which amazingly laid out the stage where you can easily pinpoint the placement of each instrument. you can hear the kick drums on the back of the stage, vocalist in the middle and other instruments descretely placed throughout the stage. Vocal sounded grainless and detached from the music with a very natural tonal balance. 7.1 is not left behind, while it has the same resolving power as the 1000, the imaging is overslightly difused and confused in my setup. Nevertheless, it's not serious that will stop you from listening. Upper octave from these amps are both extended, clear very smooth. My paradigms are known for their bright metal tweeters among some people, but not in this case with these 2 amps. Especially with the 1000 which has a tad more "air" and a more laid back sound. Instead, they are now a very sweet sounding speaker with tons of details and clarity. Music is more enjoyable and more relaxing than when I was using acurus + parasound which sometimes tend to sound metallic and artificial.
Interm of background noise, 7.1 is amazingly dead quite. background is black! no hiss, no hum, no nothing. the pm1000 has a slight hiss during quite passage. but audible only when you put your ears close to the tweeter. This might be due to high gain of this amp, (36) that just amplifiy any noise carried from the source or between the line. Both amps have no mechanical or electronic hum. very quite. 7.1 generate more heat during the listenig sesion for some unknown reason to me while PM1000 is barely warm. When I watched movie in surround the next day, I felt like it's not a very fair comparison as the 7.1 only has 4 channel and I have to use a bridged parasound to drive the center. Level calibration/matching is a bit tedious in this combination if done manually. thanks to EAD auto setup. 5 minutes, everything's done.
In surround sound, the difference between 2 amps are far more subtle that I imagine. both amps have the dynamic and the capability to deliver the enveloping sound without loosing any details. Parasound 800II kept up with these monsters pretty well and no one noticed that I was using a different amp for center. What I really like about this 2 amps is their ability to mantain the detail, bass quality, transperency in the listening volume. they don't loose all the character thay have in high/moderate volume. For some reason, I favor the PM1000 a bit when listening at low level. It produces more involving sound and this make me feel good.
So, which one is a keeper? BOTH. I will keep both amp as they are both capable performer. I chose PM1000 for its lush and seductive mid + upper octave. its first rate bass and focus images. I chose 7.1 for it thunderous and authoritive bass that shake the heck of my room. its low noise backgound and its dynamics. I can play around with these 2 amps in biamping later, passive or active. With over 2 weeks living with Pm1000 and 2 months with 7.1, I can say that PM1000 is more like a "soft & tender" type of amp while 7.1 is a "masculine" and "muscle" type of amps. I'm sure Tim Allen will like the citation with its rough and robust built quality!
Words of reminder, if you buy the PM1000, make sure you give it a long burn-in time before you lay down your judgement. the sound changes noticably after full burned-in/warm-up. Don't worry if you hear the brittle upper midrange during the first few weeks. It'll get better. Those who looking for citation, you gotta be quick. MAdrigal is selling off the rest of their inventory now. check Ubid for availability of this amazing amp for a very good price!
All in all, I think EAD has done their homework very well and deliver a very fine amps for a fair price point IMO. At $2750 list price, it's not a cheap amp and not all JoeSixPack can afford this. I personally think that you won't be ashamed to have this amp in you multi-thousand dollars setup. This amp will deliver what you want with ease. Before you invest 5k for other "High Status" amps, at least give this amp a listen. It has the unlimited power with the excellent finnesse of other kilobuck amps. You won't be dissappointed. Either you are 2 channel hard core or multichannel enthusiast. At least now I'm not.
Thank you for reading this humble review.
Enjoy the music

Listening was done mainly in 2 channel stereo as I believed is far more critical when evaluating an amp. Differences in surround from my experience is far subtle and almost not noticable. it's there but I don't feel it's worth the effort to strain my ears to listen to the differences.
listening room is 18' x 15' x 9'.
source is Theta Pearl cd transport with EAD Ovation as DAC. (max jitter Reduction)
Speaker cables are from Cardas quadlink 5C. and My DIY Belden 89880 Shotgun cable (ALAN MAHER Recipe). All connected "full range" single wired with no "jumper" (bass wire and mid/tweeter wire combined internally to one binding post).
placement: 3.8' into the room. 2.5' from side wall. No toe in.
Also some other accessories were used during listening like DIY power cords, Vibrapod, Powerconditioner,Microscans etc.

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Topic - REVIEW: Enlightened Audio Designs PowerMaster 1000 Amplifier (SS) Review by Lukpayat at Audio Asylum - Lukpayat 14:53:47 08/03/00 (0)

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