INTRO
Well, I will go ahead and give the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp to the next person in line since I rarely have time to do a good listening session on the weekdays.
Both this post and my Steve Hoffman post is going to be kinda similar, but I can be more straightforward here and post more stuff about the Mon Acoustic Platimon since this is a Mon Acoustic Platimon thread. I can also just tell the whole story of my 1-month adventure here in this forum since it really started here on this rabbit hole of trying this Orchard Audio amp. The Steve Hoffman post will be just me summarizing my experience with the amp and trying my best to not derail that thread.
First off, thanks to Leo from Orchard Audio for that US Tour on his latest amp. That is really awsome that he did that so people like me that do not have any connections with local audio shops or people that don’t really go to any audio show to try a power amp at my very own home environment.
Next, thanks to @orrman for putting me on Z reviews of the Platimon which basically cause a chain and effect to this entire path I am taking:
This is the TLDR I got from the video on my first watch
" …its 40 minutes and I honestly kinda zone in and out during the review while eating some chicken. I might have missed a lot of what he said, but I think he said he likes the visceral bass, he likes the overall transparent clean sound, he likes the soundstage width, but he really loves how well the Platimon does phatom center imaging. I think half his video is talking about the soundstage width and phantom center imaging.
I think the most interesting thing he said in that review is a “country” sound signature. When I think of Korean gears it is pretty hard to describe. I wouldn’t go as far as what Z said in saying the Mon Acoustic speakers have no sound to them. I think as long the speaker has a cabinet, it has to have a sound. And the creator was trying to go for a Mpingo wood (African Blackwood) sound."
At first, I didn’t really agree on Z point of view of the Platimon sounding like “nothing” and that they are that transparent sounding speaker. Then he talked about how each country equipment kinda have its own sound signature and him describing the Platimon reminded of me trying to describe the Allnic HPA 5000XL headphone amp. Both these two Korean audio equipment don’t really sound like anything in the market to compare to and its truly unique in their own sound signature.
Then Z talked about how he wanted to pull his Platimon apart as far as he could because the width soundstage and the amazing phantom center imaging is really addicting on the Platimon. That I could relate to because I pretty much did the same thing on my Platimon where I pulled them apart as far as I could while keeping them away from the side walls.
Z started talking about how he strongly suggest no toe in for the Platimon because toeing in the Platimon will lose its “magic” on the width of the soundstage. Jay Iyagi (another reviewer) also mentioned that in his review that he recommended doing a little to no toe in with the Platimon for its magical soundstage width. So I did that and didn’t like how it sounded. I did some rearrangement on my room like getting rid of the computer desk (made it movable) and just remove the computer desk with the monitor outside the room when I am listening to the Platimon. Removing the computer desk from the room equation instantly made stage left sounds evenly clear with stage right. Did some more quality of life, added some more treatment on the back wall and now the Platimon sounded really good and I got that “magical” soundstage width with no toe-in Platimon. I think I experimented this during April. April had a lot of changes in the room itself and including tube changes in the preamp.
Long story short, I liked what Z suggested on the no toe in and how he like pulling the speakers apart like me. One thing I couldn’t get behind is putting the Platimon right against the wall because soundstage depth felt more disappointing to me doing that, but everyone room is different. My room, I like to pull it out at least 2.5 feet.
This is when I go deeper in the rabbit hole for Class D GanFet
Ok, so the seeds have been planted in my mind that Class D GanFet sounds amazing with the Platimon. Z was right about a lot of things when describing the Platimon. After rewatching his review video and I understand the true magic of No-Toe In Platimon, I got really curious on why he keep emphasizing that the Platimon sounds like nothing. The way Z describe the Platimon pair with the Orchard Audio Class D amp is kinda how I feel about the Mysphere 3.2 combo with the Allnic HPA-5000XL amp where its just you and the music. Where we say fuck the equipment, I just want to hear music unfilter without any equipment. Where the music just sound so natural that it just makes your brain think the performer is right here in the same room as they are really playing locally in your room. Next level of psychological fuckery for me. I snap my fingers like in the meme where Leonardo DiCaprio snap his fingers and points. I did that and said out loud, “I want that!”
After that, I started reading the official website on GanFet technology and the company beliefs and watching a lot of reviewers thoughts on the Orchard Audio GanFet Class D amp. I really like Jay Iyagi comparison video of the Orchard Audio GanFet Class D amp vs other amp he had in his possession. Bass quality seems like the highlight of the show for this Orchard Audio GanFet Class D amp while remaining very good clarity in the midrange and highs compared to other amps. Then I watched AbsoluteSound review on the Orchard Audio GanFet Class D amp and I like how he described the amp. He described it as a really good amp, especially for its clarity and dynamics, but is lacking the refinement in the highs that more expensive amps have which typically lives in the $10K plus area. Still craving for more impression to get that 1 review to really convince me on buying this amp, I kept searching the Internet. I came across the Steve Hoffman forum. They had a US tour thread and its “free” to join. The catch is you have to pay to ship to the next person and if anything goes wrong, you pay for shipping to the creator to get it fix. You also need a Steve Hoffman forum account so you can input your impression of the amp in that thread. 1 week also seem to be the maximum time to spend with the amp.
I signed up and waited for my turn…
Before going to the next segment, if you are curious on GanFet technology and how it greatly improve Class D amps of today times, here is a link from the Orchard Audio official website:
Time To Obtained The Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp For A Week
So the last person to have the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp is a local NC person. I coordinated with him and met up at a local Chinese restaurant because I wanted to eat some Hunan Chicken that day. So I met up with the guy and we talked a little bit. The guy seem pretty cool. His choice of speaker is a DIY GR research open baffle speaker paired with a REL subwoofer. Part of me wanted to say, “Wow, I want to hear one of those”, but I didn’t want to seem to friendly on someone I just met, I just that’s really cool. He paired his open baffle speaker with an all PS Audio setup I believe from DAC to amp. I don’t remember what PS Audio DAC and amp he had, but he told me he liked it better than the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp. I don’t remember too much, but he likes the soundstage width and midrange better on his PS Audio amp vs the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp. Then he suggested to me to try out the PS Audio amp if I could as he really respect their products. He ask me on whats my setup and I told him Mystique Evo DAC (seem like he didn’t know), Supratek DHT Preamp (seem like he didn’t know either), and the Platimon speaker. When I said Platimon speaker, he told he know that one and its a really good sounding speaker. When he said that, that made me physically smile and I became much more friendlier. I don’t know if he was being nice, but I like hearing that for some reason. I guess ownership pride or something. We chatted a little bit more and he told me one thing that really stood out to him his bass on the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he told me when drums hit, it shook his room or something with the REL subwoofer on and his room is fully treated. For some tracks, he felt the REL subwoofer really got loud even though the volume is always it have been on his setup. That got me thinking that the first thing I want to test is bass. Then he told me that when he got the amp during shipping from the last person from him, it got damaged from shipping and he had to send the amp to Leo. There was a channel distortion issue on one of them and Leo was able to quickly fix it and send it back to the person in line. I note to myself that I will put a lot of bubble warps on the amp before sending it to the next person. I said my goodbye, put the amp in my car and drove home.
Testing the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp in my setup
My setup in my small room:
ROON Rock - Intel NUC 7i7 > EMM Labs NS1 > [Silver Sonic D-110 AES] Mojo Audio Mystique EVO B4B 21 > [Audience Ohno XLR] Custom 45/6SN7 Tube Only Supratek Cabernet DHT > [Enoaudio Mogami 2534 Quad Pair (L,R) Cable | Neutrik XLR Female - XLR Male] Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp > [NRG The 6:6 Custom Speaker Cable] Mon Acoustics Platimon VC One
There was a little rattle sound coming from inside the amp when I received it and I email Leo about it. I opened the case and took pictures for him to see. The little rattle from inside the amp was a loose screw and I made sure every part is soldered in and to double check if there is any loose screw in the amp. I reported none and the sound quality is good on my end. I discarded the loose screw from inside the amp and closed it. I made sure to turn it off and unplug it when I open it and test the sound quality after closing it.
First impression on looking at the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp is that this amp is really huge from what I heard class D is is supposed to be. I heard class D are small foot print amps with really good temperature control. The Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp is cool to the touch, but man is this a huge amp at least compare to all the amps I have currently. I will call it the Starkrimson at this point for the sake of my sanity. The Starkrimson is the size of both my Allnic headphone amp and Schiit Vidar 2 side by side. The Starkrimson is comparable in size to my Mystique Evo DAC. When I open it the amp up, it was filled with parts. The sheer size of the Starkrimson already is telling me this isn’t your typical class D amp.
Day 1
I used the Decibal X app on my phone to measure my db and frequency in my room, so you can take it with a grain of salt when I mentioned it.
First listen was Arabella Steinbacher take on Four Seasons and Symphony Fantastique. During this time, I am just listening for upgrade on clarity and as a lot of reviewers rage on about midrange clarity. To my ears on the first couple of testing tracks, the clarity jump from the Vidar 2 to the Starkrimson didn’t seem huge. It sounded less grainy and compressed compared to the Vidar 2, but the overall clarity didn’t really make me say wow yet… I would say the midrange clarity is a step rather than a jump to me which makes sense to me as clarity from my headphone amp, my Raal SR1a setup, memories of other expensive headphone amp in audio show, to the Platimon + Vidar 2 with Supratek Preamp were pretty close to each other and I always get the impression the Platimon was just a cleaner sounding equipment overall. Also, I really can’t imagine it get clearer than this, cause its basically real life, which I will talk about more in Day 3.
I moved on to synthesize bass tracks to test the bass. The lowest frequency I was able to get the Platimon to reach was 46hz which isn’t too different from my Vidar 2. The average db I listened to for this section is I always wanted to keep it under 80db cause I don’t want to become too deaf. I think I turned the music to average around 76db. The highest peak was 97.1db while the lowest db was 41 which is probably when the music is off lol. I will admit, I never noticed it went that high until I looked at the Decibal X app. One thing that the Starkrimson amp started to amaze me is that it can go that high while still sounding really clear. Another thing is bass sounds more controlled, cleaned, and somehow fuller than the Vidar 2 even though they both seem to drop off at 46hz. The Vidar 2 imo exaggerates bass or more specifically midbass on my system into sounding more impactful than it really is. The Starkrimson amp doesn’t exaggerate bass to me. When the bass needs to get loud, it will get loud. If the bass does not get loud it will stay that way. The Starkrimson amp gives me the impression that its more truer to the recording. Bass never felt overpowering no matter how loud it gets and it always felt like the Starkrimson amp is in control because the bass sounded clean always. The test songs that I remember quite clearly was all Jmusic synth songs like Myth and Roid Remembrance and Forever Lost Songs and Syudou I’m A Ghost Type song.
Day 2
Sorry, I’m getting really lazy and tired already of typing lol. Day 2, I shuffle the list with random songs to get in the mood and started focusing on female vocals with acoustic and small ensembles. Nothing really click so far with the Starkrimson amp and me yet. Tried more bass focus songs and then listen to one of my favorite EP of 2024 cause I got tired of listening to test songs. Then I went to modern rap songs and then rock songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s. With the old rock songs, I wanted to test if the Starkrimson amp could redeem some songs for me because the Vidar 2 + Platimon combo made the recording sound more compressed to me (don’t know if that is the right word, but I want to yes). One of the songs were Guns N Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine and Ozzy Osborne Crazy Train. To my surprise, they sounded pretty dang good with the Platimon now. So I digged deeper and deeper and Yes Roundabout song got me really liking the Starkrimson amp + Platimon combo. I stop writing notes on Day 2 during a session and was just going through my favorites music at that point when I stop doing “test” songs. After the Roundabout song is over, I had the urged to play Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven song. Again, didn’t write notes, but I remember smiling a lot and remembering how awesome that song is. I kept going through the genre and then switch to Dragon Force Through the Fire and Flames. That was the most amazing experience I had with that song in any setup. That phrase will be a trend, you will hear me say holy crap that most amazing experience I had with that song on any setup with the Starkrimson + Platimon combo. At that point, I started my search for something else which was speed. Around 4:00 - 6:05 in the song Through the Fire and Flames, the speed and maintained clarity is really insane. I felt cracked out not that I would know what crack feels like, but I think it think it would feel like this based on what I use as an alternative which is Celsius. Next, I played the Band Maid on my 2 favorite album which is Unseen World and Unleash. No God and Black Hole was the two tracks I really wanted to focus on, but I was F it, I wanted to listen to the whole 2 albums. The kick drums didn’t really shake up the room. But with those speed, it got my heart pumping more bpm to the song (its an exaggeration I hope). Day 2, I learned the Starkrimson amp + Platimon combo, they got a really addicting speed with no blur and all clarity.
Day 3
This day is pretty important as this day seal the deal for me on the Starkrimson. Day 1, I appreciated the bass sound quality. Day 2, I appreciated the speed, attack, and maintained clarity. I’ve been holed up in my house for too long, let me talk to a human being again to restore my humanity. When talking to a real human being again, it got me thinking that maybe I’ve been chasing for the nonexistent clarity this entire time. After my quick hang out, I returned home to resume the listening session. I thought I would do something different. I live pretty much isolated, let me take advantage of that. I turned off the AC and managed to get the room quietest db which was 22.9db according to the app. I learned from yesterday session to just play songs I really like and remember those songs from the heart and compare it to the present of whats in front of me. No notes, just straight listening session and absorbed the experience. I played shuffle on my favorite playlist to get in the mood and started listening to my current favorite artist discography which is Ado who is a Japanese Utaite singer. Listen to most of her songs from cover to original and it got to my 2 favorite songs (which I purposely put them side by side). I posted it in the heat of the moment in this thread, so I will just paste it below:
Basically on that day, I fell in love the the Starkrimson amp + Platimon for recreating such a breathtaking atmosphere on those tracks. With its perfect silence, its more than usual black background to really emphasize the space in the instruments and Ado vocals. The emotional rollercoaster I feel when Ado sings throughout the track. And most of all, I think I finally understood what Z was talking about in his review. Where we can say fuck the equipment, all that really matter is the music and the listener. A moment created thanks to the Starkrimson amp + Platimon combo that makes it so memorable. It really feels like a real private concert because the realism factor is really kicking in my brain. That’s how real it sounded to me. Then I started going back and listening to other female vocals with acoustic and small ensembles and my brain just finally click with it. Everything just sounds amazing to me now.
Day 4
So I started listening to classical orchestra again since my brain finally clicked on female vocals and this time just really focus on enjoying the music. The timbre on every instruments is amazing, the hyper focus imaging combine with the Starkrimson amp added clarity made layering and imaging so easy. The soundstage depth I was actually pretty surprised. It felt really deep like the soundstage itself is about the size of 5 rows while I am still a couple rows back from the front. My only complaint is the soundstage width. I wish I could match its great depth with a great width, but its just physically impossible in my current room setting or maybe I should play more with Diffusors on side stage placement. When Karl Bohm Beethoven Pastoral started playing I just felt at peace. Its been 2 years since I heard Pastoral live and this is one of the more amazing experience I ever felt from that digital recording. Keep in mind that I turned off the AC and my room isn’t torturing hot. The lowest db is 22.9 when the music is off. When Pastoral piece came on, I did pull up the app because I was interested in the dynamics. The lowest db when the piece is being played is around 33db, the average is 50db-60db, and the highest peak was 84.9db. Dynamics is freaking amazing with the Pastoral Piece and Starkrimson amp + Platimon speaker combo. So everything I started appreciating from Day 1 to Day 3 comes together to Day 4.
Day 4 is over and I watched some TV shows like the newest episode of Demon Slayers the Hashira Training Arc about 50 minute episode. Its over, I really want this amp in my system lol.
CONCLUSION?
There is no way I can post this at the official forum for the US tour. Too much not needed details, but it was fun typing this out. I will probably make a super easy digestible version in the official forum of the world tour that just get straight to the point but at the same time a huge water down version.
I already sold my Susvara and Schiit Vidar 2. All I am waiting now is just more F U Funds to build up before officially buying this amp. I talked to Leo and he told me there is a 2.5 version of the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC power amp. 2.5 version is just a built in RCA to XLR converter as the amp itself can only use XLR inputs.
I like the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp because to me, its a very versatile amp for different music genre. The Starkrimson + Platimon plays very well with both modern music and classical music because of its amazing dynamics, amazing black background, and its overall top to bottom clarity with no weird hiccup. Because of its lack of coloration and added flavor to my chain, it really let my 45 tube preamp shine. As people describe the Starkrimson, its just a straight wire with gain type of amp. The more I tune my preamp to my preference, the Starkrimson amp will let my audio chain truly shine.
I guess that’s it from me. I think the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp pairs really nicely with the Mon Acoustic Platimon VC One only if your current audio chain reach to your satisfaction or at least nearly to your satisfaction. The Starkrimson is not a miracle worker, but it truly rewards people that really enjoy their current audio chain.
Sweet Summary of the above lengthy above post
I made a TLDR version and posted it to the official Starkrimson US Tour thread at the Steve Hoffman forum as feedback is required for the US tour. It’s not really a TLDR since its still pretty lengthy, but its a “shorten” summarized version. I thought I would paste it here as well since the post is very lengthy. So here is the sweet summary of my Starkrimson experience with the Platimon:
First off, thank you Leo from Orchard Audio for that US Tour on his latest amp. That was really awesome that he did that for people like me who do not have any connections with local audio shops or people who don’t go to any audio show to try a power amp in my very own home environment. This was an amazing experience and I think it is safe to say I might be considering the Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC power amp in my future.
My setup in my small room:
ROON Rock - Intel NUC 7i7 > EMM Labs NS1 > [Silver Sonic D-110 AES] Mojo Audio Mystique EVO B4B 21 > [Audience Ohno XLR] Custom 45/6SN7 Tube Only Supratek Cabernet DHT > [Enoaudio Mogami 2534 Quad Pair (L,R) Cable | Neutrik XLR Female - XLR Male] Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp > [NRG The 6:6 Custom Speaker Cable] Mon Acoustics Platimon VC OneTubes used on my 45/6SN7 Tube Only Supratek Cabernet DHT Preamp: (2) RCA Globe 45 Tube, (2) RCA 6SN7 Tube, (2) RCA 6L6GC Tube, and (1) RCA 5U4G Tube.
My original amp currently in the system is a Schiit Vidar 2 and I was looking between the Starkrimson and another class AB amp as my next upgrade for the Platimon setup. The Schiit Vidar 2 is what I would call a reliable amp that lets my speaker play without me worrying too much about sound quality. But after upgrading to the Platimon, I could tell that it was the bottleneck of the chain.
My listening and speaker position:
- 7.4 feet from the listening position to the speakers
- About 7 feet the speakers are apart from each other.
- Both speakers are about 2.5 feet away from the side wall and front wall
- No toe in as I enjoy a more wide and flesh-out dimensional soundstage with the Platimon VC 1.
My first impression looking at the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp is that this amp is huge from what I heard class D is supposed to be. I heard class D is small footprint amps with great temperature control. The Starkrimson is cool to the touch, but man is this a huge amp at least compared to all the amps I have currently have. The Starkrimson is the size of both my Allnic HPA-5000XL headphone amp and Schiit Vidar 2 side by side. The Starkrimson is comparable in size to my Mystique Evo DAC. The sheer size of the Starkrimson is already telling me this isn’t your typical class D amp.
Let’s start with the Positive:
- No harsh highs (No Sibilance or anything of that sort in my system)
- Very Clear Mids
- Great Black background that really helps create the atmosphere of the track for me (which is my highlight of the amp for me)
- Very nice and clean-sounding bass
- Very good side stage imaging and phantom center imaging (probably thanks to the blacker background that it’s much easier to paint the picture of the track)
- You can turn the volume to a very high volume (90db) and the quality does not degrade (but honestly your ears will if you listen to that volume for a period of time). I think this is very good for a lot of classical orchestra music and maybe electric music as well since they have a lot of dynamics in their piece that sometimes raise the volume significantly from time to time. The highest peak I had was around 97db, but my average was 76db in one of my sessions and that was on a “Bring Home The Bass Playlist” (My personal bass playlist). When I was playing Karl Bohm Beethoven Pastoral, I turned off the air conditioning and now the lowest db is 22.9 when the music is off. The lowest db when the piece is being played is around 33db, the average is 50db-60db, and the highest peak is 84.9db. Dynamics is freaking amazing with the Pastoral Piece and Starkrimson amp + Platimon speaker combo. When I turn off the air conditioning, my room still remains pretty cool as I remember my feet feeling a little chilly. My other equipment like my preamp and DAC doesn’t really produce too much heat.
- Very fast speed and very good at maintaining clarity. Around 4:00 - 6:05 in the song Through the Fire and Flames by Dragon Force, the speed and maintained clarity is really insane. I felt cracked out not that I would know what crack feels like, but I think it think it would feel like this based on what I use as an alternative which is Celsius. Next, I played the Band Maid on my 2 songs, No God and Black Hole was the two tracks. The kick drums didn’t really shake up the room. But with that speed, it got my heart pumping more bpm to the song (it’s an exaggeration I hope). I learned with the Starkrimson amp + Platimon combo, they got a really addicting speed with no blur and all clarity.
- Depth has gotten much better in my setup. It felt like the soundstage itself was about the size of 5 rows while I was still a couple of rows back from the front. My only complaint is the soundstage width. I wish I could match its great depth with a great width, but it’s just physically impossible in my current room setting or maybe I should play more with Diffusors on side stage placement.
I really do not have any negative things to say about the Starkrimson amp if you know what you are going into about this amp. If I have to say something bad, it’s more a complaint of the cosmetic feature which is the really bright blue LED light. I like to listen to music in the dark sometimes for full immersion and that blue LED light do stick out like a sore thumb. It’s easily fixed by placing my wallet in front of it and going back to the listening session so it’s really not a big deal.
The Starkrimson is just a really solid amp overall and I can’t find any fault pair with the Platimon VC 1 speaker. I also used it with my R2R DAC with the Supratek Cabernet DHT preamp using RCA Globe 45 tube, so the Starkrimson was getting amazing musicality as the source and all the Starkrimson had to do was focus on bringing the best out of my speaker.
I like the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp in my setup because to me, it’s a very versatile amp for different music genres. The Starkrimson + Platimon plays very well with both modern music and classical music because of its amazing dynamics, amazing black background, and its overall top-to-bottom clarity with no weird hiccup. Because of its lack of coloration and added flavor to my chain from the Starkrimson, it really let my 45-tube preamp shine. As people describe the Starkrimson, its just a straight wire with gain type of amp and I agree with that statement. The more I tune my preamp to my preference, the Starkrimson amp will let my audio chain truly shine. I think the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.0 power amp pairs really nicely with the Mon Acoustic Platimon VC One only if your current audio chain reaches your satisfaction or at least nearly to your satisfaction. The Starkrimson is not a miracle worker, but it truly rewards people who really enjoy their current audio chain and want to bring out the best of your system without introducing more “flavor” to the audio chain.