I did a pretty intense re-cable project on the speaker side of the desktop/near field system today, and while I had everything apart, I couldn’t help myself. I reconfigured and tried the Horizon Closed on the AMP-F2 / SA-1 pre setup. And I’ll be damned, it was better. The stage was bigger, imaging /separation was improved, mids right up through the highs were spectacular. It’s a measure more neutral than the DA-9, and the bass isn’t as authoritative as the DA-9. Bass hits harder and extends lower. Oddly, I also have more headroom on the DA-9. And I have volume control right there at the amp, so no preamp is required.
At the end of the day I ended up putting everything back the way it was. The AMP-F2 will continue to be a dedicated speaker amp. But I’m glad I did it. It’s yet another great option for the Horizon Closed that I can switch over to pretty easily whenever I get the itch.
Switching back and forth from Horizon Open to Verum One Mk2 has made me appreciate the Verums even more, for 350 dollars they sound spectacular and close to Horizon Open maybe with tad less detail, but dynamics/soundstage are almost on par. [to my ears at least]
