March 2009

Raysonic M100 Mono Amplifiers

by Marc Mickelson

Review Summary Sound "'Tubey' is not a word I would use to describe the sound of the Raysonic M100s. While they do exhibit some bloom in the bass, their perspective is up front, giving the music an immediacy and vividness that can be thrilling, even as it pushes into forwardness with some recordings. Their sound is lively, open and crisp, not syrupy, euphonic and soft." "Well-recorded classical music takes on a grand sense of scale, sounding pellucid into the farthest reaches of the soundstage" though "rock fared less well." Features "Raysonic's M100 is a mono amplifier that delivers a reported 100 watts from an octet of 5881 output tubes.... The 5881 is an interesting choice. It's a beam tetrode that is often used in modern guitar amplifiers for its clear, powerful tone." "Each M100 also uses a single 6SN7 and 12AX7, neither of which is exotic or expensive." "The M100 has a single RCA jack for input and outputs for 4-, 6- and 8-ohm loads." Use "An interesting wrinkle, and one that I unfortunately couldn't test, is that EL34s can be substituted for the 5881s. The EL34 is a lovely sounding pentode tube. What it lacks in bass kick it makes up for with its sumptuous midrange and sweet treble." Value "The M100s would be an interesting alternative to a solid-state amp in their sub-$10,000 price range, with the option of using different output tubes adding some sonic flexibility and intrigue."

As the infiltration of high-end-audio components from China continues, a hierarchy has developed, with certain Chinese companies earning some respect for the performance and reliability of their products, as well as the relative longevity of the brand names, and others still striving for brand recognition and equity. Raysonic is surely among the former and one of the best-known Chinese audio makers, perhaps because the company is actually headquartered in North America -- Toronto, to be exact -- with manufacturing carried out in China at a facility the company owns. Raysonic's product line includes 14 separate units, half of them integrated amplifiers. As with essentially all high-end brands manufactured in China, Raysonic products offer notable design and user features at surprisingly low prices. Take the CD168, for instance. It's a nicely built, fully balanced CD player that uses four 6922 tubes in its output stage and costs a little over $2500 USD. The CD228 is also a fully balanced tube CD player, but its beefed-up power supply is housed in a separate chassis -- all for around $4000.

In keeping with this purist-yet-affordable mindset, Raysonic's M100 is a mono amplifier that delivers a reported 100 watts from an octet of 5881 output tubes and costs $7850 per pair. The 5881 is an interesting choice. It's a beam tetrode that is often used in modern guitar amplifiers for its clear, powerful tone. The earliest version of the Mesa Baron power amplifier, which I reviewed over a decade ago, used 5881s and was made by a company known mostly for its guitar amplifiers. An interesting wrinkle, and one that I unfortunately couldn't test, is that with the Raysonic amp EL34s can be substituted for the 5881s. The EL34 is a lovely sounding pentode tube. What it lacks in bass kick it makes up for with its sumptuous midrange and sweet treble. Each M100 also uses a single 6SN7 and 12AX7, neither of which is exotic or expensive.

The M100 has a single RCA jack for input and outputs for 4-, 6- and 8-ohm loads. All are around back. The front has only the on/off knob, which doubles as a power indicator, glowing a soft blue when the amp is on. With its hideous-looking protective tube scaffolding removed and that switch as well as the tubes casting their light, the M100 is a very handsome amplifier. It comes in both silver and black; the silver looks a little brassy to my eyes, but I suspect the black finish would cure this.

Each amplifier measures 12 1/4"W x 8 3/8"H x 20 1/2"D and weighs just under 60 pounds. The shelves of your equipment rack will have to be extra wide and deep to accommodate a pair of M100s, although amplifier stands or the floor itself, providing you don't have plush carpet, would work fine as well. The amps don't give off a great amount of heat, so if you have a small room that has prevented you from considering tube monoblocks, the M100s won't turn your listening space into a sauna.

Review system

The Raysonic M100s were right at home in my system, which is overrun with tube electronics. I used the amps with a few different preamps, noting that with the CAT SL1 Legend there was some residual hiss that I could hear from the listening position. The hiss indicates that the M100s have a fair amount of voltage gain, and using them with the CAT Legend -- an unlikely pairing given the great difference in the price of the products -- would require adjusting the preamp's gain via a switch inside the bulky main chassis. Other preamps included an Audio Research Reference 3 and Aurum Acoustics CDP, which doubles as a very good CD player. Amplifiers also in use were Lamm M1.2 Reference and ML3 Signature monoblocks, and an Audio Research Reference 110 stereo amp. Speakers were Wilson Audio MAXX 2s and MAXX 3s, along with a pair of Raidho Ayra 3.0s.

Sources were both analog and digital. In terms of the latter, I used an Ayre C-5xe universal player, the Zanden Model 5000S/Model 2000P DAC/transport combo, the Aurum Acoustics CDP and, at the very tail end of the review period, an Audio Research Reference CD8. I spun LPs with a TW-Acustic Raven AC turntable outfitted with Graham B-44 Phantom and Tri-Planar Mk VII UII tonearms and Dynavector X-V1s stereo and mono cartridges. Phono stages were a Lamm LP2 Deluxe, an Audio Research PH7, and the built-in phono sections of the Aurum Acoustics and CAT preamps. Preamps, phono stages, the turntable and the single-box digital players all rested on a Silent Running Audio Craz 4 Reference equipment rack. The Lamm amps had dedicated pairs of Silent Running Audio products underneath -- Virginia-Class platforms for the Lamm ML3s and Ohio Class XL Plus² platforms for the M1.2s. The Zanden digital separates rested on Harmonic Resolution Systems M3 isolation bases. The Raysonic amps sat on ceramic tiles that rested on the carpeted floor of my 20'W x 29'L listening room.

Interconnects and speaker cables were AudioQuest William E. Low Signature or Shunyata Research Aurora-IC and Aurora-SP. A Shunyata Research Hydra V-Ray and a number of Shunyata Anaconda and Python power cords -- both Alpha and Vx versions -- handled power duties, trading time with an Essential Sound Products Essence Reference power distributor and a number of Essence Reference power cords. I also used Zanden's own interconnects, speaker cables and power cords with the company's electronics. Phono cables were an AudioQuest LeoPard used with the Graham tonearm and the Cardas-sourced cable that's integral to the Tri-Planar tonearm.

The M100s require no user adjustment. There are no pots or contact points to futz with -- the amp sets the bias for the tubes automatically. This generally means that replacing tubes with a matched octet is recommended. The 5881 is inexpensive as far as output tubes go, so even factoring in the added cost of matching, replacing two sets of eight tubes won't be too fiscally painful.

The sound of tubes -- or not

If you've been around the audio block once or twice, you've certainly read or heard the word "tubey," an adjective that sums up the traditional sonic traits of electronics that use vacuum tubes. Chief among these are a sweet, forgiving treble and a warm, lush midrange that aid in imparting a laid-back perspective to the music. Tube bass is often not up to the standards of solid-state electronics for depth and tightness, but it counters with "bloom," the characteristic way it develops and spreads throughout the soundstage, creating a soothing purr that helps make up for its lack of jackhammer-like pounding.

"Tubey" is not a word I would use to describe the sound of the Raysonic M100s. While they do exhibit some bloom in the bass, their perspective is up front, giving the music an immediacy and vividness that can be thrilling, even as it pushes into forwardness with some recordings. Their sound is lively, open and crisp, not syrupy, euphonic and soft.

Well-recorded classical music takes on a grand sense of scale, sounding pellucid into the farthest reaches of the soundstage with exceptional recordings like those from Reference Recordings. And with smaller-scale music, like solo acoustic guitar, the notes seem to leap from the instruments and into the listening space. Warren Gehl of Audio Research played a cut from Mary Flowers' Bywater Dance (Yellow Dog Records YDR 1242) for me at CES, and after returning home, I immediately bought the CD, which could easily be mistaken for an SACD, so finely drawn are the copious overtones of Flowers' acoustic guitar. She covers a number of well-known blues tunes, but the few numbers she wrote shine the brightest, especially "La Grippe," which features her expert fingerpicking. The Raysonic M100s have no problem delineating the frenetic pace of Flowers' guitar work, conveying its energy and defining the space in which it was recorded. This is an intimate-sounding piece, made all the more intimate by the immediacy of the amplifiers.

Rock fared less well with the M100s. Oh, great-sounding recordings like Keith Richards' Main Offender (Virgin 86499 2) were clamorous and rowdy, and the bass was rhythmic and propulsive, especially the quick throbs of the kick drum. Even busy mixes, like the LP of Emerson, Lake and Palmer's version of Pictures at an Exhibition (Cotillion ELP 66666), recorded live at Newcastle City Hall in 1971, were well resolved and defined. But middle-of-the-road studio recordings, like a well-worn LP of Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms (Vertigo 824 499-T), sounded overly brilliant -- bright and unnaturally crisp. Instrumental timbres were lighter than usual, bordering on spot-lit. Thus, the in-your-face intensity of the M100s comes at a price with some recordings, especially those with ample high-frequency energy. Play overprocessed '80s rock with these amps at your peril!

The midrange is the money region with so many tube amps, and with the M100s it displays an inherent linearity and honesty, no overt warmth to be found. Voices were well rendered, and brass instruments absolutely blasted into the soundstage. At a garage sale, I found a bunch of Sheffield Lab direct-to-disk LPs, including a dozen titles that were still sealed. Among the open titles was a legendary demonstration disk by a legendary trumpeter. Harry James' The King James Version (Sheffield Lab Lab-3) is an orgy of brass instruments -- five trumpets, three trombones, and five saxes -- recorded in staggeringly detailed sound. I can only imagine how many amps, speakers, preamps and turntables were sold after the needle dropped on this LP. The M100s didn't disappoint, keeping up with the blazing dynamics of the recording, the horns cutting through the air in blatty bursts. It would be very difficult to make The King James Version sound bad, and the M100s may elevate it, the sonic strengths of the recording mating well with the sonic character of the amps.

Now, considering all that I've written about the sound of the M100s and keeping in mind that they can accommodate different output tubes, I wonder if you're thinking the same thing I am: I'd love to hear them with EL34s in place of the 5881s. Where amps that use EL34s err is on the side of tubiness -- forgiving turns to foggy, and lush turns to lumpy. Of course, this does not describe the M100s with 5881s, so I hold out hope -- great hope -- that these amps would sound more liquid and even somewhat forgiving with EL34s, not turn to sonic molasses. If you have such experience, please fill me in via e-mail.

All-tube showdown

The Audio Research Reference 110 ($9995) is a fully balanced stereo amplifier that derives its honest 110Wpc from matched pairs of 6550C output tubes. It's actually a hybrid amp, using direct-coupled JFETs in the input stage, and an extraordinary one at that. The Reference 110 has XLR inputs, while the M100s are RCA only. Comparing these two amps requires a preamp with single-ended and balanced outputs, and preferably ones that sound very similar. The ARC Reference 3 doesn't fill this bill, as it's truly balanced, so its XLR outputs have 6dB more gain, and it sounds its best balanced. The Aurum CDP has both kinds of outputs, and it's pseudo balanced, so there isn't a jump in gain via its XLR outputs, whose sound is identical to that of the RCA outputs. It was therefore the perfect companion for both amps.

In my March 2007 review, I described the sound of the Reference 110 as "suave, even a touch rich, and absolutely engaging" through the mids and into the upper bass and spatially "huge -- in all dimensions." It may be the smallest, least expensive amplifier in Audio Research's Reference range, but I'm convinced that it would be the crown jewel in the product line of many other companies. The M100s sound rather different. They can cast a broad, deep soundstage, but "suave" and "rich" they are not. Their sound is lighter, brighter and more precarious -- less able to overcome a poor recording, for instance. There is greater density to the Reference 110's sound as well, mostly due to a more prominent, even bloomy midbass. The Reference 110 has the purr down low that the M100s lack, sounding heavier from the midrange down and somewhat darker from the midrange up -- more "tubey" for sure. In utter contrast, the M100s sound fleeter into and out of each note (though both amps resolve attack and decay equally well), but they lack much of what ultimately gives the Reference 110 its sonic personality: the richness, weight and expansiveness of its 6550C tubes.

I can sum up these two amps in myriad ways, but the most telling is this one: The Reference 110 is an amp you'll want to hear when you're shopping for a tube amplifier and will accept nothing less, while the M100s would be an interesting alternative to a solid-state amp in their sub-$10,000 price range, with the option of using different output tubes adding some sonic flexibility and intrigue.

Summing up

Whether we like it or not, China's influence in world economics and manufacturing is only going to increase, and as it does, brands like Raysonic will only grow in prominence. It already has a good start, an amplifier like the M100, with its rather untubey sound, helping to define the Raysonic personality all the more. If vividness and excitement are what you like about listening to recorded music, the M100 monoblocks will certainly deliver. They never sound languid or limp, always enhancing the rhythmic qualities of the music and especially conveying the space on well-made recordings. Don't expect forgiving euphony from these amps; their sound is far too vivacious, and unkind to recordings with high-frequency issues.

Sturdy and good-looking, the Raysonic M100 monoblocks are uncommon tube amplifiers. If they aren't your thing when you first hear them, go back with some EL34s and they just might be -- and let me know, will ya?

...Marc Mickelson
marc@soundstage.com