Now, all of this does not mean that l didn't find it worthwhile to see what these little amps could do at high volumes. Quite the contrary. These amps have the beguiling ability to seduce at low levels while still being able to keep everything together at party levels. As a matter of fact, it was time with these amps that caused me to reinstitute an early morning pre-work ritual known as terrorize the neighbors as they watch me dance through the living room window. Take a few ahem, non-audiophile favorites, combine them with high volume and a half-awake audiofool with all the coordination of a pregnant water buffalo, and you get, well, the ritual. I think one morning I managed to combine Earth, Wind & Fire's "Let's Groove", the Bee Gee's "Jive Talking," Cameo's "Word Up," and Aretha Franklin's "Respect" all in one session. Scary.

As fun as the SE-100s are to listen to, they would not be complete if they weren't able to properly capture all the tonal nuances inherent in music. As a trombonist, I have often been disappointed with the tonal presentation of the instrument when listening to reproduced music. Either the initial attack (the bite) of the trombone is softened, or if the attack is presented properly, the body is left behind rendering the sound rather hollow and tinny. While much of the blame can be laid at the feet of the partnering speakers and recordings, the amplifier certainly plays a part. While auditioning the SE-100s I was impressed with the way that the full harmonic of the trombone was presented with the bite intact. While Listening to Delfeayo Marsalis play ""The Weary Ways of Mary Magdalene" from his Pontius Pilate's Decision CD (Novus 63134-2[cd]). I was able to hear the full range, bite and growl of Delfeayo's instrument as he worked his chops. While I do not consider two thousand dollars cheap. I do consider an amplifier that can perform at this level of excellence, extremely high value. During the course of the audition period, I had an opportunity to partner the SE-100s with the Monarchy Model 33 DAC/preamp. This unit pairs a high quality DAC, with both optical and RCA type inputs, with a two input minimalist line sage. At $3200 for the combination, the pairing proved to be serious competition for some megabuck products I had in the house. Yet as good as the pairing is, use the SE-100s with something even more ambitious and you will be amazed at how these little amps can sing. In the time I've had with them, they've shown themselves to be both highly transparent and musical. Most importantly, they've shown themselves to be the type of product that makes listening to music a highly enjoyable experience. Highly recommended.