Three songs, one hug and tears

The amplifier was ordered by phone and paid by wire transfer within a few minutes. The proof took three songs. By the end of them I had hugged my dealer and broken into tears.

I chose solid state; I didn't want the complexity of tubes. I wanted to give McIntosh power to my B&W Diamonds, the best money could buy at that level, no excuses and no compromises. It came for same-day delivery, and the source was an Eversolo A6 Master Edition into the MA9500 through AudioQuest Yukon XLR cables.

First song, Giorgio by Moroder; second, What a Wonderful World; third, Birds by Dominique Fils-Aimé. And you know what? It was the same feeling I had as a kid at the audio shows my father took me to.

That was music that surrounds you, music you can feel, music that travels you into the song. Every word in the lyric mattered. The decision had been made in minutes, on reason and a bank balance; the confirmation was emotional before it was technical.

Specifications explain an amplifier. Tears tell you whether you bought the right one.