The DeVore Silverback Reference was not without limitation. Overall, though, I'd say the Silverback was designed with tube gear in mind. The kWs gripped the woofers somewhat more effectively to produce greater dynamics, while the RM-200 expressed harmonics and a sense of a direct connection to the music with greater truth. The MR RM-200 is a remarkably neutral-sounding tube amp with fine bottom-end grip, extended highs, and the midrange lucidity and harmonic complexity one expects from a tube amp, but without tubes' cartoony "bloom," or midbass sogginess posing as "warmth."īoth of these amplifiers drove the Silverback References equally effectively, and both produced music that was harmonically rich, complex, and believable images and soundstages that were credible and well-proportioned and macro- and microdynamics that breathed life into musical gestures large and small. (They better not be, if I consider both to be reference-quality amps capable of passing the signal without noticeable addition or subtraction.) The MF kW has solid-state's advantages of musical grip, tonal neutrality, and bass control, without the disadvantages of harshness, etch, and threadbare harmonics.
When I switched between the 1000W Musical Fidelity kW monoblocks and the 100Wpc Music Reference RM-200 tube amp, I was gratified to hear the Silverback lay bare the differences between them, though these weren't enormous. I found myself catering to the Silverback's subjective tonal neutrality by changing other components to get them out of the way, or to catch a glimpse of their character. Other components in the system might need changing in order to accommodate a speaker's idiosyncrasies. Usually, the transducer is the weakest link in the audio chain because it is the least linear. I've usually preferred the original LP, but the Silverback References made both masterings sound credible and enjoyable-while still very different from one another-by neither trying to impose a specific version of "musicality" onto the signal nor by hyping, say, transient performance at the expense of harmonic integrity. A "warmish"-sounding speaker might make the original sound a bit syrupy and cool, an "analytical" one might make the reissue sound hard and mechanical. There is an exquisite delicacy and purity to the recording of her voice that comes through on both versions, the original having a slight edge in natural warmth and purity, the reissue leading the way in transparency and clarity. Netania Davrath sings these folk tunes in an operatic style, backed by an orchestra conducted by Pierre de la Roche.
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