The digital bits are decoded by a Sony SCD-1 VSE-modded Level 7, which is connected to a Joule-Electra LA-450ME preamp, on to Spectron Musician III Mk. II monoblocks, and ending with the eFicion F300 speakers.
Synergistic Research is used to connect almost all components - interconnects and speaker cables are from the Apex line. Power cords are Hologram D connected to the CD player, with a pair of T-3 cords connected to the monoblocks. The exception to the all-SR lineup is an Elrod Silver Statement power cord attached to the preamp. All power cords hook into a SR Powercell 10SE. The speaker cables are connected via SR Speakercells, and SR Galileo MPCs are employed on all interconnects. All of his cables have been "cooked" using an Audiodharma Cable Cooker 3.0. Various acoustic panels and bass traps are strategically employed to help counteract the usual trouble spots of corner loading and first and second order reflection points, and the floor is covered with a large plush rug. The room is fairly large, with speakers and listening chair placed in what I believe is an equilateral triangle configuration spaced roughly ten feet per side. Speakers are distanced about five feet from either sidewall and the front wall. The back wall behind the listening chair is at least ten feet away. Such was the state of the system as I settled into the Captain's chair (the ONLY chair in this room!) for a listen to my demo CD, which included the following tracks:
- Damien Rice, "Then Go", from Live From The Union Chapel
- Pink Martini, "Amado Mio", from Sympathique
- Rodrigo y Gabriella, "Master Maqui", from 11:11
- MIDIval PunditZ, "Electric Universe (Acoustic)", from Hello Hello
- CeU, "Lenda", from CeU
- Adele, "Set Fire To The Rain", from 21
- Adele, "He Won't Go", from 21
- Wild Beasts, "Albatross", from Smother
- Si*Se, "Mariposa En Havana", from More Shine
- Ojos De Brujo, "No Somos Maquinas", from Techari
- Ojos De Brujo, "Respira", from Techari
- Massive Attack, "Paradise Circus", from Heligoland
From a technical standpoint, one of the first qualities that struck me, even awed me, was the razor quick transients - for example, drum shots were filled with tremendous energy and snappy-ness. To my ears, there was little-to-no rounding of transient information, neither was there pre- or post-ringing in the notes. This was a fun and exciting experience! Interestingly, this did not seem to translate to a strong sense of PRAT. While some songs had me swaying in time which was good, none really set my toes to bouncing along to the music as I would have liked. Another characteristic that was impressive was the extremely black background, which I believe helped contribute to this system's sense of dynamic snap. I believe that the physical separation of the electronics, as well as their high build quality and electrical design, were major contributors, as was the sonically black room. By contrast, in my much smaller space which employs a few key room treatments (due to domestic considerations, as my room is also our living room), where the TacT RCS2.0 shoulders most of the "treatment" duties, my listening couch is situated against the back wall, and the system is asymmetrically placed, I can detect the room interfering with the music in a way I was not as aware of until after this recent visit.
Instruments and musicians were readily identifiable within the soundstage, their locations well articulated. The soundstage was rendered as nicely as the recording allowed, which means in some cases the acoustic images were constrained to between the speakers, while at other times they pushed far outside to the left and right, and also expanded high and low in height. In the depth direction, the sound reached out as if trying to touch my nose, while it did not extend nearly as far back behind the speakers. In sum, the system generated a large soundstage box with a center of gravity positioned well forward of the speaker plane. While I would have ultimately preferred more depth behind the speaker plane, overall this was an expansive, layered soundstage presentation that was thoroughly enjoyable.
Powerful and articulate, well-defined bass was present when the recording included it, which is one of my favorite parts. High frequencies were nicely extended with copious air. I thought that the midrange was a touch more forward in the frequency spectrum and at times ever-so-slightly less clear compared with the completely clear remainder of the spectrum. This prompted a discussion during a pause in the music, and my friend mentioned that his speaker manufacturer has a new upper-unit crossover circuit that will be installed in the near future. Perhaps a return visit will help this listener understand what differences, dare I say improvements, the new circuitry may have.
Technical aspects dispensed with, let's discuss the arguably (for some) more important musical side. Jazz, acoustic, vocal, and what little classical music we listened to, were very well represented. When I put on some of my "rock" recordings (admittedly, and in particular with the American music, these tracks are fairly compressed) the system did its utmost to reveal every detail in the recording. Unfortunately, this rendered some of my more favorite musical selections less interesting to listen to than at my home. My friend confirmed his preference for technically well-recorded jazz, classical, and the like - with that music, his system sings. My preferences are to other musical genres which unfortunately usually include the standard recording flaws, and in that regard his system was not as gracious to those recordings. Nonetheless, some of my rock recordings, particularly the World Music selections, were tremendous fun to listen to, with solid dynamics, punchiness, and deep bass slam. Later at home, listening to the demo tracks in familiar surroundings, I understand some of why this may be true - namely, my system's bass response is slightly elevated below about 150Hz (intentionally, per my TacT correction curve) and there is a small hump between 200-700Hz (part of my natural room/speaker interactions), which together seem to give compressed music a little more life but which are artificial in the sense that the frequency response of my system is not entirely flat (but who's is?). I wager that my friend's system would measure flatter in it's overall frequency response, or at least in these areas of the frequency spectrum. In his system, music had life and breath and let me hear what the musician was communicating, but it was presented in a straightforward way - no bells and whistles, just the facts, ma'am. The soul and swing of the music, the subtle shifts of the musical rhythms, were also there but not conveyed as strongly as I would prefer.
During three hours we listened and chatted, traded music selections, and generally BS'd about equipment and audio in general. Given what I heard that day, he has progressed down his stated audiophile path admirably and it has opened my eyes to the heights of resolution and purity to which our audiophile hobby aspires. I understand he will be making some key component changes in the upcoming weeks and months, and I am looking forward to a return visit soon. I also look forward to the day when I have a larger dedicated room to spread out my electronics, optimize speaker locations, and apply some more treatment!
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