Audiophilepure

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“I must acknowledge that this is a problematic comparison because my main system is quite a bit more expensive and slightly different in overall character (Naim amplification and Focal speakers). If I had to pin down the difference, what I thought was less good was the presence of the LS50W’s smoothness that I had noticed early on. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that the LS50W removed the records’ crackles and pops, or made records sound like CDs, but as with the Devialet amplifier I had (which, coincidentally, also converted the analog signal to digital), the inherent liveliness of several records was diluted. I imagine that this subtle shift may not be apparent with a different turntable”

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“Once you’ve achieved the perfect room balance, sit back and relax like the cool guy in the Sonus faber ad, you’ve earned it. The opening keyboard riff in the Afghan Whigs “The Spell” cuts through the mix, pushed right in front of my face, keeping perfect pace as Greg Dulli’s gravely voice folds in, slightly left of center, with layers of violins way beyond the speaker boundaries. This is what high-end sound is all about.”

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“The Audio Physic Avanti is capable of outstanding bass reach and authority, but, unlike many loudspeakers with full-range performance, proved itself to be relatively unfussy with respect to placement. Perhaps owing to its ingenious internally-mounted woofer configuration, the Avanti could be placed close to rear or side walls without the bass becoming overblown or boomy. This flexibility with respect to placement afforded me the opportunity to, in addition to utilizing the Avantis in my smaller dedicated listening room, install them in a much larger shared living space, which requires me to place speakers closer to room boundaries.”

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“Finally, the Thetas worked well with every amplifier we connected them to, even the 9 watt per channel Coincident SET proved a fantastic match at moderate levels. Incidentally, the Thetas offer a pleasing musical experience at these levels, so if you aren’t someone who really needs to rock the house, a high quality 10 to 30 watt per channel amplifier will serve you well. This opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities for system building.”

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“The 705 S2 is a product that few companies would have the ability and resources to match. It’s also a wonderful case where a company’s claims for technical advances line up with listening impressions. Resonances are well controlled, and the speakers present a natural, extremely precise, and engaging soundfield. The sound is vividly present without edge or annoyance. Overall, the 705 S2s are both coherent and self-effacing.”

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“My preamp is the new PS Audio Gain Cell DAC (reviewed HERE), which combines a truly superb balanced, analog preamp with an ambitiously good and tailorable DAC; it also offers every digital input imaginable, and is remarkably transparent for an under $2K combo unit. For digital sources, I have an Oppo disc-spinner that I use as a CD transport and for SACDs; I also employ a custom-built Acer laptop with a complement of multiple Solid State Drives as my music server. It’s connected to the Sonore UltraRendu (reviewed HERE) for streaming digital files to the PS Audio DAC; in between is a JCAT USB Isolator for galvanic noise suppression. Analog sources include a new Project The Classic SB turntable (reviewed HERE); it’s fitted with a magnificent Hana EL moving coil cartridge that’s connected to the also superb Sutherland KC Vibe Phono Preamp; reviews of the two latter items are forthcoming shortly. Cables are all by MG Audio (loudspeaker connections), AudioQuest and Project (single-ended analog interconnects), Pangea (silver USB and coax digital interconnects), and Blue Jeans Cables (balanced analog interconnects and system network cables).”