Audiophile Heaven Antwerp

by mtkhl567 on Done For Now

Description

Dear fellow audiophiles and other readers. Audiophile Heaven has successfully moved into its new home from the US. The speaker placement has now been optimized. In the end I moved them closer together and moved the listening sofa a bit forward which increased the soundstage definition and coherence.

Now the area to improve on are general acoustics of the room. To that effect I will place in due cource some furnitures (bookshelves, CD racks) against walls. Plants also help to naturally diffuse soundwaves. I will consider also some Shakti and Sound Resonator products later. I already changed the carpet from the one in the picture, to a larger one.

The installation of the GPA Monaco record player was professionally performed by my american dealer Barry Konigsberg of Transparent Music Systems, Macungie PA. I flew him over especially to ensure that I wouldn't foul things up. I have to say that the professional installation process is IMHO not something you can do right by yourself when you have NEVER done this before. Especially the unusual Dynavector arm is a high tech mechanical piece of art that has many adjustable pieces, and miniature screws, of which some are spring loaded etc. Needless to say that was a worthwhile investment in Barry's time. And I much appreciate him and his lovely wife taking the time out to come and visit us this January.

As those of you whole followed my threads since 2006 may have noticed I have taken a relatively short period to arrive at what I perceive to be one of the penultimate systems today. And at the pinnacle of that journey is the discovery of vinyl as the best experience to enjoy music reproduction. Don't get me wrong, there is much music out there on CDs that is great, most not available on vinyl, and some that is unbelievably well recorded. But none of that reaches the level of reality, palpability, and emotional connectivity as the very best vinyl does. The only caviat is that you have to be able to listen past some of the noise that comes with vinyl. And I'm such a fan of the dark inky black silence in some musical passages and great dynamic ranges! Especially on great classical recordings, but also some great female vocal recordings. Oh well, there's always a tradeoff somewhere. In any case music on this system just seems to float in my room, there is a sense of nearness to the performance. The giant speakers just "disappear" when your eyes are closed. The bass/mid/tweeter integration is seamless, the adjustability of the speaker to the room is absolutely fantastic. The base is extremely tuneful and not obtrusive, no booming. Micro detail is abundant, and as the system still keeps breaking in detail emerges that keeps your head shaking in disbelief. Micro detail that was otherwise heard before takes on a more clear defined dimension. In the next couple of months the system will be finally fully broken in and if what I am hearing now will still keep on improving... I have to come to the conclusion that I have made the best choice of components possible. And none of the choices were by contribution of ANY professional audiophile magazine/review(er), but by lengthy auditions and reading about other audiophile experiences.

Over the past two years I have amassed about 1500 CDs, now its vinyl's turn. I've started with about 300 LPs and slowly growing, some new and some handed down from the "family archives". There is so much vinyl to be discovered, and it doesn't even have to be very expensive. Of course there is the higher maintenance, but that comes with the hobby. Reminds me to get a record cleaner some time soon! Loricraft or Haenl? Later.

Long live the Audiophile hobby! May many (re)discover what it is to really sit down and listen to music as it was intended to sound like. For what would we be without that?

Constructive comments are always welcome.
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Components Toggle details

    • EMM Labs CDSA SE Digital Source
    CD/SACD player upsamples to 5.6Mhz thru Meitner proprietary signal processing technology, and sports the worlds first and only discrete dual differential D/A conversion circuit. Using aerospace-grade composite laminate circuit boards provide superior performance enhancing musical reproduction. I never turn the player off, so the power supply is warm at all times. The player reaches its best after being on about 48 hours. It is much more analog sounding than when switching on/off every day.
    • Playback Designs MPS-5 CD/SACD Player
    New CDP ... burning in 500 hrs (or 3 weeks non-stop) for optimum performance level. USB input, BNC 50 Ohm output (to Dartzeel pre-amp), easy SW upgrades, Esoteric transport, awesome DAC. Sleek modern design, nice metal blue backlit remote. Among the very top, if not the best, one box players around! I took off the standard feet and replaced them with GPA Apex feet with upgraded nitrate balls ... takes this CDP even higher!
    • Grand Prix Audio Apex Feet for CDP (x3)
    I have 3 of these with upgraded nitrate ball bearings under the CDP for increased space and definition. Well worth it, highly recommended.
    • Grand Prix Audio Monaco Turntable Analog Source
    Connected to the right system, with the Stealth Hyperphono cable and Dynavector's 507Mk2 arm & XV-1s cartridge this turntable will convert a diehard digital guy into analog. It did for me! This is easily the most simple component once setup. It consumes no power, doesn't need warming up, a true gem. I'm not surprised at all that HiFi+, the well respected audiphile magazine from the UK, declared the Monaco 2009 product of the year. Congrats Alvin!
    • Dynavector DV-507 Mk2 Arm
    Among a handful of the best out there. A proven design that has been around for decades. A true audiophile piece with a bit of weight. Adjustability options are easy and in extremely small steps.
    • Dynavector DV DRT XV-1s Cartridge
    Matching cartridge for the arm/tt. Many respected audiophiles and reviewers out there respect this cartridge to be among the best there is, with a superbly tracking needle combined with maximum detail and dynamics.
    • Stealth Audio Cables Hyperphono phono cable
    Superb phono cable to transport that delicate signal to the phono stage in the Dartzeel NHB 18-ns. This phono cable ranks up there among the best today.
    • DartZeel NHB-18 NS Battery Powered Pre-Amp
    Never heard before 18 no switches. This pre-amp is amazing. Michael Fremer, with regret, came to the conclusion that it smokes his recently purchased Musical Fidelity pre (see his review) and Manley Steelhead phono stage! Battery powered, extreme short signal path, revolutionary volume control that does not touch the signal path, fantastically quiet phono stage, Zeel 50 Ohm connections. An absolute marvel.
    • DartZeel NHB-108 Model One Poweramp
    Never heard before 108 model one. This is the latest B-version with auto dc compensation. I have the dc compensation turned off and manually biased the outputs. I changed the voltage myself. It is extremely transparent, fast, natural sounding power-amp I heard. It's head and shoulders above my previous reference, the ML 33h. And to top it off its a true piece of eye candy!
    • Grand Prix Audio Monaco Isolation Amp Stand
    For DartZeel NHB-108 model one power amp. Its a tri-pod and is waiting to be upgraded with the racing shelve and apex feet.
    • Evolution Acoustics MM3 Full Range Speakers
    The next step in audio. At -6db 7Hz-77Khz, reported to have hit 3Hz at a high-end show! These speakers are awesomely beautiful and massive and still have the awesome capability to disappear entirely and leaving you just with the music. 4 powered subwoofers (1000 watts) treated paper in a closed cabinet design, adjustable for x-over, volume, bass style (tight vs full), octaves, and a rumble filter for vinyl lovers. I love the bass speed of this design, and the fact that it goes extremely low. The Aurum Cantus tweeter is also adjustable by -11db. The powered subwoofer takes the sonic character of the Dartzeel poweramp exactly because its not an active subwoofer. The midranges are the well known Accuton ceramic ones that many top designs use. These replaced my beautiful SF Stradivaries ... with no regrets. And what is unbelievable they've appreciated in value since I got them!
    • Acoustic Arts Powercord Silver (x2)
    Silver powercord for the powered MM3 class D amps. Needed a sound but cheaper solution to go with the power strip.
    • Evolution Acoustics 1 Meter RCA Interconnect
    Same as internal speaker wiring. This interconnect smoked my prior reference the balanced NO Valhalla. Massive, needs room, l+r connectors cannot be too close due to the big and oh so solid terminations. Comes in a flight case.
    • Evolution Acoustics 2 x 3 Meters Double Runs
    Same as internal speaker wiring. Two dubble runs, one for the plus one for the minus. They easily creamed my Valhalla speaker cable in a direct a/b comparison before I changed from my previous system. They are resting on 8 ceramic cable elevators for improved space and clarity.
    • Jena Labs Model One Powercord (x2)
    AC filter power cord, beat my prior $3000 Gutwire handsdown! Uncompromising. One is conncting my power-amp, the other the CDP.
    • Marantz ST-17 Tuner
    Old tuner that I had lying around. You know the downside on radio frequency band etc. But when I listen to my favorite local classical music station I actually hear a lot of the originla recording, microdynamic detail that I didn't expect to hear through radio with cheap monster interconnects. Fantastic! Wonder how the Accuphase T1000 would sound with some real good interconnects...
    • Accustic Arts Silver Interconnect
    From tuner to pre-amp. Cheap solution replacing my Oehlbach XXL interconnects.
    • Finite Elemente Pagode Master Ref Isolation Rack
    5 shelve black and aluminium. I love the thought and technology that went into this rack design. The shelves are variable in height (except top and bottom) and they are resting on Cerabase feet. Will be replaced by GPA at some point in time.
    • Finite Elemente Cerabase Isolation Feet (x4)
    A must with the Pagode MR rack.
    • Acoustic Arts Active 6 Powerstrip (x2)
    As solid as they come, with net filter, digital and analog sections. Good value.
    • Acoustic System Resonators (x15)
    1 platinum, 2 special gold, 2 gold, 7 silver, 2 basic, infinitely tunable, lot's of fun and UNBELIEVABLE positive impact. No other room treatment or component could do this, ever! One silver in the kitchen fridge! Read up reviews on 6moons.com
    • Acoustic System Sugar Cubes (2x17)
    Tuning devices. 6moons review. I have two sets, also in my bedroom, we really do sleep deeper and better!
    • Acoustic System Phase Corrector (x1)
    Phase correction behind the speakers when reflected sound inverts naturally, ingenious!
    • Acoustic System Diffusor (x4)
    Diffuses resonating surfaces, three behind the speakers on the windows, one under the power-amp.
    • HannL Mera EL Record Cleaning Machine
    Modern RCM that doesn't take forever to clean, has variable speed turning left and right, variable suction helps too. Using the HannL standard X2000 cleaning fluid for now. Dustcover from HannL to fit exactly, pretty good looking if I may say so! For all vinyl lovers, this is an absolute must have!
    • IKEA Hemnes Stand
    Dedicated RCM (night!)stand with a handy storage space for cloths, fluids and other accessories, 15x15x30 (WxDxH) inches. The height is perfect, no bending forward needed as the record is cleaned at about 42 inches off the ground.
    • Ceramic Cable Elevators (x8)
    Ceramic cable elevators, four each side under the double run Evolution Acoustics speakers wires. It helps to space the double runs the recommended 2 inches apart better.

Comments 207

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I run the burn-in sequence for about 200 hours using the Purist Audio System enhancer (many thanks are due to Albert Porter). There was a big difference after this burn-in - mainly fluidity and the sound became less electronic. However only about a month ago (about 500 hours of normal listening) that the system suddenly became "magic".
It is difficult to write it down in words, there is a feeling of correctness and true dynamics that communicates the music much better - the system sounds now much more powerful and free from "strain", everything seems "in place".
One hour ago I was listening to "Teresinha" , from Chico Buarque "Opera do Malandro" LP (based on John Gay's and Bertold Brecht's plays). With the Dartzeels you can follow every nuance and intention in the singer voice and almost feel sorry when the track ends...
BTW, I do not enjoy listening very loud - maximum peak levels around 95 db at orchestral fortissimo.

microstrip

Owner
Thanks Microstrip for sharing that elaborate burn-in sequence you've applied there. I asked herve before and he told me burning in inputs on the Dart pre is only important for the XLR and phono connections...

For you, any before/after impressions you could share?

mtkhl567

I also got the tip from Herve. However to fasten burn-in of all inputs and outputs of the preamp the following procedure was adopted:
I bought several RCA Y adapters and using cheap cables injected the input signal in all RCA inputs;
Also got six cheap 50 ohm BNC output terminators (video 75 ohm type can be also used) and connected them to the preamp outputs - like this all BNC outputs will do their burn-in simultaneously without the power amplifier.
PS For the phono input an anti-RIAA filter and a 60db attenuator were used.

microstrip

Owner
DartZeel burn-in tip of the month:

You can dramatically improve the sound by burning-in the outputs (if the pre-amp seems to be still not fully "opened"):
1) Connect the preamp to the NHB-108, the latter being switch OFF.
2) Play a CD on the NHB-18NS, and set the output volume to maximum. You will hear some low level, distorted sound coming fro the switched off NHB-108. This is normal since even when off the NHB-108 still have very little juice on its capacitor banks. If the sound disturbs you, just remove NHB-108 AC plug.
3) Play for about 1-2 hours with the CD in loop. NO NEED to play a burn-in CD. Just play real music!
4) Then do the same for BNC outputs B and C.
5) Move back the Pleasure Control to normal listening levels
6) Switch the NHB-108 ON.
7) Enjoy!

So I did it with a RR disc for all three BNC/Zeel outputs, and indeed it opened up the pre-amp noticeably giving music more air, more definition around instruments, increased decay finesse on for example piano notes. I did one hour for each output yesterday, i'll do another hour for each today.

Herve is to be thanked for this tip, making the already incredible DartZeel even more enjoyable!

mtkhl567

Owner
No, I was never going to the RMAF, need to read up on the event though.

Instead I went to the VAD Show in Eindhoven The Netherlands. That was interesting, talked a bit with Alon Wolf about his Magico V3's that he had there paired with Soulution & PAD cables. That was IMHO the best sounding room, a little on the warm side, the high were somewhat muted, well that's hotel/conference rooms do.

This weekend I listened to the same system (bar the 740 for a Zanden CDP) in a real living room at a local dealer. It just showed that you need a well treated room to get the max out of such a high caliber system. The system sounded base heavy, and the small living room lacked space, but had a lot of resolution, palpability, dynamic and low system noise level. Yesterday I was able to listen to my familiar music, and when I came back home and repeated the list I was happy with my system. IMHO the V3 cannot match the MM3, but Soulution comes eerily close to DartZeel, is has the same stability, speed and control, but in sheer musicality is just a tiny notch below DartZeel.

New music I liked was Gabriel Rios, a live recording (not issued on CD yet). Very well miked, very intimate. I also got some old Yello (The Eye) and Kraftwerk (Man-Machine). Vinyl that made me smile lately was Simply Red, Hucknell has such a distinctive voice ...

No Napoleon cognac recently, but on your next European vacation ... the way the USD is going :-)

mtkhl567

Vinyl & Cd,
These are some that hit my TT & CDP this week.
Metheny, Mehldau-ECM ****
Metheny, Medldu Quartet-ECM ****
Tomasz Stanko Quartet / Suspended Night-ECM *****
Trio / Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz, Michal Miskiewicz-ECM *****
Patricia Barber / the Cole Porter mix ****
Cyrus Chestnut / with ***
Warren Bernhardt / Trio 83 ***
Mike Stern / Between the Lines *****
Lee Ritenour / Wes Bound *****
Bruce Hornsby / Harbor Lights *****
Jackson Browne / Time Conqueror ****

How was RMAF? Did you bring along the Napoleon Cognac?

grr6001

Owner
Microstrip, thx for your suggestions. FNAC is certainly a source of CDs for me.

On your last point, sure they can ... mainly because of the closed woofer design and woofer adjustability, you can actually place them close to side/back walls. One MM3 owner on the Gon actually has reported on this earlier and was surprised on the ability of the MM3 to be close to the back wall, without loosing imaging, space, soundstage depth etc. Btw I also had that with my old Stradivari's, they went way beyond the physical boundaries of my small room back in the US.

The room would need to be well treated though. And you'd probably not get the full potential from the MM3's. If you've heard the speakers before, and like their sonic's, you may want to consider the smaller EA speakers.

mtkhl567

Since you are in Europe I would advise you to look for a cheap CD of Harmonia Mundi - la Folia of Gregorio Paniagua - it costs around euro10 in the Musique d´Abord series , including the HM catalogue. I listen to it mainly for the fun of it, but it sounds impressive in a Dartzeel system.
If you like the CD you can always look for the Audiophile LP pressing.
If you enjoy Renaissance music Diego Ortiz: Ad Vesperas by Cantar Lontano (alpha label) is one the best coral music CDs I have ever had. Both these CDs can be found at FNAC shops.

Just one question - do you thing the MM3s can be placed in a room 4x9.3m ?

microstrip

Owner
Thanks Microstrip, that's a great recommendation. Do you have any other recording labels at this audiophile level to share?

mtkhl567

Two wonderful CDs from Mapleshade catalogue: Afterglow - Kendra Shank and Masters from different worlds - Clifford Jordan and Ran Blake.
In Afterglow the changes in the decay and attack of Kendra voice when she approaches and gets away from the microphone suggests a life performance in your room.

microstrip

I have Mapleshade book marked but I have never got anything from them. Maybe I need to check them out.

mikeduke

Owner
Those are two excellent recording examples. The Offering CD just made me listen specifically to the cymbal sound and decay between the Emm and PD. The second CD I listened to was Norris Turney's Alto - Big Sweet n' Blue and specifically Jimmy Cobb's drum work on this recording, and yes the delicacy of the high hats etc., great cast, and what fantastically intimately recorded Jazz music.

The Mapleshade catalogue is a treasure trove of fantastically recorded music of all genres. I love the owners philosophy on music and recording. Highly recommended to listen on a good audiophile system. These are among my best recorded RBCDs.

mtkhl567

Send me your recommendations Henry.

Did some browsing On Mapleshade and listened to MP3 of these Artist:

BOBBY BATTLE QUARTET with DAVID MURRAY

PATATO with the ENRIQUILLO WINDS

lapierre

Owner
Here's a recommendation: try the Mapleshade label recordings ... absolutely fantastic 16/44.1 recordings, jazz, blues I could recommend you some specific titles if you'd like to...

mtkhl567

Owner
Lapierre, I'm surprised by my own shallow loyalty to Emmabls, but hey a personal choice is a personal choice. That's what happens in digital!

But I don't think a software upgrade to the CDSA would bring it to the same level as the PD. If I had to sum up the improvements of the PD in favor of the CDSA it would have to be that it just sounds closer to my analog rig, which is my reference.

But now that you mentioned cymbals, yes, the shimmer is more real sounding and has longer decay on the PD vs the Emm, but still not on the level of top vinyl. If anyone could hear the difference between the two brands probably depends on their personal experience, I probably wouldn't, but I suspect many drummers would. But they may equally hear the difference on both players, just they would say that the PD would be closer to what it really would sound like.

Yellowjackets are a go !

mtkhl567

Henry where is your faith in Emm. All you have to do is wait for the next software upgrade.

I do agree with your comments on Emm transport and remote issues from another post "My Office"...not to be confused with my post "The Office." The lack of digital input on Emm also favors PD.

Is PD significantly better than Emm or is it just a different flavor? I mean what are we talking about hear...that you can tell a Zildjian 24" K Custom Dry from a
Paiste 24" Crash and the difference in decay.

Enjoy the PD.

Spin the Yellowjackets!!!!

lapierre

Owner
Dan, my sincerest condolences to you, and your family. I hope music plays a positive role in this difficult time you are going through.

This last week, after about 180 hrs, I had two evenings of visits from some audiophile friends, and both evenings were positively in favor of the Playback Designs CDP. Words that were used were, impressive, large sound stage, very nice fluidity, natural tones, real.

Then I didn't listen for two days, and today after about 260 hours, I listened to a Chris Anderson on piano (Naim CD) and the latest Patricia Barbers - Mythologies CD. The piano tones sound so eerily realistic ... and Patricia is so near, instruments so well defined in space.

I also increased my LP collection by 30 odd old favorites from the 70/80s ... like mint Alan Parsons Project, whow, Eye in the Sky on vinyl, the best! When I hear that, in my mind the CDP cannot even get close to that ... later on that bc I have the CD to compare at some point.

I have now attained a l sonic level that I was longing for 2 years ago when I switched around my whole system, the Monaco tt and the PD MPS-5 are the best sources I've ever had.

Keep spinning 'em!

mtkhl567

This is going to be tough to post.
About 10 days ago I left a bunch of posts here about the MPS-5 player then I just vanished. The last sentence of the last post said that I couldn't wait till tomorrow, well I wish I could have. Just after that last post I learned that my brother had died. He lived a few miles from me and his death was very unexpected, a heart attack. I am not looking for sympathy, I just feel that you deserve to know what happened and why there were no more posts from me. That's all.
In my last post I was gushing about how good the player was sounding, and it was, then it went straight down hill! It sounded horrible, harsh, hard, unbearable, I was glad to turn the system off, it was so bad! I forgot that break in doesn't always follow a positive path, or, what goes up must come down. I left the player on repeat all night and the next morning it sounded fine again. After that I didn't get much of a chance to listen all week. It was left on repeat, switching discs between cd and sacd. It now has about 200 hours on it and it is truly amazing, cd's or sacd. Listening to old cd's is amazing, sorry to keep using that word, but I don't know what else to say. I never would have guessed that there was that much information on those discs. I never understood what all the fuss was about concerning sacd's, now I do. Everything every one else has said about this player is true, deeper bass, more air, huge sound stage, a natural presentation that has to be heard to be believed, on some disc's you do feel that you can go up and hug the singer, and this is on cd's. I am not going to try and describe the sound of good sacd's because I simply can't wrap my mind around it yet. I am not rich and 10 grand is a huge investment for me, it scared me in fact, but I am glad I bought it. After hearing music like this there is no way that I could go back. It will be good to wake up tomorrow and listen to the music.
Thanks, Dan

skamok

Owner
This player will sky rocket past the Emm ... after 100 hrs I have no doubt about that any longer.

mtkhl567

Thanks. That is a bit down the road. I have other things I "need" to do. Glad to see that the player is really turning out to be something special Can't wait for a real
comparo of the GP and the player, just for goofs.

mikeduke

Owner
Mike, I did recently see someone sell his Evolution Acoustic speaker cable in Europe, lucky sod who got those. So keep your eyes open, you never know ... when opportunity knocks!

Oh my God. I'm falling in love with my CDP ... Clannad, Dido, Snow Patrol, Killers ... how can it be this good after only 80 hrs ... somebody pls rescue me, this is just not fair, and I just know in my gut Jonathan/Andreas can do even better than this ... NOT FAIR , NOT FAIR, NOT FAIR to everyone else!

mtkhl567

Thanks Henry. Well, we shall see what happens. If I can't get them, then oh well. I will see what else is out there that I can lay my hands on that would be better then my Transparent.

mikeduke

Owner
No problem Cincy_bob, I'm not pressed for time lately, although that doesn't seem to solve my impatience on getting the PD up to its optimal performance level. I guess it only takes time ... :-) and I've got lots of it!

As you indicate I already start to hear the improved three dimensional image definition taking shape vs what I was used to from my digital. Particularly on the fantastic ESE Sessions SACD from Blue Coast Records. And natural tonality, my brain already picked that up as a major strength within the first day, without extensive a/b-ing. I do have plenty of old CDs that I want to go through one-by-one, its like rediscovering what was missing all those years before.

For fun I put on a CD from Andreas Vollenweider, White Winds (Seeker's Journey) CBS 1984. It was one of those from the beginning of the digital era, and I heard it on our Philips and later Kenwood CD players often. When I listen to it today, its an absolute different experience from what is burned in my memory from back then. His harp sounds powerful and natural, the waterfall sounds like real water falling. I let my dad listen to it, and he smiled saying, yeah for this kind of money ... pulling me right back down to mother earth. Objectively he's right, subjectively I'm happily handing over my hardearned $$$ for this experience ... as they say: priceless!

mtkhl567

Owner
Hi Mike, I only ever compared them directly with my NO Valhalla cables and interconnects. If my memory serves me well the improvements were in lower noise floor, more natural timbre (not that difficult to notice if you know Valhalla cables intimately), and finally the speed that the Valhalla's sport about wasn't different in the Evolution Acoustic cables (despite copper vs silver design). The deep base was more defined, and the very highs less edgy.
I think the difference was greater in the speaker cable vs the interconnects, but the cost was also significantly lower on the Evolution. I was able to sell my Valhalla's at 55% of retail and buy the Evolution new with that, so that was an easy choice. I have to say that these cables are easily the best I have ever heard, when choosing Valhalla, I passed on Kimber Select KS 3038/1021 and Audioquest Everest/Sky, also no slouches on the scene. Highly recommended, but not sure whether you get some without ordering a set of speakers!

mtkhl567

Henry, sorry it has taken me a while to reply to your question. For the first 500 hours, I burned in the player almost exclusively with regular CDs (primarily a Purist Audio burn-in CD). Subsequently, for the past two weeks, I have been running SACDs 24/7. However, I can't say that I have noticed any significant changes in either CD or SACD sound since about the 250-hour mark.

Between 100 hours and 250 hours, the most significant improvements I noticed in the player were:

1. Hall Ambience - The sound of the natural acoustic within the original recording venue came into full bloom during this timeframe. I would say that the player went from being "competent" to "world-class" in this aspect of its performance.

2. Natural Tonality - The timbral accuracy of the CD player developed significantly with the end result being truly world-class natural sound with full, rich harmonics.

These two vastly improved aspects of the player's performance, coupled with a greater sense of ease and effortlessness, result in sound that rivals most high end analog rigs. The sound during the first 100 hours, while very good, still had a certain "digital" sound characteristic, whereas, at the 250 hour mark, the sound had become much more natural and organic.

If you have an investment in a classical music library on standard CDs, I think you will be elated at the quality of the sound you will soon find waiting for you in most of those jewel cases.

cincy_bob

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