Shane
Active Member
Impressive but $50k in the states.:headscrat
makes my Raven AC-3 seem like a bargin
throw in my two tonearms, 4 cartridges and TW phono stage and still have plenty of $$$$$ left.
C500P initial impression
- Thread starter PHC1
- Start date
makes my Raven AC-3 seem like a bargin
throw in my two tonearms, 4 cartridges and TW phono stage and still have plenty of $$$$$ left.
makes my Raven AC-3 seem like a bargin
throw in my two tonearms, 4 cartridges and TW phono stage and still have plenty of $$$$$ left.
Not to mention the fact that law of diminishing returns may be very steep with 30/12 or how it stacks up against the likes of Raven or Spiral Groove. I was very impressed with the SME 20/IV.Vi/Sum Celebration at $20k but that doesn't mean I would be any less impressed with a Raven/Graham or Tri-Planar MK VII for half of that. :scratch2:
exracer
music speaks
It's starting to open up with about 18 hrs on it so far. I am starting to notice subtle improvements over the MDA1000. :scratch2: Sounds great!
I'll be gone about a week and will continue the burn in when I come back.
Any more changes?
I've noticed the C500P so far edges out the MDA1000 built-in pre in a more "airy" presentation. The highs soar with a little more sparkle. It appears to have an even lower noise floor. Some XRCDs have such deep blacks that the vocals are often startling and have more of a "physical" presence in the room, another words, it "fleshes out" the instruments and vocals even better than the MDA1000. Not a night and day difference but it is there. Overall, an incredibly quiet and transparent pre-amp, truly world class. :thmbsp:
Finally had a chance to audition the Spiral Groove SG2. I have not heard many tables but I do have some experience with the likes of VPI, Rega, Pro-ject, SME. The only table in this price range so far that has struck a chord with me was the SME 20. So that was the frame of reference I had going into this audition.
What can I say, I was truly, truly impressed. The table seems to be well designed, of compact proportions but pretty heavy for its size. The tonearm was the Tri-Planar MK VII. Cartridge was a modified Lyra Olympus.
Now, what I heard was the most realistic sound, piano, drums, horns, cymbals, everything sounded more natural than I have heard yet and that includes last nights audition of Wilson Alexandria driven by Krell components in excess of $250k... :scratch2:
I have noticed a long time ago that a good turntable will present you with a 3dimensional soundstage, instruments appear in the soundstage with palpability factor that is off the charts. No CD seems to come close to that. You can see from the pics the level of this system and the CDP was no slouch.
The Spiral Groove had me pinned in my seat from the first album. We listened to vinyl of Johnnie Hartman, Louis Armstrong, Dianna Krall, Spyro Gyra and a few more as well as albums I was not familiar with. The host is a huge vinyl collector and has I belive over 12k albums.
As I sat and listened, I realized that the sound was completely intoxicating, completely natural sounding and very involving. All the traditional high end terminology applied, resolution, focus, soundstage, dynamics, drive, PRAT, extended but smooth highs, gorgeous midrange and yet, none of that mattered at all! It was simply music that poured out of the KingSound speakers in the most natural way. I could have sat and listened for a whole day, except I had to get back home. :tears:
I was blown away by the Spiral Groove and the rest of the system. :thmbsp: The big surprise was the speakers though. KingSound Prince II electrostatic speakers are something I have never heard before and when I found out how much they cost, I almost fell out of the chair. He had in excess of $120k gear driving a pair of $5500 speakers! Can't argue with the result though. Those speakers are really something quite amazing. I've owned electrostats before and these sounded much more seamless top to bottom and had more natural sound to them. Most impressive. The room had great acoustics by the way and it was not excessively treated but done just right by a man who obviously knows what it takes to make the room sound great.
Well, this is one turntable that is a must consider!
What can I say, I was truly, truly impressed. The table seems to be well designed, of compact proportions but pretty heavy for its size. The tonearm was the Tri-Planar MK VII. Cartridge was a modified Lyra Olympus.
Now, what I heard was the most realistic sound, piano, drums, horns, cymbals, everything sounded more natural than I have heard yet and that includes last nights audition of Wilson Alexandria driven by Krell components in excess of $250k... :scratch2:
I have noticed a long time ago that a good turntable will present you with a 3dimensional soundstage, instruments appear in the soundstage with palpability factor that is off the charts. No CD seems to come close to that. You can see from the pics the level of this system and the CDP was no slouch.
The Spiral Groove had me pinned in my seat from the first album. We listened to vinyl of Johnnie Hartman, Louis Armstrong, Dianna Krall, Spyro Gyra and a few more as well as albums I was not familiar with. The host is a huge vinyl collector and has I belive over 12k albums.
As I sat and listened, I realized that the sound was completely intoxicating, completely natural sounding and very involving. All the traditional high end terminology applied, resolution, focus, soundstage, dynamics, drive, PRAT, extended but smooth highs, gorgeous midrange and yet, none of that mattered at all! It was simply music that poured out of the KingSound speakers in the most natural way. I could have sat and listened for a whole day, except I had to get back home. :tears:
I was blown away by the Spiral Groove and the rest of the system. :thmbsp: The big surprise was the speakers though. KingSound Prince II electrostatic speakers are something I have never heard before and when I found out how much they cost, I almost fell out of the chair. He had in excess of $120k gear driving a pair of $5500 speakers! Can't argue with the result though. Those speakers are really something quite amazing. I've owned electrostats before and these sounded much more seamless top to bottom and had more natural sound to them. Most impressive. The room had great acoustics by the way and it was not excessively treated but done just right by a man who obviously knows what it takes to make the room sound great.
Well, this is one turntable that is a must consider!
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See Symposium not Grand Prix Audio.
Yeah, that was for the CD. The table was on a very cool Townsend rack that actually floats the whole upper shelf by at least 4 inches in all directions. Wow...
The guy actually showcases the MBL gear for that area. He had the MBL 101 speakers. Umm, this is going to be a big shock to many but he likes the KingSound speakers even more.... They sound better in his room. Audio is weird like that...
You know it would be interesting to hear what a pair of SF Strad's would sound like with your gear. I am sure it would be more than a match for everything you have listened to recently. The big speakers you have heard the last few days are going to sound very different from your fine monitors and subs. (I am not saying better just different)Yeah, that was for the CD. The table was on a very cool Townsend rack that actually floats the whole upper shelf by at least 4 inches in all directions. Wow...
jim
There are many people who will not like MBL since they are omni-directional and present a very different soundstage than a traditional speaker. To me they sound like a live performance rather than audiophile speakers with pinpoint imaging. That is why I do not suggest them to people who have not spent time with them.
Jim
I am very familiar with the SF Strads. My local guy has had them for about 3 years now in his store.. I've listened and listened some more...
Great speakers but not for my size room. The Alexandria 2s from last night are completely out of the question for my room. :tears: Can't compare today's system to my system because of so many variables but I can tell you that my SF Guarneri Mementos and McIntosh do not sound as natural as this system. They are way more colored, pleasant, musical but very colored by comparison. This system had a very natural, well balanced sound that was just utterly transparent but had the right amount of weight, scale, impact, smoothness, palpability, everything was more natural and completely organic sounding. Well, it can't compete with my bottom octave with my 2 subs. The electrostats have their limitation in that area. Everything else was superb.I was really impressed by MBL amps! The best solid state amps I have heard in that power range. Lamm M1.2s would be my favorite so far in the lower power bracket.
mchydro
Member
Yeah, that was for the CD. The table was on a very cool Townsend rack that actually floats the whole upper shelf by at least 4 inches in all directions. Wow...
The TT is resting on Symposium Fat Padz as well: http://www.symposiumusa.com/fatpadz.html
As the Master can attest, I am a firm believer in Symposium's products. :thmbsp:
Attachments
Know this may not be an appropriate request in a Mc forum ... but Serge, would you care to share a little about the Alexandria 2.2's experience? aka build, sound, and equipments use to drive them? Not that I can ever afford to own them BUT at least, but really good reading materials/experience.
Thanks.:thmbsp: Cheers!
I have auditioned them, not my cup of tea. If it weren't for Mac XRT2K's I would own these for sure!
http://www.grande-utopia-em.com
http://www.grande-utopia-em.com
Know this may not be an appropriate request in a Mc forum ... but Serge, would you care to share a little about the Alexandria 2.2's experience? aka build, sound, and equipments use to drive them? Not that I can ever afford to own them BUT at least, but really good reading materials/experience.
Thanks.:thmbsp: Cheers!
Jerry, I posted about it in this thread http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=216769
but in a nutshell, it is a big speaker and as such it has limitless and startling dynamics, no compression, gigantic soundstage, razor sharp imaging and focus, extremely coherent top to bottom, tone purity was very impressive. It is a very impressive speaker but it was driven by Krell Evo 900s. I was impressed very much but I wasn't moved emotionally as much. I have a feeling that was a deceiving audition though because many have reported that Lamm 18w mono is the very last pair of amps they would need for them. I am sure they take on the character of whatever is driving them more so than most speakers being of such exemplary design. Dave Wilson uses Spectral DMA-360 amps to voice them by the way.
Oh, thats news .... using Spectral amps ... still.
Understand back like more than a decade ago, the earlier Wilsons (WP, Witts,) were voiced using Spectral amps and Transparent cables (suspect the WP tails were Transparent's).
Anyway, thanks for the write up. I will now go to the link to read. I must have missed it ... somehow.
Cheers!
Have not auditioned the EM, are they out yet? I have heard a few JM Labs before with mixed results. At $180k, it better be a great speaker!