I'm finding that I want to pull out recordings I haven't had any interest in and play them so I can experiance them in an entirely new light. Mrs. Manning and I were watching 'The Book of Eli' last night and there was an Al Green song in the movie. I want to get a couple of his albums out of the basement when we get home and see how they 'really' sound.
That's exactly what I did when I bought my first McIntosh! It's amazing the differences you'll hear in familiar recordings!
When I upgraded from my Pioneer SX-626 to my Yamaha A-1060, I heard details I had never heard before in recordings that I was very familiar with, like the harpsichord in Nonesuch's Festival of Trumpets. With the Pioneer receiver, the delicate sound of the harpsichord was always obscured by powerful sound of the trumpets. But in listening to the same recording via the Yamaha, the harpsichord detail was very much present and crystal clear, with the brass portion being even more crisp, clear, and glorious!
When I upgraded from my Yamaha A-1060 to my McIntosh C28 and 2300 separates, the difference in the music's dynamic power was night and day, with no loss of clarity and detail, but a warm richness and depth added. Apparently my Yamaha was compressing the music signal, although that was definitely not apparent when listening to Yamaha alone.
But, when the McIntosh gear was inserted into the system it was like opening a window to the music and letting the freshness in. When listening to Come Home to the Sea by Mannheim Steamroller on their Fresh Aire VI album (on vinyl), as the music builds dynamically, it just keeps on going with seemingly no limit that is both breathtaking and goose bump raising at the same time. It's like looking at a beautiful work of art through a somewhat cloudy window and then opening the window to both see the art in all its glory and letting the fresh air in at the same time. Amazing and wonderful!
Thanks very much for sharing your photos and impressions of your new McIntosh gear! Your enthusiasm and happiness is definitely contagious! I'm definitely going to dig out some of my recordings tonight that I haven't listened to in quite some time, with Festival of Trumpets and Fresh Aire VI at the top of the list.
Enjoy the Hell out of that new gear! :thmbsp::thmbsp::thmbsp: