Hi,
a brief(ish) summary of my demos so far. Had a great day at two local stores, and now planning a trip further afield to try alternatives.
demo1 amps Roksan K3 and MF 3si / speakers B&W cm6s2 and Dali Rubicon2
Comparing the amps, the K3 had a bigger soundstage, wider than the speakers. The MF sounded muted in comparison; almost muffled. I suppose in isolation, the MF was ok, but swapping between the two was obvious and the scale increased when the K3 was used. The only niggle was both amps lacked a bit of pace with a couple of tracks; removing a touch of the passion/aggression from those two songs. This affect was noticable with both amps and both speakers.
The CM6 were very reveailing and clear. I heard things on my test cd that I had never picked up on before, and it introduced new interest to some tracks. The bass was deep, the treble was sparkling but not harsh. However, the balance was not right for me. It was as if the bass and inparticular the treble had both been given a tweak; almost as if a 'loudness' button was on. After an hour of listening, the amount of treble was tiring (not shrill, but just too much)
The Dali were not on my list, but the dealer was keen to show them. Almost as much detail as the CMs, but a more neutral bass and treble. Both bass and treble were there, but just a fraction less 'upfront' and therefore more listenable over a period of time.
Straight off to demo 2
amps Cyrus8dac, Elicit and Elex/ speakers B&X CM6 (again to help comparisons), R300 and Twenty21
Amps. The cyrus was good, but lacked a little bit of the richness of the Regas. It wasn't particularly more revealing or particulalry 'thin', so I wouldnt class it as night/day but it wasn't quite warm enough for me. All three amps improved on the 'attack/passion' issue I noted at the first session, with the Elicit being the best. Other than this extra pace on certain tracks, I'm not sure the Elicit sounded twice the price of the Elex.
Speaker; at this point i should say that all of them showed a reduced sound stage compared to my morning session; so was that due to changing from roksan to Rega or was it because the room was a bit bigger/different?
Anyway; CM6; my morning reservations were replicated. There was a touch too much bass and treble. The mid range still good, but too tiring over an hour.
R300 sounded clear and perhaps a slightly bigger sound than the CM6 in this room. Again i would say that the two exremes of bass and treble were too pronouced again.
Twenty21; seemed a much more natural sound. Bass was there but less 'in your face' compared to the other two. The treble was present, but at a volume more inline with the rest of the sound. My reservation with these was that the soundstage was definately smaller than the Dalis, but that was a different room.
I want the soundstage of the morning with the dynamics of the morning. I think I might return to try the Tweny21 and Rega in a smaller room to see if the soundstage inproves. If not, I suppose my current favourite would be the Dali.
My next trip is to try a P3ESR and Twenty21 with Elicit/Alabaster and LFD.
hope I havent bored you
mike
a brief(ish) summary of my demos so far. Had a great day at two local stores, and now planning a trip further afield to try alternatives.
demo1 amps Roksan K3 and MF 3si / speakers B&W cm6s2 and Dali Rubicon2
Comparing the amps, the K3 had a bigger soundstage, wider than the speakers. The MF sounded muted in comparison; almost muffled. I suppose in isolation, the MF was ok, but swapping between the two was obvious and the scale increased when the K3 was used. The only niggle was both amps lacked a bit of pace with a couple of tracks; removing a touch of the passion/aggression from those two songs. This affect was noticable with both amps and both speakers.
The CM6 were very reveailing and clear. I heard things on my test cd that I had never picked up on before, and it introduced new interest to some tracks. The bass was deep, the treble was sparkling but not harsh. However, the balance was not right for me. It was as if the bass and inparticular the treble had both been given a tweak; almost as if a 'loudness' button was on. After an hour of listening, the amount of treble was tiring (not shrill, but just too much)
The Dali were not on my list, but the dealer was keen to show them. Almost as much detail as the CMs, but a more neutral bass and treble. Both bass and treble were there, but just a fraction less 'upfront' and therefore more listenable over a period of time.
Straight off to demo 2
amps Cyrus8dac, Elicit and Elex/ speakers B&X CM6 (again to help comparisons), R300 and Twenty21
Amps. The cyrus was good, but lacked a little bit of the richness of the Regas. It wasn't particularly more revealing or particulalry 'thin', so I wouldnt class it as night/day but it wasn't quite warm enough for me. All three amps improved on the 'attack/passion' issue I noted at the first session, with the Elicit being the best. Other than this extra pace on certain tracks, I'm not sure the Elicit sounded twice the price of the Elex.
Speaker; at this point i should say that all of them showed a reduced sound stage compared to my morning session; so was that due to changing from roksan to Rega or was it because the room was a bit bigger/different?
Anyway; CM6; my morning reservations were replicated. There was a touch too much bass and treble. The mid range still good, but too tiring over an hour.
R300 sounded clear and perhaps a slightly bigger sound than the CM6 in this room. Again i would say that the two exremes of bass and treble were too pronouced again.
Twenty21; seemed a much more natural sound. Bass was there but less 'in your face' compared to the other two. The treble was present, but at a volume more inline with the rest of the sound. My reservation with these was that the soundstage was definately smaller than the Dalis, but that was a different room.
I want the soundstage of the morning with the dynamics of the morning. I think I might return to try the Tweny21 and Rega in a smaller room to see if the soundstage inproves. If not, I suppose my current favourite would be the Dali.
My next trip is to try a P3ESR and Twenty21 with Elicit/Alabaster and LFD.
hope I havent bored you
mike
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