:rofl: 5 o'clock back home . . . what a great day, I now know what a dog with two tails feels like . . . :bounce: Left home at 8.30am, leave plenty of time, school runs and all that. Speakers, stands, interconnects, CD's, money, flask and biscuits . . . yes Hazel made sure I did not wast away . . . I was only going up the road 60 miles to Safron Waldon. Arrived at 10am, Dave was standing at the door, after 20 years we had a lot to catch up on.
So, a natter and coffee latter, we started with Brio/Apollo . . . First, an old friend in Dark Side of the Moon, control, detail, the Rotel 820 was soon retired in my mind. Moved onto Pavarotti, Kennedy, Jennifer Warnes and finally Bach's Toccata & Fugue on the pipe organ. So far so good, swapped the interconnects, subtle change to my liking, a little more bite. As recommended, I took a strident recording, which did not phase the Brio one bit.
Discussion, we were happy that everything was as it should be, mainly the LB1 speakers doing a job . . . they were excellent, no need to do any fine tune shuffling, they just simple fitted in. Went back over the tracks a couple of times. Feeling relaxed now, Dave produced another coffee.
OK Dave, what now, the next step up, says he . . . 'Croft Integrated L' and the Apollo . . . Straight in with Nigel Kennedy . . . wow, the detail, the control, the reality of performance, speed, start and stop, it was as though Nigel had taken a step forward, one was sudenly aware of the orchestra but nothing 'in your face' but there they were. The same for Pavarotti, clean, crisp reality.
We came back to the 'strident CD', Jimmy Nail's, Crocodile Shoes and Big River, still strident but with a depth and ease that made it listenable.
I saved the best to last . . . 'Allegri Miserere' . . . dissolve the walls or what, every word was audible, the various positions of the participant vocalists displayed in the stereo image. Yes it was good to listen to with the Brio, but the Croft Integrated simple put flesh on the performance . . .
Do we have a Brio buster? For me yes, the croft took me back to my Audiophile days, when valves were king, and still are in my humble opinion. The Croft is laid back when the music recording requires, but gets up close and personal as one would expect with something a bit more in your face.
So, I came home feeling satisfied, relaxed, considerably lighter in the bank balance department, but well within budget. The down side, Croft amps are made to order, so a couple of weeks wait, its been a long road so the extra weeks wont hurt. I have the Apollo here, so, it will be pressed into service very soon with the Rotel 820, but I'm marking off the days on the calender . . .
:dance: . . . CJSF