Leema Antila II-S

Inter_Voice

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Just got an ex display Leema Antila II-S for 1.5K from Sevenoaks which will be arriving next week. I am really happy with the price :)

I will connect it up with my Leema Tucana II by Chord Chamelon XLR interconnects.

TBH I have not auditioned the combination and bought the CDP based on reviews. Hope my decision is right :p
 

Inter_Voice

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My Antila II-S arrived yesterday. This CDP is really heavy with a very strong metal case !!

I hooked it up with the WHF 5 Stars Fidelity Audio HPA-200 headphone amplifier using Chord Chamelon RCA interconnects and A/B tested with my modded OPPO 83SE NuForce Edition by listening to various kinds of music through my AKG Q701 headphone.

In short my verdit is that the SQ from Antila II-S is stunning and it beats my already excellent OPPO player.

I am now waiting for the Chord Chamelon XLR cable to arrive which I will couple it to my Tucana II and find out how best the SQ could be from my Spendor SA-1.

I am very pleased that I have made the right decision :bounce:

In future I might consider upgrading my II-S to II-S Eco which is an improved design offering better soundstaging and clearer background. According to Leema Acoustics they have improved the PCB layout and changed circuitry design of the DAC in II-S Eco.
 

Inter_Voice

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plastic penguin said:
Thought you'd like the CDP. A bit premature thinking about upgrading when the current CDP has hardly had time to warm up... :)

pp, you are absolutely right. "In Future" what I mean is not within a few months. I will wait until the ungrade price has gone down. I have asked Leema Acoustics and they said since the layout and design of IIS and IIS-Eco are completely different and it is not possible just to change the PCB and do some simple soldering. Actually what they will do is to take back the IIS and send me a brand new II-S Eco. HOWEVER the upgrade cost IMO is huge at this moment - £1399 inclusive of VAT and shipping (both ways) :O

BTW my Chord Chameleon XLR interconnects and the Clearer Audio power chord have arrived today. I will hook the whole system up in the long weekends.
 
Fair enough - have you thought about upgrading the speakers? The SA-1 are fabulous speakers but with your system you're probably not hearing it at its best. Perhaps some hi-end Spendors or MA PL100 (seen a couple go very cheap on fleabay recently) or even hi-end Totems.
 

Inter_Voice

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plastic penguin said:
Fair enough - have you thought about upgrading the speakers? The SA-1 are fabulous speakers but with your system you're probably not hearing it at its best. Perhaps some hi-end Spendors or MA PL100 (seen a couple go very cheap on fleabay recently) or even hi-end Totems.

At this moment I have no plan changing the speakers to floor mount as my living room is relatively small nor any desire to change to another pair of stand mount speakers. At the moment I am very happy with the sound produce by my Spendor SA-1 as well as the subwoofer (for extending the bass department). Personally speaking this combination is very good to my ears. May be when I change to a bigger house certainly I will seriously consider changing the speakers to match the new listening environment.
 
Inter_Voice said:
plastic penguin said:
Fair enough - have you thought about upgrading the speakers? The SA-1 are fabulous speakers but with your system you're probably not hearing it at its best. Perhaps some hi-end Spendors or MA PL100 (seen a couple go very cheap on fleabay recently) or even hi-end Totems.

At this moment I have no plan changing the speakers to floor mount as my living room is relatively small nor any desire to change to another pair of stand mount speakers. At the moment I am very happy with the sound produce by my Spendor SA-1 as well as the subwoofer (for extending the bass department). Personally speaking this combination is very good to my ears. May be when I change to a bigger house certainly I will seriously consider changing the speakers to match the new listening environment.

No, the ones I'm thinking about are standmounted: MA PL100s and Totem Signature. That should negate the need of selling your sub, too.

I've been eyeing these for my system. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Totem-Acoustic-Model-1-speakers-PAIR-/300715139225?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item460404e099
 

Inter_Voice

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plastic penguin said:
Inter_Voice said:
plastic penguin said:
Fair enough - have you thought about upgrading the speakers? The SA-1 are fabulous speakers but with your system you're probably not hearing it at its best. Perhaps some hi-end Spendors or MA PL100 (seen a couple go very cheap on fleabay recently) or even hi-end Totems.

At this moment I have no plan changing the speakers to floor mount as my living room is relatively small nor any desire to change to another pair of stand mount speakers. At the moment I am very happy with the sound produce by my Spendor SA-1 as well as the subwoofer (for extending the bass department). Personally speaking this combination is very good to my ears. May be when I change to a bigger house certainly I will seriously consider changing the speakers to match the new listening environment.

No, the ones I'm thinking about are standmounted: MA PL100s and Totem Signature. That should negate the need of selling your sub, too.

I've been eyeing these for my system. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Totem-Acoustic-Model-1-speakers-PAIR-/300715139225?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item460404e099

You may aware that normally I don't go for audition before buying but if I really have the desire to change the speakers this time I will hear the difference before I place my order. Hope some dealers can provide demo speakers for home audition.

I know Totem Signature and MA PL100s are good products but without audition (at home) I am not sure its sound signature suits my taste or not.
 
Fair comment, I'm like that too. I'm a bit dubious about buying before auditioning. The only reason why I'm tempted by the Totems is because the 'Arros' sound wonderful with the Pulse. So I'm banking on it being very similar tonally.

I know you like your sound fairly smooth so the natural speaker upgrade would be either these (albeit big stand mounts) http://www.whathifi.com/review/spendor-sp2-3r2 or Harbeths.
 

Inter_Voice

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plastic penguin said:
Fair comment, I'm like that too. I'm a bit dubious about buying before auditioning. The only reason why I'm tempted by the Totems is because the 'Arros' sound wonderful with the Pulse. So I'm banking on it being very similar tonally.

I know you like your sound fairly smooth so the natural speaker upgrade would be either these (albeit big stand mounts) http://www.whathifi.com/review/spendor-sp2-3r2 or Harbeths.

pp, you indeed know me well. Before I purchased Spendor SA-1 for my Pulse II I have struggled between SA-1 and SP2/3R2. In view of the price tag of SP2/3R2 I choosed SA-1 at that time. I have upgraded my Pulse II to Tucanna II, in the near future when I decided to change my speakers I can say SP2/3R2 is on top of my list.

Presently I am testing my Antila IIS using XLR cable. Overall the music from this CDP is very very smooth. It produces better HF, much tighter and extended bass than my OPPO. The sounstaging and music separation are excellent. The mid range are exceptionally smooth. Overall the music reproduced are very pleasant to my ears, at low and high volume. I can only say this CDP performs well above my expectation and I don't expect it can beat my OPPO by that much !!
 
Inter_Voice said:
plastic penguin said:
Fair comment, I'm like that too. I'm a bit dubious about buying before auditioning. The only reason why I'm tempted by the Totems is because the 'Arros' sound wonderful with the Pulse. So I'm banking on it being very similar tonally.

I know you like your sound fairly smooth so the natural speaker upgrade would be either these (albeit big stand mounts) http://www.whathifi.com/review/spendor-sp2-3r2 or Harbeths.

pp, you indeed know me well. Before I purchased Spendor SA-1 for my Pulse II I have struggled between SA-1 and SP2/3R2. In view of the price tag of SP2/3R2 I choosed SA-1 at that time. I have upgraded my Pulse II to Tucanna II, in the near future when I decided to change my speakers I can say SP2/3R2 is on top of my list.

Presently I am testing my Antila IIS using XLR cable. Overall the music from this CDP is very very smooth. It produces better HF, much tighter and extended bass than my OPPO. The sounstaging and music separation are excellent. The mid range are exceptionally smooth. Overall the music reproduced are very pleasant to my ears, at low and high volume. I can only say this CDP performs well above my expectation and I don't expect it can beat my OPPO by that much !!

Ahhh... we've both been on this forum far too long. ;)

Enjoy your Antila.
 

deepak

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Hi Guys,

Reading your posts with interest. Tell me, have any of you tried a cheaper CD player like the Marantz 6004 series with the Tucana II amp? How does that compare with the Antilla II S/Eco? Is it worth the extra money? I don't have the luxury of Sevenoaks ex-display products as they refuse to ship to Singapore, and here the Antilla CD player costs an arm and a leg.

Happy for your thoughts.

Deepak
 

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