Eera Tentation

[Matrix]

AI M,

I'm sorry if I misunderstood your post.

I agree with you about the importance of system synergy and can I assure you, I've spent long hours over the years trying to find the right combinations.

I just couldn't understand the need for you to mention a "price comparison...1/10th of the price" to make your point about synergy.
AFAIK, the beauty of system synergy lies in the art of finding and combining several different components together in a way to generate synergies in order to enhance the results from the whole.
It has nothing to do with the relative prices of each component.
Often you can obtain great results by mix and matching components of very different price segments.

I think we are not talking about ROI (return on investment) here.

Anyway I suggest we put this behind us and start listening and enjoying our systems.

PS I'm all ears to hear about ways to enhance the performance of my DAC even more!

 

[Al M.]

Just my 2 cents. This is not an argument about one piece of equipment versus another. More how system adjustments can boost the whole performance, and of components within.

Precisely.

 

[Al M.]

AI M,

I'm sorry if I misunderstood your post.

No problem. In hindsight I realize now that it was not written as it should have been and could easily be misunderstood. Oh well...

I just couldn't understand the need for you to mention a "price comparison...1/10th of the price" to make your point about synergy.

Yes, this was unnecessary, and again, I apologize.

Anyway I suggest we put this behind us and start listening and enjoying our systems.

Good point!

PS I'm all ears to hear about ways to enhance the performance of my DAC even more!

We would have to know more about your system. As Spiritofmusic and I have agreed on this thread, the importance of proper power conditioning and room treatment for removal of electronic and acoustic noise cannot be overstated.

 

[Matrix]

Dear Microsrtip,

let us agree to disagree.

I just didn't understand the need to make price comparisons in order to make a point about "black background" or system synergy.

BTW, you should be prepared to read "my XXX is as good as yours at 1/100th of the price" in WBF. Then you have to explain and argue why you do not think so if you disagree in an endless but cordial debate ...

I will never have to explain or argue if I agree or disagree about a system comparison because I don't intend to enter those kind of highly subjective and mostly pointless (even if cordial) debates.

I read and joined this forum to learn from the very knowledgeable members (like you) who participate here, not to enter in some meaningless "system contests".

As I suggested before, let us put this behind us and start listening and enjoying our systems.

I will stop here because I surely wouldn't want to start one of those endless debates


Dear Al M.,

understood.

No problem.

I hope all is good now

 

[Al M.]

Dear Al M.,

understood.

No problem.

I hope all is good now

Yes it is! Thank you.

 

[microstrip]

Dear Microsrtip,

let us agree to disagree.

I just didn't understand the need to make price comparisons in order to make a point about "black background" or system synergy.



I will never have to explain or argue if I agree or disagree about a system comparison because I don't intend to enter those kind of highly subjective and mostly pointless (even if cordial) debates.

I read and joined this forum to learn from the very knowledgeable members (like you) who participate here, not to enter in some meaningless "system contests".

As I suggested before, let us put this behind us and start listening and enjoying our systems.

I will stop here because I surely wouldn't want to start one of those endless debates


Dear Al M.,

understood.

No problem.

I hope all is good now

Matrix,

Thanks for the kind words and explanations. I hope, however, that you will tell us about your system and more detailed impressions about your new DAC in future posts - it will be our opportunity to learn from you. I am sure that soon I will be able to listen to the Trinity, and learning from users what we should exactly look for is important.

BTW, the point you raised - the different nuances of silence in digital media reproduction - is a very important one.

 

[JackD201]

Getting back on topic, EERA claims Noise/Signal Ratio of - 130 dB and A weighted noise/signal Ratio of - 160 dB. Not many out there with figures in this range.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Still totally bowled over by the Eera, but experimenting with power cords has narrowed the gap with my Emm Labs. Need to a-b a little while longer.

 

[LL21]

Still totally bowled over by the Eera, but experimenting with power cords has narrowed the gap with my Emm Labs. Need to a-b a little while longer.

Have you tried the same powercord that boosted the Emm performance...on the Eera?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ha ha! Don't tempt me, Lloyd! The way I see it is that the Emm is almost reborn and that's good enough. My GF laughs when I tell her a £1350 power cord is a money saving device, but it is when it'll prevent me from dropping £9k on an upgraded component.

 

[LL21]

Ha ha! Don't tempt me, Lloyd! The way I see it is that the Emm is almost reborn and that's good enough. My GF laughs when I tell her a £1350 power cord is a money saving device, but it is when it'll prevent me from dropping £9k on an upgraded component.

a penny saved is a penny earned...for another piece of audio equipment someday!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, as you know thru our communications I'm pretty happy w/the core of my system. The Eera trial pretty much came out of the blue, and proceeded to blow my socks off. What I'm a little confused at is that the trial Tentation sounds stellar, well exceeding my Emm Labs, with an over warm sounding PC to my preamp, but this PC makes vinyl in the same system sound overcooked. Yet replacing this PC with another that appears to be a bit leaner, more dynamic with a lower noise floor supercharges my Emm Labs to the Eera's levels of performance, but makes the Eera a little more bland, yet boosts vinyl well beyond both. Go figure . YMMV was never better phrased.

 

[JackD201]

I took a leap last night. This is an expensive gamble. I must have been living under a rock. Writing to Didier is like talking to a rock. I have to learn french.

Ok, I ordered an EERA Autographe Black Chrome with digital input (SPDIF up to 24/192). It is the Mister Snuffleupagus of CD players. To think I thought the Tentation held that title. It's not on EERA's website and I only heard about it from Sam who I take it heard it from Cor, who is tight with Didier. Albert never mentioned it. Not sure he even knows about it. I finally saw its official existence when I got the updated price list from EERA. The Air Force One widened the analog CD gap, I'm hoping this closes that gap again.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Jack, so what is the price of the Autographe? There is next to no info on the web, other than a couple of photos that show a metal top plate and the aforementioned digital in. As far as you are aware, is it a def impvt on the Tentation? And why? And what is it's retail price likely to be, again compared to the Tentation?
I v.much am impressed by the Tentation, but there are a couple of reservations I have, which experimenting w/PC's may solve.

 

[JackD201]

The retail price should be around 15k EU, maybe more. I'm know as little about it as you. There's a language barrier thing. When I say I'm gambling, this is serious gambling. The only thing I'm going on having extensively used 4 different EERA models is that they do get better as you go up the line. The thing is, that's never any guarantee. It may be different but not better to my own ears. I'm actually a bit nervous.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Jack, just a little feedback on my experience w/the Tentation. As you can see from my posts, it's w/out doubt the fastest, most dynamic cdp I've yet heard, and it initially surpassed my Emm Cdsa AND (!!!) analog front end - but only with a rel. warm top quality power cord (gold plug) to my preamp. Hence I was loving digital, and scratching my head over analog. But upon switching to a rhodium plugged top quality power cord, analog resumed it's place at the top of the hill, and interestingly, the Emm made up a lot of ground to the Eera, almost a dead heat in many areas. Upon settling w/the best balance power cord (rhodium plug one), I'm now doing a bit more a-b'ing. The differences btwn the two cdps are starting to show themselves, and even though the Tentation has the overall edge, esp. wrt speed, transparency, dynamics and detail retrieval, I feel the Emm has a more holistic quality, and actually draws less attention to itself. So much so, I'm struggling confidently to call an outright winner. My conclusion so far is that the Eera is reproducing a lot more top end frequency adding to it's verve and speed, which was nicely balanced by the warmer gold plug PC, but with a cooler rhodium plug PC, this energy is slightly highlighting an edge to the sound.
My GF, who is as far from an audiophile as you can get, but has the sharpest ears I know, is siding w/the Emm. What I'm finding is that on upgrades, it's not always an advantage to have an in your face change, and also since the Emm is so prone to impvt via cords, I may stick w/the devil I know. My final verdict will be after a-b'ing the two w/another set of power cords.
Good luck w/the Autographe. I hope it actually has a SQ impvt over the Tentation, as opposed just to cosmetic chassis impvts and digital in.

 

[JackD201]

Thanks spirit. I need some calming. Hahahahaha. I'm sure it will be good. I just hope it fits my tastes better. This isn't a product that will be a hit in our market. The price is too high making the market too small. As such this is really a personal buy and I will be living with it for a long time.

I use K-S Emotion or Shunyata Pythons with my Tentation depending on mood. The K-S is warmer and the Shunyata a tad sweeter. I can tailor my bass response since I have semi-active speakers so low end has never been a problem for me whatever gear I have up front. What's the rhodium PC you've been trying? The curious want to know. I still have my CDSD+DCC2 Black Label in another system.

 

[JackD201]

Mystery solved regarding the Autographe. In an email I got this morning, Didier said the Autographe is not part of the regular product line-up. It is "for our best clients only and as such is made to order". I guess I qualify. LOL.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ooh, that sounds "special", Jack!!! I've switched out PCs to another brand, and the superiority of the Tentation is again coming to the fore. I've lost a little of the tipped up/overenergetic sound that was threatening to seem coloured, but now manging the energy, detail and transparency with a much more textured, tone dense sound. Just loving it! Please post your thoughts on L'Autographe, but the Tentation is really pressing my buttons.

 

[LL21]

Mystery solved regarding the Autographe. In an email I got this morning, Didier said the Autographe is not part of the regular product line-up. It is "for our best clients only and as such is made to order". I guess I qualify. LOL.

ahhh...membership has its privileges...