Hi treitz3. I may not have been clear. I lived in Charlotte from 1988-1995. Even then I bought my equipment from Audio Advice in Raleigh. I continued to do so when I moved to Raleigh. I understand they opened a second store in Charlotte 5 or so years ago, but I was long gone by then. I don't know the store you are referring to. Sorry if I wasn't clear. Also, thanks for your offer, but I'm quite content now. Regards, Dylan.
Hi from Raleigh, NC
- Thread starter Dylan
- Start date
It has been quite a while since I participated in this forum, but I would like to start up again. The primary reason is that I am about to enter a new phase of my life- retirement, and this has caused me to reflect back on my 50 years in this hobby, and to also look forward.
As part of our retirement plan, my wife and I will be moving from North Carolina to Washington DC. We've owned a tiny condo in DC for the past three years and have loved the stimulation and vibrancy of the big city. Our daughter and son-in-law also live there. So we've decided to make the big move. I'm very excited.
From an audio perspective, the move will be bittersweet. In retirement, I was looking forward to long listening sessions with the big rig, at realistic volume levels. However, with the move to a high rise condo in DC, this will not be feasible. Part of the challenge will be for me to find a satisfying stereo that I can enjoy in a much smaller room, at much lower volumes. I also may have to explore a headphone based system. These decisions will all be made next year when we move and find a less tiny condo.
Listening to music on a good stereo has always been a big part of my life. I'm not sure why music has always been an emotional attraction to me, but that has always been what floated my boat. I've never been into watching/playing sports or movies (although I am an avid reader). Music always produced the emotional connection for me. I'm a big Bob Dylan fan, having seen him live 50 times. My wife and I also go see a lot of live music together- from small jazz clubs to mid-sized venues and occasionally a large arena or festival (we've been to Jazz fest in New Orleans 6 times.). The wide availability of live music had been one of the big attractions of DC to us.
From my early teen years, I've had a desire to couple the love of music with good gear to play it on. My first stereo system in 1968 at age 13 was a Sony auto-reverse reel-to-reel tape deck that had detachable speakers. My parents bought it for me. Over the next 3 years I worked summers to add a pair of Fisher bookshelf speakers, a Fisher receiver and a Dual turntable. I also got into building Dynaco kits for friends (for the fee of an ice cream sundae) and eventually built a Heathkit receiver for myself.
When I entered college I worked at stereo stores part time and then dropped out of college to work full time as a stereo salesman, at a chain in NYC called Arrow Audio. Working full time as a stereo salesman convinced me that I wanted to design stereo equipment, and I went back to school and got an electrical engineering degree. I would have worked for a stereo equipment manufacturer after graduating, if I wasn't getting married. Working as an engineer for IBM seemed like the safer route and that's what I did. I later went to law school and became a patent lawyer, which I have done now for over 35 years.
Getting back to stereo, my 50 years have established a few guiding principles for me. They apply to my personal evaluation, purchase and enjoyment of equipment.
The first guiding principle is that it is a miracle that a combination of electronic circuits, and paper, plastic, wood and magnets can create anything that would come close to recreating a musical event in our listening space that can draw us in emotionally and suspend our disbelief. I always try keep this in mind when critiquing any piece of audio gear. (The same holds true for other areas of technology- it amazes me that people will criticize their download time on their smartphone, without realizing what a miracle it is that all our smartphones work at all.)
With this in mind, I come with the perspective that any stereo system will fall far short of a live musical performance, so I need to figure out what I am willing to sacrifice to fool me into getting emotionally involved in the music and forget that it is being played from a stereo. My perspective comes as a rock/jazz lover, rather than a classical music lover. So for me, best reproducing a string quartet is not an issue.
For me, most closely reproducing what I hear in a venue allows me to suspend belief. Thus, I don't require the utmost in transparency- I don't have to hear the brushing of the fingers on a guitar to make me believe that it is live. I also don't need to hear the pinpoint of images across a soundstage because that doesn't mirror what I hear when I listen to live music. I need the music to be free of artificial distortions- so static, lead in groove noise or cartridge mistracking destroys it for me. That's why I gave up records for CD's almost immediately (more on that later).
I also don't want to identify music as coming from a woofer or a tweeter. That's why I almost universally have played my speakers with the grills on and lights out- if I can see the woofers and tweeters in my mind's eye, it is a distraction for me. Same with the equipment- glowing vacuum tubes may make some feel warm and cozy, but for me it just constantly reminds me that the music is being reproduced over a stereo system. In short- no distractions to make me think of the equipment and prevent me from getting into the music.
What I do need is a system that can scale from soft to loud without effort or strain, that is coherent without drawing artificial attention to the different transducers, that produces sound that is divorced from the loudspeakers themselves and that has a big enough sound to fill the room at all volume levels. I also need that live tone, rather than the utmost purity of the sound.
I recognize that other people need different things for them to suspend disbelief. Some people need the sound to be etched so that every detail is exposed. Others need dispersed points of sound over a stage (left to right and front to back). Others need every resonance removed from the sound so it is pristine. These are all valid points of view to get that listener to forget that a stereo is playing reproduced music. I don't knock any of these viewpoints. But for me, the coherence, scale, tone and freedom from nonmusical artifacts mean more.
The second major principle I've learned over the years is the importance of execution over innovative engineering. I'll give two examples. Decades ago I bought a Rabco turntable. It was a linear tracking turntable. The salesman (actually was a saleswoman- very rare in those days) tried to convince me to buy a Thorens turntable with a conventional pivoted arm. I argued that the Rabco had to be better, and bought it. Once I bought it I found out that the Rabco arm was so heavy that when it was used with a high compliance cartridge, the arm would resonate and vibrate like crazy in response to the tiniest record warp or offset, making most records unplayable. Another example- after going through Magneplanars, electrostats and fancy cone speakers/enclosures, I found more musical satisfaction from a Wilson Sophia- no fancy enclosures like my pervious B&W N802, no fancy drivers like my previous Magneplanars or Martin Logans- just conventional drivers in a conventional enclosure, done well. Incidentally, I've learned the same thing about cars- better to have a Mercedes without all the options than a tricked out lesser car because the Mercedes is engineered/built to a different standard and will give more long term satisfaction.
I'm also a "buy and hold" guy in all aspects of my life (investments, cars, houses, stereo) so I tend to buy new and keep. I've never bought a used stereo component, only had one used car and one used house in my life. So reliability of the equipment and longevity of the manufacturer is important to me.
I am going to tell my stereo history in future posts, explaining lessons learned, and leading up to my present situation which will be a leap into the unknown. Feel free to read, comment and/or disregard.
As part of our retirement plan, my wife and I will be moving from North Carolina to Washington DC. We've owned a tiny condo in DC for the past three years and have loved the stimulation and vibrancy of the big city. Our daughter and son-in-law also live there. So we've decided to make the big move. I'm very excited.
From an audio perspective, the move will be bittersweet. In retirement, I was looking forward to long listening sessions with the big rig, at realistic volume levels. However, with the move to a high rise condo in DC, this will not be feasible. Part of the challenge will be for me to find a satisfying stereo that I can enjoy in a much smaller room, at much lower volumes. I also may have to explore a headphone based system. These decisions will all be made next year when we move and find a less tiny condo.
Listening to music on a good stereo has always been a big part of my life. I'm not sure why music has always been an emotional attraction to me, but that has always been what floated my boat. I've never been into watching/playing sports or movies (although I am an avid reader). Music always produced the emotional connection for me. I'm a big Bob Dylan fan, having seen him live 50 times. My wife and I also go see a lot of live music together- from small jazz clubs to mid-sized venues and occasionally a large arena or festival (we've been to Jazz fest in New Orleans 6 times.). The wide availability of live music had been one of the big attractions of DC to us.
From my early teen years, I've had a desire to couple the love of music with good gear to play it on. My first stereo system in 1968 at age 13 was a Sony auto-reverse reel-to-reel tape deck that had detachable speakers. My parents bought it for me. Over the next 3 years I worked summers to add a pair of Fisher bookshelf speakers, a Fisher receiver and a Dual turntable. I also got into building Dynaco kits for friends (for the fee of an ice cream sundae) and eventually built a Heathkit receiver for myself.
When I entered college I worked at stereo stores part time and then dropped out of college to work full time as a stereo salesman, at a chain in NYC called Arrow Audio. Working full time as a stereo salesman convinced me that I wanted to design stereo equipment, and I went back to school and got an electrical engineering degree. I would have worked for a stereo equipment manufacturer after graduating, if I wasn't getting married. Working as an engineer for IBM seemed like the safer route and that's what I did. I later went to law school and became a patent lawyer, which I have done now for over 35 years.
Getting back to stereo, my 50 years have established a few guiding principles for me. They apply to my personal evaluation, purchase and enjoyment of equipment.
The first guiding principle is that it is a miracle that a combination of electronic circuits, and paper, plastic, wood and magnets can create anything that would come close to recreating a musical event in our listening space that can draw us in emotionally and suspend our disbelief. I always try keep this in mind when critiquing any piece of audio gear. (The same holds true for other areas of technology- it amazes me that people will criticize their download time on their smartphone, without realizing what a miracle it is that all our smartphones work at all.)
With this in mind, I come with the perspective that any stereo system will fall far short of a live musical performance, so I need to figure out what I am willing to sacrifice to fool me into getting emotionally involved in the music and forget that it is being played from a stereo. My perspective comes as a rock/jazz lover, rather than a classical music lover. So for me, best reproducing a string quartet is not an issue.
For me, most closely reproducing what I hear in a venue allows me to suspend belief. Thus, I don't require the utmost in transparency- I don't have to hear the brushing of the fingers on a guitar to make me believe that it is live. I also don't need to hear the pinpoint of images across a soundstage because that doesn't mirror what I hear when I listen to live music. I need the music to be free of artificial distortions- so static, lead in groove noise or cartridge mistracking destroys it for me. That's why I gave up records for CD's almost immediately (more on that later).
I also don't want to identify music as coming from a woofer or a tweeter. That's why I almost universally have played my speakers with the grills on and lights out- if I can see the woofers and tweeters in my mind's eye, it is a distraction for me. Same with the equipment- glowing vacuum tubes may make some feel warm and cozy, but for me it just constantly reminds me that the music is being reproduced over a stereo system. In short- no distractions to make me think of the equipment and prevent me from getting into the music.
What I do need is a system that can scale from soft to loud without effort or strain, that is coherent without drawing artificial attention to the different transducers, that produces sound that is divorced from the loudspeakers themselves and that has a big enough sound to fill the room at all volume levels. I also need that live tone, rather than the utmost purity of the sound.
I recognize that other people need different things for them to suspend disbelief. Some people need the sound to be etched so that every detail is exposed. Others need dispersed points of sound over a stage (left to right and front to back). Others need every resonance removed from the sound so it is pristine. These are all valid points of view to get that listener to forget that a stereo is playing reproduced music. I don't knock any of these viewpoints. But for me, the coherence, scale, tone and freedom from nonmusical artifacts mean more.
The second major principle I've learned over the years is the importance of execution over innovative engineering. I'll give two examples. Decades ago I bought a Rabco turntable. It was a linear tracking turntable. The salesman (actually was a saleswoman- very rare in those days) tried to convince me to buy a Thorens turntable with a conventional pivoted arm. I argued that the Rabco had to be better, and bought it. Once I bought it I found out that the Rabco arm was so heavy that when it was used with a high compliance cartridge, the arm would resonate and vibrate like crazy in response to the tiniest record warp or offset, making most records unplayable. Another example- after going through Magneplanars, electrostats and fancy cone speakers/enclosures, I found more musical satisfaction from a Wilson Sophia- no fancy enclosures like my pervious B&W N802, no fancy drivers like my previous Magneplanars or Martin Logans- just conventional drivers in a conventional enclosure, done well. Incidentally, I've learned the same thing about cars- better to have a Mercedes without all the options than a tricked out lesser car because the Mercedes is engineered/built to a different standard and will give more long term satisfaction.
I'm also a "buy and hold" guy in all aspects of my life (investments, cars, houses, stereo) so I tend to buy new and keep. I've never bought a used stereo component, only had one used car and one used house in my life. So reliability of the equipment and longevity of the manufacturer is important to me.
I am going to tell my stereo history in future posts, explaining lessons learned, and leading up to my present situation which will be a leap into the unknown. Feel free to read, comment and/or disregard.
My First Good Stereo
Continuing with my audio history from my last post, in 1975 I had to quit my job as a stereo salesman to devote full time to my electrical engineering classes. My boss was kind enough to let me buy a good stereo at the salesman price before I left. So I got an all McIntosh system- C26 preamp, MC-2105 power amp, MR-77 tuner, MQ-105 equalizer and two pair (!) of ML-1C speakers. I put one pair up front and the other pair in the back of the room. Not a four channel system, but room filling stereo sound when I sat in the middle. I completed the system with a Thorens TD-125 turntable and an SME arm. Over time I went through a variety of the standard cartridges of the day.
I'd love to hear what that system would sound like today. I also pity my poor Mom who had to listen to the system at full volume, needles on the amp going up close to 100% and the lights on the amp dimming with the music. I also remember vividly being with my girlfriend (later fiancée and now wife) in my darkened room with the music playing and then debating internally whether I should let the turntable spin on the lead-out groove or I should get up and lift the tonearm. For better or worse, "lift the tonearm" usually won.
Even way back then I had a hard time with records. When I bought a record, at least half the time the record was warped and I had to exchange it. I washed my records and used all the cleaning devices of the day. I used plastic sleeves instead of the paper. Yet still the records had static, which destroyed the illusion for me. There was also mistracking on some records that I could never overcome. One favorite of mine was the Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues" from the album Aja. I could never get the sax solo to sound right without distorting, no matter what cartridge or tracking force. It ruined the song for me. And even with returning 50% of records, you could hear the warps and off center holes. Totally unnatural sound for me, and hard for me to suspend belief. Also, in those days the conventional wisdom was that the vinyl had to relax after you played it so you shouldn't replay a track for 24 hours. This didn't fit my listening habits at all.
At some point I heard my first pair of Magneplanars and I was hooked on the sound. So I sold the two pair of Mac speakers for a pair of MG-IIB speakers. They were in our tiny apartment about 5 feet from the sofa- like a giant pair of headphones. Needless to say, I have a wonderful, understanding wife.
When I first heard a CD player I knew it would be right for me. Some of the CD's sounded thin, but some sounded glorious. And no artificial sounds like static, wow, flutter, mistracking. I was hooked. I got rid of my records fairly quickly and didn't look back. Sorry if this cuts against the grain of many audiophiles but this is the path I took based on what mattered most to me as a music lover. And frankly, when I've heard vinyl going forward (at friends houses or audio shows) I did not regret my decision.
P.S.- Thank you for the welcome back Gaines and Tom.
Continuing with my audio history from my last post, in 1975 I had to quit my job as a stereo salesman to devote full time to my electrical engineering classes. My boss was kind enough to let me buy a good stereo at the salesman price before I left. So I got an all McIntosh system- C26 preamp, MC-2105 power amp, MR-77 tuner, MQ-105 equalizer and two pair (!) of ML-1C speakers. I put one pair up front and the other pair in the back of the room. Not a four channel system, but room filling stereo sound when I sat in the middle. I completed the system with a Thorens TD-125 turntable and an SME arm. Over time I went through a variety of the standard cartridges of the day.
I'd love to hear what that system would sound like today. I also pity my poor Mom who had to listen to the system at full volume, needles on the amp going up close to 100% and the lights on the amp dimming with the music. I also remember vividly being with my girlfriend (later fiancée and now wife) in my darkened room with the music playing and then debating internally whether I should let the turntable spin on the lead-out groove or I should get up and lift the tonearm. For better or worse, "lift the tonearm" usually won.
Even way back then I had a hard time with records. When I bought a record, at least half the time the record was warped and I had to exchange it. I washed my records and used all the cleaning devices of the day. I used plastic sleeves instead of the paper. Yet still the records had static, which destroyed the illusion for me. There was also mistracking on some records that I could never overcome. One favorite of mine was the Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues" from the album Aja. I could never get the sax solo to sound right without distorting, no matter what cartridge or tracking force. It ruined the song for me. And even with returning 50% of records, you could hear the warps and off center holes. Totally unnatural sound for me, and hard for me to suspend belief. Also, in those days the conventional wisdom was that the vinyl had to relax after you played it so you shouldn't replay a track for 24 hours. This didn't fit my listening habits at all.
At some point I heard my first pair of Magneplanars and I was hooked on the sound. So I sold the two pair of Mac speakers for a pair of MG-IIB speakers. They were in our tiny apartment about 5 feet from the sofa- like a giant pair of headphones. Needless to say, I have a wonderful, understanding wife.
When I first heard a CD player I knew it would be right for me. Some of the CD's sounded thin, but some sounded glorious. And no artificial sounds like static, wow, flutter, mistracking. I was hooked. I got rid of my records fairly quickly and didn't look back. Sorry if this cuts against the grain of many audiophiles but this is the path I took based on what mattered most to me as a music lover. And frankly, when I've heard vinyl going forward (at friends houses or audio shows) I did not regret my decision.
P.S.- Thank you for the welcome back Gaines and Tom.
Planar/Electrostatic/B&W
This is my third installment about my audio history, following up on my last two posts.
When we moved to North Carolina, we bought a bigger house that had a great room that could better accommodate the Magnepans. So traded in my MGIIB speakers for a pair of MGIIIA speakers. At the same time, I realized that my MC-2105 did not have the juice to drive the Magneplanars well and I was listening to little, if any, FM. So I traded in the Mac gear and bought an Adcom CD player with its own volume control and a Threshold amp. No preamp, so a very clear signal path. I enjoyed this combination for quite a while.
While having the Magneplanar/Adcom/Threshold system I was exposed to tweaks for the first time. A guy who was painting our house turned out to be an audiophile. He told me my system would sound better if I put squishy feet under the CD player. He brought them over, and sure enough, the system did sound better. So I bought four squishy feet and used them.
This made me think about tweaks and to reach my own philosophy. For every type of tweak (e.g. feet, cables, power conditioners, racks etc) there are hundreds of possibilities. When you multiply them together there are thousands of combinations. So you could spend your whole life trying various tweaks, alone and in combination, to find a possible holy grail of improvement. For me, this would take away from my ultimate goal of having the equipment not be a distraction from the essence of the music. So I've rarely spent time on tweaks. I bought Transparent cables because they sounded good with my equipment and were recommended by my dealer. I haven't experimented with cables beyond that. I tried an aftermarket power cable once- it made my amp go into protection mode (the only time I ever saw the red light go on) so I removed it and never tried again. And one time I put my cables up on Styrofoam cups, heard no difference and got rid of the cups. I know tweaking is fun for some people. For me it is an anxiety provoking rabbit hole which detracts from listening to the music. So I'll pass.
After a while I ran into a problem with the Magneplanars: I like to listen to Bob Dylan at realistic volume levels. He plays harmonica. I was constantly blowing fuses on the ribbon tweeter of the MGIIIA's. Thank goodness they were fused. Never blew a tweeter, but I used to buy packets of fuses and keep them in an ash tray by the listening seat. Eventually the Magnepans had to go.
I figured out the perfect speaker that would combine the transparency of the Magnepans, with the room pressurizations that I wanted- I bought a pair of Martin Logan Quests. With their 12 inch woofer and large electrostatic panel they would surely fit the bill. Boy was I wrong- the bass and the rest of the midrange/treble seemed to be coming out of two separate sources, each with different character, bringing an unnatural quality to all the music and making it clear I was listening to a pair of speakers. Not the organic sound I was looking for.
Having exhausted the available (to me) possibilities with planars and electrostats, I decided to get the most technically advanced cone speaker I could- I bought B&W 802N's. Kevlar cones, very uniquely engineered cabinet, separate midrange and tweeter cabinets. I also traded in my aging Threshold amp and Adcom CD player for a Mark Levinson amp and Wadia CD player. The Wadia was particularly impressive- it allowed the image to float free of the speakers. And the system was simple- CD player to amp to speakers. The speakers could pressurize the room and handle Dylan's harmonica. Unfortunately, over time I was listening to the system less and less, and I finally realized it was because the system was so forward (bright, shrill) sounding that I got ear bleed from listening for an extended period at realistic volumes. Something had to give. More next time.
PS- Thank you for the welcome, SC Audiophile.
This is my third installment about my audio history, following up on my last two posts.
When we moved to North Carolina, we bought a bigger house that had a great room that could better accommodate the Magnepans. So traded in my MGIIB speakers for a pair of MGIIIA speakers. At the same time, I realized that my MC-2105 did not have the juice to drive the Magneplanars well and I was listening to little, if any, FM. So I traded in the Mac gear and bought an Adcom CD player with its own volume control and a Threshold amp. No preamp, so a very clear signal path. I enjoyed this combination for quite a while.
While having the Magneplanar/Adcom/Threshold system I was exposed to tweaks for the first time. A guy who was painting our house turned out to be an audiophile. He told me my system would sound better if I put squishy feet under the CD player. He brought them over, and sure enough, the system did sound better. So I bought four squishy feet and used them.
This made me think about tweaks and to reach my own philosophy. For every type of tweak (e.g. feet, cables, power conditioners, racks etc) there are hundreds of possibilities. When you multiply them together there are thousands of combinations. So you could spend your whole life trying various tweaks, alone and in combination, to find a possible holy grail of improvement. For me, this would take away from my ultimate goal of having the equipment not be a distraction from the essence of the music. So I've rarely spent time on tweaks. I bought Transparent cables because they sounded good with my equipment and were recommended by my dealer. I haven't experimented with cables beyond that. I tried an aftermarket power cable once- it made my amp go into protection mode (the only time I ever saw the red light go on) so I removed it and never tried again. And one time I put my cables up on Styrofoam cups, heard no difference and got rid of the cups. I know tweaking is fun for some people. For me it is an anxiety provoking rabbit hole which detracts from listening to the music. So I'll pass.
After a while I ran into a problem with the Magneplanars: I like to listen to Bob Dylan at realistic volume levels. He plays harmonica. I was constantly blowing fuses on the ribbon tweeter of the MGIIIA's. Thank goodness they were fused. Never blew a tweeter, but I used to buy packets of fuses and keep them in an ash tray by the listening seat. Eventually the Magnepans had to go.
I figured out the perfect speaker that would combine the transparency of the Magnepans, with the room pressurizations that I wanted- I bought a pair of Martin Logan Quests. With their 12 inch woofer and large electrostatic panel they would surely fit the bill. Boy was I wrong- the bass and the rest of the midrange/treble seemed to be coming out of two separate sources, each with different character, bringing an unnatural quality to all the music and making it clear I was listening to a pair of speakers. Not the organic sound I was looking for.
Having exhausted the available (to me) possibilities with planars and electrostats, I decided to get the most technically advanced cone speaker I could- I bought B&W 802N's. Kevlar cones, very uniquely engineered cabinet, separate midrange and tweeter cabinets. I also traded in my aging Threshold amp and Adcom CD player for a Mark Levinson amp and Wadia CD player. The Wadia was particularly impressive- it allowed the image to float free of the speakers. And the system was simple- CD player to amp to speakers. The speakers could pressurize the room and handle Dylan's harmonica. Unfortunately, over time I was listening to the system less and less, and I finally realized it was because the system was so forward (bright, shrill) sounding that I got ear bleed from listening for an extended period at realistic volumes. Something had to give. More next time.
PS- Thank you for the welcome, SC Audiophile.
Wilson/Ayre
This is the next installment of my audio history. When I last left off, I was not happy with my B&W 802N's. Also, my Mark Levinson and Wadia gear was getting long in the tooth.
My dealer (Audio Advice in Raleigh) had just gotten in a pair of Wilson Sophia's. They were advertised as speakers for music lovers rather than audiophiles I was smitten from the first time I heard them. I bought them.
The Sophia's were an enigma to me. They were the most conventional speakers I ever owned. A standard three-way with a paper midrange, metal tweeter and plastic woofer in a very conventional looking cabinet. But they could really sing. I had never experienced the duality of a very musical speaker that also revealed the details of the music. I could listen for hours, in an analytical mode if I wanted, or I could just let the music flow. I didn't understand how they got their shocking dynamics, but they had it in spades. Any they had a coherence or wholeness that made you forget that you were listening to a speaker.
My amp and CD player were getting old and both needed repairs at about the same time. So after repairing I decided to buy new electronics. I bought a Musical Fidelity KW integrated amp and SACD player. Big, garish face plates that were hard to ignore (but fortunately I listen in the dark). Unfortunately, after a week, the player drawer started to work intermittently, and then the amp started to smoke (!) while playing music. I returned them both immediately.
My dealer had just taken on the Ayre line. I tried the 5 series preamp, power amp and SACD player. I loved the sound and the synergy with the Sophia's. Over time I became very loyal to Ayre. First, they don't just announce an SE version every other year, to obsolete the product you bought two years ago. Rather, when they upgrade a product, the upgrade is made available to existing owners for the cost of the difference in the list price. I was able to use this upgrade process to upgrade my SACD player and my preamp, with clearly audible sonic improvements, without the need to sell the old and buy a new component.
Also, Ayre is great with taking care of its customers. Two cases in point- at one point, my SACD player developed a wiggly drawer. It was way out of warranty. I sent it to Ayre (through my dealer). It turned out that we had installed new drapes in the listening room and somehow a thread got into the mechanism and tangled up with the gears of the drawer. Ayre took out the thread, had a good laugh and sent me back the unit- no charge. Another instance was when I got new speakers (story will be told in a future installment) and my wife said the silver color would no longer work. So we asked Ayre, and they said they could replace all the silver in my components with black. They apologized about the cost ($450/component I believe) but explained that they had to replace all the panels, knobs, etc, and they could not reuse the old silver ones because they were used. To me it was the bargain of the century compared to selling all my silver components and buying new ones in black. So I remain a very loyal Ayre customer (to date I've bought one preamp, two power amps, one SACD player and an integrated amp).
When the Sophia 2 came out I bought it sight unseen. I was very happy with the improvement and was a happy camper overall. Then disaster struck- I'll tell you about it in my next installment.
This is the next installment of my audio history. When I last left off, I was not happy with my B&W 802N's. Also, my Mark Levinson and Wadia gear was getting long in the tooth.
My dealer (Audio Advice in Raleigh) had just gotten in a pair of Wilson Sophia's. They were advertised as speakers for music lovers rather than audiophiles I was smitten from the first time I heard them. I bought them.
The Sophia's were an enigma to me. They were the most conventional speakers I ever owned. A standard three-way with a paper midrange, metal tweeter and plastic woofer in a very conventional looking cabinet. But they could really sing. I had never experienced the duality of a very musical speaker that also revealed the details of the music. I could listen for hours, in an analytical mode if I wanted, or I could just let the music flow. I didn't understand how they got their shocking dynamics, but they had it in spades. Any they had a coherence or wholeness that made you forget that you were listening to a speaker.
My amp and CD player were getting old and both needed repairs at about the same time. So after repairing I decided to buy new electronics. I bought a Musical Fidelity KW integrated amp and SACD player. Big, garish face plates that were hard to ignore (but fortunately I listen in the dark). Unfortunately, after a week, the player drawer started to work intermittently, and then the amp started to smoke (!) while playing music. I returned them both immediately.
My dealer had just taken on the Ayre line. I tried the 5 series preamp, power amp and SACD player. I loved the sound and the synergy with the Sophia's. Over time I became very loyal to Ayre. First, they don't just announce an SE version every other year, to obsolete the product you bought two years ago. Rather, when they upgrade a product, the upgrade is made available to existing owners for the cost of the difference in the list price. I was able to use this upgrade process to upgrade my SACD player and my preamp, with clearly audible sonic improvements, without the need to sell the old and buy a new component.
Also, Ayre is great with taking care of its customers. Two cases in point- at one point, my SACD player developed a wiggly drawer. It was way out of warranty. I sent it to Ayre (through my dealer). It turned out that we had installed new drapes in the listening room and somehow a thread got into the mechanism and tangled up with the gears of the drawer. Ayre took out the thread, had a good laugh and sent me back the unit- no charge. Another instance was when I got new speakers (story will be told in a future installment) and my wife said the silver color would no longer work. So we asked Ayre, and they said they could replace all the silver in my components with black. They apologized about the cost ($450/component I believe) but explained that they had to replace all the panels, knobs, etc, and they could not reuse the old silver ones because they were used. To me it was the bargain of the century compared to selling all my silver components and buying new ones in black. So I remain a very loyal Ayre customer (to date I've bought one preamp, two power amps, one SACD player and an integrated amp).
When the Sophia 2 came out I bought it sight unseen. I was very happy with the improvement and was a happy camper overall. Then disaster struck- I'll tell you about it in my next installment.
The Sasha Fiasco
This is the next installment in my audio history.
In 2010 I decided to make one last upgrade to my stereo system. I was very happy with my Wilson Sophia 2/Ayre 5 Series system, but I decided that before I started to slow down at work (and make less money), I would make one final upgrade. Since I believe that the loudspeakers are the weakest link in a stereo (because they are electromechanical transducers) I started auditioning speakers. But frankly, I didn't look that hard- since I was enthralled with my Sophia 2's, I knew what the next step had to be- I bought the newly released Sasha's. I was so excited when the speakers arrived- even more excited when the speakers won the Stereophile "Loudspeaker of the Year" award. I felt so fortunate to be able to make this upgrade.
I then went on an amplifier quest. As much as I liked the Ayre V5xe, it was running out of gas with the Sophia's (at realistic volume levels) and clearly ran out of gas with Sasha's low impedance.
My dealer was very nice to allow me to bring home a series of amplifiers over successive weekends. The first one I tried was a McIntosh MC-452. I was really excited to bring a Mac into my system again after an absence of over 30 years. I had very high expectation bias, but the amp sounded (for lack of a better word) glassy- like it was behind a pane of glass. I tried a Classe- very powerful but flat sounding. I tried an Audio Research DS-i200 (I may have the model wrong- it was their first class D amplifier)- the amp sounded thin and flat, and actually went into oscillation when playing at high volume.
Ayre had a much more expensive MXR monoblock but this was too rich for me after spending money on the Sasha's. But fortunately, Ayre had one last V1xe amplifier sitting in their warehouse and I was able to buy that. It was a beast of an amplifier that had no trouble driving the Sasha's without breaking a sweat.
With the new amp in place, I spent hours and days trying to position the Sasha's for best sound. It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I was working hard as a lawyer (plus running the law firm) and used music as my therapy. But trying to get the system to sound right was even more stress than work. I remember one final session where I had spent a whole Saturday moving the speakers in quarter inch increments to sound right with some of my go-to tracks. At the end of the day I put on another track and it sounded like total crap. It was very frustrating to me.
I had read about Jim Smith through Stereophile and had bought a copy of his book "Get Better Sound". I finally decided to arrange for Jim to come to the house and voice the speakers to my room. Yes, it was a few thousand dollars, but compared to the investment in the equipment and the amount of time and frustration it was certainly worth it. (As an aside, it surprises me how audiophiles are quite willing to drop a couple of thousand on an interconnect, but don't want to pay for services to optimize the system or bitch about the $12 annual subscription fee for Stereophile). Jim came from Atlanta, listened on Friday night and worked all day Saturday. He and I felt that the system was sounding much better than before.
So the weeks went by and I listened to the stereo as much as I could, for enjoyment and to relieve the stress of a high stress job. But try as I might, I could not get into the music. I recognized that the bass was far more linear and extended deeper than the Sophia, and that the Sasha was more transparent than the Sophia. I would sit there, in the dark, and be analyzing the performance of the system, or would analyze the bass notes or the cymbal strikes in a tune, but, try as I might, I could never just relax and listen to and enjoy the music. There was no emotional connection. Finally, one night, after another frustrating time listening to music, and after investing almost $40K to upgrade to my dream system, I had to walk up the stairs and say to my wife "I hate my stereo". It is a miracle she didn't divorce me (or worse), but there was no getting around it.
To this day, I still haven't gotten over the mistake I made- that I couldn't leave well enough alone with the Sophia's or that I didn't just upgrade the amp for more power and a little more ease of presentation. What makes it worse is that I sold my Sophia's to a friend, so I sometimes went over and listened to "my" Sophia's and suffered pangs of longing and regret.
Next time- how I again achieved musical satisfaction.
This is the next installment in my audio history.
In 2010 I decided to make one last upgrade to my stereo system. I was very happy with my Wilson Sophia 2/Ayre 5 Series system, but I decided that before I started to slow down at work (and make less money), I would make one final upgrade. Since I believe that the loudspeakers are the weakest link in a stereo (because they are electromechanical transducers) I started auditioning speakers. But frankly, I didn't look that hard- since I was enthralled with my Sophia 2's, I knew what the next step had to be- I bought the newly released Sasha's. I was so excited when the speakers arrived- even more excited when the speakers won the Stereophile "Loudspeaker of the Year" award. I felt so fortunate to be able to make this upgrade.
I then went on an amplifier quest. As much as I liked the Ayre V5xe, it was running out of gas with the Sophia's (at realistic volume levels) and clearly ran out of gas with Sasha's low impedance.
My dealer was very nice to allow me to bring home a series of amplifiers over successive weekends. The first one I tried was a McIntosh MC-452. I was really excited to bring a Mac into my system again after an absence of over 30 years. I had very high expectation bias, but the amp sounded (for lack of a better word) glassy- like it was behind a pane of glass. I tried a Classe- very powerful but flat sounding. I tried an Audio Research DS-i200 (I may have the model wrong- it was their first class D amplifier)- the amp sounded thin and flat, and actually went into oscillation when playing at high volume.
Ayre had a much more expensive MXR monoblock but this was too rich for me after spending money on the Sasha's. But fortunately, Ayre had one last V1xe amplifier sitting in their warehouse and I was able to buy that. It was a beast of an amplifier that had no trouble driving the Sasha's without breaking a sweat.
With the new amp in place, I spent hours and days trying to position the Sasha's for best sound. It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I was working hard as a lawyer (plus running the law firm) and used music as my therapy. But trying to get the system to sound right was even more stress than work. I remember one final session where I had spent a whole Saturday moving the speakers in quarter inch increments to sound right with some of my go-to tracks. At the end of the day I put on another track and it sounded like total crap. It was very frustrating to me.
I had read about Jim Smith through Stereophile and had bought a copy of his book "Get Better Sound". I finally decided to arrange for Jim to come to the house and voice the speakers to my room. Yes, it was a few thousand dollars, but compared to the investment in the equipment and the amount of time and frustration it was certainly worth it. (As an aside, it surprises me how audiophiles are quite willing to drop a couple of thousand on an interconnect, but don't want to pay for services to optimize the system or bitch about the $12 annual subscription fee for Stereophile). Jim came from Atlanta, listened on Friday night and worked all day Saturday. He and I felt that the system was sounding much better than before.
So the weeks went by and I listened to the stereo as much as I could, for enjoyment and to relieve the stress of a high stress job. But try as I might, I could not get into the music. I recognized that the bass was far more linear and extended deeper than the Sophia, and that the Sasha was more transparent than the Sophia. I would sit there, in the dark, and be analyzing the performance of the system, or would analyze the bass notes or the cymbal strikes in a tune, but, try as I might, I could never just relax and listen to and enjoy the music. There was no emotional connection. Finally, one night, after another frustrating time listening to music, and after investing almost $40K to upgrade to my dream system, I had to walk up the stairs and say to my wife "I hate my stereo". It is a miracle she didn't divorce me (or worse), but there was no getting around it.
To this day, I still haven't gotten over the mistake I made- that I couldn't leave well enough alone with the Sophia's or that I didn't just upgrade the amp for more power and a little more ease of presentation. What makes it worse is that I sold my Sophia's to a friend, so I sometimes went over and listened to "my" Sophia's and suffered pangs of longing and regret.
Next time- how I again achieved musical satisfaction.
Welcome to WBF, Dylan!
I have never been to Raleigh, but I love Sanderling in Duck in the Outer Banks.
I have never been to Raleigh, but I love Sanderling in Duck in the Outer Banks.
A belated welcome .... again. On thing about your move to headphones. Lot easier to audition, no room distortion to worry about and a lot less expensive (usually).
I, too, spent much of my 50 years as an audio junkie unintentionally listening to my equipment, and not the music. While I still struggle with that a tiny bit, I now do lots of listening via a sounder in our living room, and a excellent pair of (very inexpensive) speakers by my computer and stream from Amazon, Tidal, etc. WAAAAAAAY more enjoyable. And I never even think about the equipment.
Yes, I do have a dedicated listening room but even in there, I moved away from listening to two channel music with only two channels. I now use surrounds and heights and center channel and the Auro up-mixer and while far from purist, and what I did for most of the last 50 years, it really now is far more fun, enjoyable, and relaxing. Hopefully you will find that headphone listening provides you the same enjoyment.
Isn't retirement grand? I have been so for about 4 years and the thing I have found most perplexing, as have most of my retired friends, is how we ever got anything done when we were working.
I wish you the best in your new city, close to your family and new audio journey!!
I, too, spent much of my 50 years as an audio junkie unintentionally listening to my equipment, and not the music. While I still struggle with that a tiny bit, I now do lots of listening via a sounder in our living room, and a excellent pair of (very inexpensive) speakers by my computer and stream from Amazon, Tidal, etc. WAAAAAAAY more enjoyable. And I never even think about the equipment.
Yes, I do have a dedicated listening room but even in there, I moved away from listening to two channel music with only two channels. I now use surrounds and heights and center channel and the Auro up-mixer and while far from purist, and what I did for most of the last 50 years, it really now is far more fun, enjoyable, and relaxing. Hopefully you will find that headphone listening provides you the same enjoyment.
Isn't retirement grand? I have been so for about 4 years and the thing I have found most perplexing, as have most of my retired friends, is how we ever got anything done when we were working.
I wish you the best in your new city, close to your family and new audio journey!!
RogerD- the drama did end well. I'll describe in my next installment (probably next week) Thanks for the kind words.
Ron- thanks for the welcome back. We've been to Sanderling- nice. NC has a lot of nice places and nice people.
Audioguy- thanks for the encouragement. Three months to go for me till full retirement. I'm going to the Capital Audiofest in DC in early November to check out small speakers and headphone systems.
Ron- thanks for the welcome back. We've been to Sanderling- nice. NC has a lot of nice places and nice people.
Audioguy- thanks for the encouragement. Three months to go for me till full retirement. I'm going to the Capital Audiofest in DC in early November to check out small speakers and headphone systems.
For those of you who have been reading my audio odyssey with bated breath, it has been a few months since I wrote to complete the story. There are two reasons for this. First, I’ve been busy with retiring and moving from Raleigh to DC. Second, I didn’t want to write about how great my new speakers were while they were for sale because I didn’t want to be accused of trying to game the system. We are now in DC, and the speakers have been sold, so I can now tell the next part of the story.
THE TANNOY STORY
I previously described how I used Jim Smith to try in vain to get good sound from my Wilson Sasha’s. In addition to being very skilled at optimizing an audio system he is a great guy. Since he lives near Atlanta, we went to visit him on a trip to visit my Mom. That.s where I heard his Tannoy Canterbury’s. I must say, they were everything I didn’t want in a speaker- walnut, big and styled from the 1950’s or earlier. But the sound was just glorious. Not at all what you’d expect. The speakers disappeared and threw a magnificent soundstage. But even more important for me, they had a cohenrece of the sound coming from one place like it would in real life- no cymbals coming from one place and vocals from another. And finally, for someone who listens to “classic rock”at realistic levels, they were unlike anything I’d ever heard- they could fill a room even at low levels. And at high levels they would not strain at all, just loaf along. The big dual concentric in a big box had me hooked.
Although my wife is a decorator and our house is contemporary she supported me as always. I found a great dealer in NC (Goldprint Audio) who sold Tannoy's. He helped me sell the Sasha’s on Audiogon and I bought the Canterbury SE. Jim Smith came back for a final placement tuneup (he had made special jigs for his speakers, which made things easy). My Ayre V1-xe was overkill for the Tannoy's and I traded it for an Ayre AX5 integrated amp, which was a match made in heaven. As an aside, I again tried tubes on the Tannoy's (Cary Audio and Manley as I recall). For me the Ayre had much better bass, was more transparent and more musical, and I didn’t have to hold my breath each time I turned it on.
Frankly, I was in musical bliss with the system. From Jazz, to female vocals to Sinatra to loud rock, it allowed me to immerse myself in the music and not think about the stereo. This musical bliss lasted from April 2012 until late 2017, when we made final plans to retire and move to DC.
I’ll continue to the present in my next post and ask for some advice going forward.
THE TANNOY STORY
I previously described how I used Jim Smith to try in vain to get good sound from my Wilson Sasha’s. In addition to being very skilled at optimizing an audio system he is a great guy. Since he lives near Atlanta, we went to visit him on a trip to visit my Mom. That.s where I heard his Tannoy Canterbury’s. I must say, they were everything I didn’t want in a speaker- walnut, big and styled from the 1950’s or earlier. But the sound was just glorious. Not at all what you’d expect. The speakers disappeared and threw a magnificent soundstage. But even more important for me, they had a cohenrece of the sound coming from one place like it would in real life- no cymbals coming from one place and vocals from another. And finally, for someone who listens to “classic rock”at realistic levels, they were unlike anything I’d ever heard- they could fill a room even at low levels. And at high levels they would not strain at all, just loaf along. The big dual concentric in a big box had me hooked.
Although my wife is a decorator and our house is contemporary she supported me as always. I found a great dealer in NC (Goldprint Audio) who sold Tannoy's. He helped me sell the Sasha’s on Audiogon and I bought the Canterbury SE. Jim Smith came back for a final placement tuneup (he had made special jigs for his speakers, which made things easy). My Ayre V1-xe was overkill for the Tannoy's and I traded it for an Ayre AX5 integrated amp, which was a match made in heaven. As an aside, I again tried tubes on the Tannoy's (Cary Audio and Manley as I recall). For me the Ayre had much better bass, was more transparent and more musical, and I didn’t have to hold my breath each time I turned it on.
Frankly, I was in musical bliss with the system. From Jazz, to female vocals to Sinatra to loud rock, it allowed me to immerse myself in the music and not think about the stereo. This musical bliss lasted from April 2012 until late 2017, when we made final plans to retire and move to DC.
I’ll continue to the present in my next post and ask for some advice going forward.
Inspired by Ron’s comment, I’ll finish my story and ask for advice.
I NEED A GOOD SMALL SPEAKER
For now we’re in a 700 square foot condo in DC. No stereo for now. We’ll be moving into a bigger condo in the spring. The second bedroom (a.ka. the office and stereo room) is small- 13’x14’x9’high. So we will need a small speaker that will sound good at low volumes and near field listening. I have kept my Ayre AX5-20 integrated amp and C5-xemp SACD player for now.
We went to Capital Audio Fest in October to listen to small speakers. We were hoping to hear the Kii Three but the distributor did not bring them. They are an intriguing possibility for an all in one system, but I am somewhat leery of buying such a complex piece of equipment from a startup in Europe. I’m aware of the owner’s history, but still I’m leery.
At CAF we also stumbled on the TAD ME-1. It blew us away with its coherent, organic sound at low and medium levels. We listened to it 5 or 6 times over two days, often by ourselves. An unexpected surprise that I am seriously considering. Our audiophile friends who came with us were also very impressed. The TAD’s also should work well with my Ayre equipment.
For the record, although I don’t want to be negative, we didn’t like Harbeth, Joseph or Gamut stand mounts.
Any thoughts or advice would be welcomed. I am a “buy and hold” person, so I would only buy from an established company, not a garage manufacturer (no offense meant).
Thanks for listening.
I NEED A GOOD SMALL SPEAKER
For now we’re in a 700 square foot condo in DC. No stereo for now. We’ll be moving into a bigger condo in the spring. The second bedroom (a.ka. the office and stereo room) is small- 13’x14’x9’high. So we will need a small speaker that will sound good at low volumes and near field listening. I have kept my Ayre AX5-20 integrated amp and C5-xemp SACD player for now.
We went to Capital Audio Fest in October to listen to small speakers. We were hoping to hear the Kii Three but the distributor did not bring them. They are an intriguing possibility for an all in one system, but I am somewhat leery of buying such a complex piece of equipment from a startup in Europe. I’m aware of the owner’s history, but still I’m leery.
At CAF we also stumbled on the TAD ME-1. It blew us away with its coherent, organic sound at low and medium levels. We listened to it 5 or 6 times over two days, often by ourselves. An unexpected surprise that I am seriously considering. Our audiophile friends who came with us were also very impressed. The TAD’s also should work well with my Ayre equipment.
For the record, although I don’t want to be negative, we didn’t like Harbeth, Joseph or Gamut stand mounts.
Any thoughts or advice would be welcomed. I am a “buy and hold” person, so I would only buy from an established company, not a garage manufacturer (no offense meant).
Thanks for listening.
Dylan, this is a fabulous thread. Thank you for sharing. As a former Aerial 10T owner (from Audio Advice) and Wilson admirer, I can relate. I now own Magico S3 Mk 2s in a room slightly larger than your intended. Magico's sealed box designs make them less sensitive than comparable ported designs to placement/overdriving in small rooms. You might want to take a look at Magico's S1 and S3 Mk 2 models as well as their soon-to-be-released A3s. The choices you mentioned above also look excellent, and I would expect that if you enjoy the shopping aspect of this hobby, you'll have fun with the variety available in the DC area.
MY NEW WASHINGTON DC STEREOFor those you who were following my story, I thought I would close the loop.
We moved in to our new larger condo in DC in May. I did some listening to standmount speakers in the DC area but could not find anything that floated my boat as much as the TAD speakers we heard at Capital Audio Fest. So, in the end, I ordered the TAD ME-1’s.
The TAD’s arrived in June and I am very happy with them. First, they fit the small room very well, visually and sonically. They have a very coherent sound. You can hear all the details (more than my old Tannoy’s in fact), yet they remain very musical and involving. I will admit, they do not have the scale and majesty of the Tannoys and the sound does not wash over you like the big speakers in a big room. But within the constraints of a small room in a high rise condo, I am very happy. I’m back to immersing myself in my music again and getting a lot of pleasure from my listening.
I’m still not ready to get into streaming as I really enjoy selecting and listening to my CD’s and SACD’s. I certainly don’t want to take the time, effort and complexity to store my media on a hard drive. My SACD player is getting old, so my next project will be to find a replacement. I wish Ayre hadn’t abandoned physical media, as I would have bought their replacement SACD player sight unseen.
I’ll try post a few pictures of my Wilson system, my Tannoy System and my current set up. Thanks for reading.
ANGST
For anyone still reading, I experienced considerable angst over the stereo since my last posting. The sound was coherent and musical. But unfortunately, over time, I found the the bass was lacking. While I didn’t expect the bass generated by the Tannoy’s 15” woofers in my old large room, I felt the foundation of the music was lacking.
A good opportunity presented itself at Capital AudioFest, where my dealer Tenacious Audio was again demonstrateing the TAD ME-1’s and the rest of the TAD speakers. I again heard all the little TAD’s we’re capable of and I used that as a reference for experimenting with placement of the couch and speakers in the room. After two days of experimentation, using the Jim Smith guidelines, I got the speakers dialed in. The couch is now about 2 feet from the back wall and the speakers are now further into the room. The bass is now very warm and full. No, the bottom octave isn’t there, but above that, the sound is full, coherent and musical. The TAD’s definitely play bigger than they are. As an added bonus, by moving the speakers into the room, the room effects have been decreased further and there is better soundstage depth. I finally feel I’ve tamed the small room!
My SACD player (Ayre C5-xeMp) is now 12 years old and I wanted to hear how it compared to a new player. Tenacious Audio was nice enough to ship a TAD D1000 MK2 to my house for evaluation. Frankly, I was surprised that there was not a huge difference compared to the Ayre. On CD, the TAD had a little better ability to extract more what was on the CD- a little better clarity, separation of instruments, inner detail, air and texture. Made a CD sound a little more like an SACD. These differences largely disappeared comparing SACDs. On the other hand, the TAD had less bass, which hurt the foundation of the music and its drive. And I didn’t want to go back into that abyss again, so I passed. I’ll continue to look for an SACD player to replace my old Ayre. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
In any event, I feel my transition from big speakers in a big room to small speakers in a small room is complete and the results are very musically satisfying.
Picture of the new placement is attached. Thanks for reading and happy holidays.
For anyone still reading, I experienced considerable angst over the stereo since my last posting. The sound was coherent and musical. But unfortunately, over time, I found the the bass was lacking. While I didn’t expect the bass generated by the Tannoy’s 15” woofers in my old large room, I felt the foundation of the music was lacking.
A good opportunity presented itself at Capital AudioFest, where my dealer Tenacious Audio was again demonstrateing the TAD ME-1’s and the rest of the TAD speakers. I again heard all the little TAD’s we’re capable of and I used that as a reference for experimenting with placement of the couch and speakers in the room. After two days of experimentation, using the Jim Smith guidelines, I got the speakers dialed in. The couch is now about 2 feet from the back wall and the speakers are now further into the room. The bass is now very warm and full. No, the bottom octave isn’t there, but above that, the sound is full, coherent and musical. The TAD’s definitely play bigger than they are. As an added bonus, by moving the speakers into the room, the room effects have been decreased further and there is better soundstage depth. I finally feel I’ve tamed the small room!
My SACD player (Ayre C5-xeMp) is now 12 years old and I wanted to hear how it compared to a new player. Tenacious Audio was nice enough to ship a TAD D1000 MK2 to my house for evaluation. Frankly, I was surprised that there was not a huge difference compared to the Ayre. On CD, the TAD had a little better ability to extract more what was on the CD- a little better clarity, separation of instruments, inner detail, air and texture. Made a CD sound a little more like an SACD. These differences largely disappeared comparing SACDs. On the other hand, the TAD had less bass, which hurt the foundation of the music and its drive. And I didn’t want to go back into that abyss again, so I passed. I’ll continue to look for an SACD player to replace my old Ayre. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
In any event, I feel my transition from big speakers in a big room to small speakers in a small room is complete and the results are very musically satisfying.
Picture of the new placement is attached. Thanks for reading and happy holidays.
