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In Reply to: RE: At best Cheever defines the euphonic, not the accurate posted by morricab on April 03, 2014 at 08:18:25
I just bought the Line Magnetic 502CA DAC (it will arrive next week) so That should tell you I am on board.
What you noted with Audio Note this time was no mention of a shout. My recommendation with them is to just give them some more auditions over time. It's not a leap out and grab you sound - and to be blunt I hated them the first time I heard them. I think I know what you mean by the "rounded" commentary but personally after long periods of time with it I have found that what other systems are producing is a fine sense of grain in the upper frequencies for added sparkle.
And I will say that a stunning improvement is the new Alnico tweeter and woofer in the AN E/Spx HE Alnico model in Hong Kong (Product of the Year winner here) for around $20,000US.
Last note: The fact is that AN runs a complete system - if one part of it is not desirable the whole thing will fall short for you. The gear stands on it's own - it's not like you have to run their speakers for example. It's just not going to do it for everyone. Same for the amplifier - I love the 211 but plenty of people much prefer 300B. I heard Shindo Petrus preamp with AN 300B Kegons with the AN E/Alnico at an audiophile's home here playing big Chinese drums direct to disc master and it was jaw dropping big scale.
Unfortunately, while Reference 3a is finally here (the entire current line up in fact) the sound has been rather middling due to the fact that the store owner is running Solid State - the tripped up treble doesn't let me engage and the BE tweeters just tell me more about how bad the solid state amps sound.
What on earth possessed them not to run a quality tube amp is mind boggling - that's part of the reason you buy tube friendly speakers. Fortunately, I know how good Reference 3a CAN sound when set-up properly with appropriate equipment but Ref 3a should tell the HK guys to bring in a good tube amp or a better SS amp if they must use SS.
NAT unfortunately is here but the dealer has Avantgarde with them. The speaker is probably better than what I heard but apartment living space is just not ideal for those loudspeakers and it's not like the amps, or the ones from AMR that they carry, need super super high efficiency speakers. They also carry YG Acoustics which was unlistenable at CES to me but one of my four favorite rooms at the California Audio Show (how's that for polarizing!) So perhaps if they have that combination going it would be interesting.
Follow Ups:
True there was no shout but this was the highest level of AN (UK) that I have heard so far. I have heard the absolute to of the Kondo tree (Gaku Oh and their more recent 211 based monos) M100 preamp and M100 DAC and found them to be quite special.
While there was no shout, I still wouldn't classify the sound as realistic in some ways. In that sense it was too lacking to lay out that kind of money. What I would really like to hear are the AN (UK) Kegon parallel 300B amps and a DAC 5 signature but I am still not convinced by the AN speakers...really the bass even though in a corner was not as good as I get with my L'integrales, which have really a superb bass...much better than the MMCs I have or the Royal Virtuosos I auditioned a while back (those were pretty great though...better than my MMCs I think).
I would never run Ref 3a with pure SS, except for maybe BAT or Edge (NL series). My NAT hybrid is excellent and so was the VAC 30/30 I sold to a friend (he also has Ref 3a MMCs). Kind of regret selling the VAC but it was just SLIGHTLY lacking that SET magic. I drove the hell out my other friend's Thiel CS3.7...only my KR VA350i sounded as good on his Thiels and world's better than his Octave monos.
I think the E is one of the more transparent speakers around and the most cohesive of 2 ways I've heard - properly set-up they can create in room pressure of instruments that very few speakers possess - even very large speakers. I quite enjoy reading the polarizing commentary on the sound of the loudspeakers - I've read them for years. (Too bright, too dull), (huge bass, lightweight bass), (vague soundstage, Panoramic soundstage, fills the room like MBL soundstage), vocals are crystal clear, vocals have a hand cupped feel), (Bass is slow, fast, tight, coloured, clear, warm, lean).As an AN speaker owner (having owned or continue to own the AN J/Spe, AN K/Spe, and AX Two) I am not the most objective person on their sound.
I am leaning to the AN E/Spx HE Alnico as the next speaker if I can sell off some things. The reality is there is a space element to be considered. Bass is a funny thing - my KEF LS50 has deeper punchier bass than the AX Two - and it's a terrific standmount that is getting worldwide hype from the press and owners. And I like it - but If I had to keep only one I'd keep the AX Two. For all the hi-fi things it's not - it's a more engaging loudspeaker to listen to to me. I'd still like to hear Line Magnetic's loudspeakers based on those WE designs.
Edits: 04/05/14
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