What do you get for 10K more?

I ain’t no hi-ender, but I aspired to be one. But being a hi-ender is simply not only having a fat wallet, but the confidence to trust your ears and your heart. Don’t be afraid to do so, even though people might doubt your listening skills. Take your time and buy what sounds the most correct to you.

Take it slow, enjoy the music along the way and grow from there. I kept my previous setup for more than 4 years and I have enjoyed and cherished every single day with it. If not because of my previous setup, I would still be wandering and lost in the sea of choices.

But then, I did a big mistake of under estimating my appetite for good sound and relied again on reviews to buy the first piece of gear for my current new setup. Now, at least I know I can shoot 3 reviewers! Never mind that as I would share with you what 10K more could bring you.

Extensions
The Apollo is indeed no slouch, well, almost great if I was during my start up years. For 4K range, I don’t think many players could rival its fluid and smooth mids. The vocal is textured and well resolved. Violin, in fact most stringed instruments, is having good tonal texture, with a delicate trailing to boot. Back in those years, I was always been told that if there is one range to have, the wise would choose the mids as it’s where most the instruments would paint their sonic presence.

Sorry mate, I have to tell you, those are wise with a budget. I would take all, highs, mids and lows, there is just no way could one forgo any single piece of the frequency range! To have such compromise is such sin to commit if you tell others you are a music lover! Hey, it’s just with 10k more, is it worth a 10k saving to skimp on the highs and lows?! NO WAY!

Compared to the Apollo, there’s such sunlit quality to the mids and highs of G08. The added upper extension just brings more resolution to the mids, the vocals, stringed instruments and high hats. There’s just more heft, density and inner details to discover! With the Apollo, there’s just a summation effect to gel the vocal in smoother and meatier presence. However, it lacks the micro details to let you listen deeper into the emotion of the singers.

Image Size
With just a magnificent mids, do you think you are able to get the correct image size? With recessed highs and retarded lows, it’s just impossible to get the correct drum size! Great if you can live with a dwarfed drum kit, but you will soon find them lacking! Drum is such important element in determining the speed, rhythm and timing of so many jazz pieces!

Even putting the drum issue aside, the pronounced mids would just make the vocal size gigantic! Can you take a singer with a mouth size that is able to swallow a drum kit? I find it awkward and such an anti climax! The size of the mouth might be correct to you, but relatively, the other instruments are just not in correct proportion.

With the G08, and many other higher priced players for that matter, you are assured of an even extensions at both extremes. No matter how sophisticated your downstream is, there is no way they could produce the extreme extensions that are not there in the first place! And there goes your pyramid of sound!

Emotional contrast
This is what I am sure separate the men from the boys! Cheaper players simply couldn’t give you this! You know dynamic contrast for sure, the difference between the softest and loudest, however, it’s not enough to just give you the difference in volume level.

Listen to some Le Mon tracks, there are many tracks where she’s building up her emotional “energy”. As she sings from soft to loud, she will gradually sing in greater force applied to her vocal chord. A good player is able to bring you along the passage, showing you greater and deeper emotional force within her vocal.

Not only this, the drummer should also be following the gradual emotional explosion, backing Le Mon from behind and matching her in speed and energy. The Apollo failed miserably in giving you that leading edge transient, making the whole presentation slightly lethargic! The drummer just wouldn't play that much harder!

A good player should reveal not only the sound content, but also the emotional content of CDs! It's there to relay the content, not to dictate and alter the content to its inherent shortcomings! You can pour in more money in isolations and stuff, but that is just adding cost to the player.

This comparison is not meant for only the G08 and Apollo, but they are meant to be a yardstick. They are at least something more substantial for you to comprehend and discover further. If you can’t understand what I am trying to convey, it might be a good thing after all.

For these, I am going to be 10K poorer!