hey, i am back! after a week of frantic order taking, i can finally go back to my hifi and music! bliss at last ;-)
hifi kaki just brought over the audionet art g2 and i didn't wait long to open it up and give it a test run.
if audionet g2 is bmw then my meridian g08 is at most a honda accord because the audionet overwhelms it in terms of dynamics, PRaT and bass quality/quantity! well, audionet is twice the price of meridian, you might argue but we are talking about two top contenders in their respective price range.
playing teddy robin cd immediately tells me that the audionet has more oomph and drive. the drummers seems more driven and motivated and the music just unleashed onto the listener effortlessly and naturally. even teddy robin seems more eager to please.
but things took a turn when i played my quirky dennis nieh jazz cd (a lot of people don't like this cd because of dennis' singing but it sounded superb in my system). true, the audionet has the same presence and palpability that the meridian is famous for but it somehow presents dennis in a more sober and no-nonsense mood. or to put it in another way, meridian's presentation is more sentimental, more touching, more organic and more musical and it makes dennis' baritone sexier. the magnetism of dennis' gorgeous tone is more pronounced in the meridian than in the audionet.
other that this aspect of musical flow, organic-ness and humanity, it is not too exaggerating to say that the audionet thrashes the meridian quite completely.
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8 years ago
9 comments:
Does the Audionet sound louder than the Meridian at the same volume knob level?
Does the Audionet sound louder than the Meridian at the same volume knob level?
ken,
yup. it is not just pure loudness. there is also a marked increase in macro dynamics. the audionet is great on piano, giving it a very substantial weight and heft.
Hi Ken,
The audionet spec says that the ART has a 3.5v output level. On my system, I have to turn the volume down 3 notches to achieve the same subjective loudness as my Copland.
Hifikaki,
This means that the voltage output of your Copland is lower than Audionet.
3.5V is on the low side if one is using balanced output because the usual spec is 4V for balanced/xlr.
Rgds
Maggie,
So if someone wanted to exchange your G08 with AAG2 you would decline?
I have always felt that with any component its about synergy. So your G08 may be great in your system but maybe not so great in another system. (hifikaki have you tried the g08 in your system?)
hi anonymous,
i will take the audionet any day cos i can resell it at higher value if i can't live with it ;-) seriously, i am looking forward to audition the meridian 808.2
hifi kaki is going to loan my g08 to try it out in his system...
Ken,
Yes, my Copland's balanced output is lower at 2.2v. In fact, many current CD players' balanced output levels are not 4v, for example the Esoteric SA60 output is specified as 2.0v if I remember correctly.
I found the lower level output allows better use of my pre-amp's volume control range (a wider range can be used as my pre's volume is not the continuous but notched type)
But I do wonder whether higher output level will give better sound (e.g., dynamics)
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