no, this is not a movie review of the classic erotic epic starring daniel day-lewis and the very sensuous lena olin but, rather, it is about the current state of my hifi.
i am taking stock of my own hifi journey for the last 5 years. true, i have assembled a system that many (like hifi kaki!) are envious of but a perfection-seeking audiophile should not be complacent and "just be happy listening to the music". we can't achieve perfection in hifi but at least when you aim for perfection, your end-results won't be very far from it.
this realization comes fresh on the departure of audionet ART g2, a piece of gear that truly shook my aural senses and makes me realize the inadequacies of my system, and these inadequacies are what i cheekily call here "the unbearable lightness of being".
i have always thought that i have maximized the synergy of every component of my system such that not many "challengers" (i.e. other higher-priced stuff) can penetrate into my system and better the synergy. this has largely been true all these years. even higher priced goldmund cdp, esoteric cdp or even the kubala-sosna emotion can't convince me that i need to change my system. not until audionet ART g2 came along.
the audionet taught me a thing or two about headroom, energy and drive, and that very important element i called density. some like to call it heft but i prefer to call it density. this density gives weight to vocals, piano lines, kick drums and almost everything. when you don't have it, you won't realize it. but once you tasted it, you can't turn back. without this density, music is ever so light, so unbearably light; not realistic anymore.
however, the audionet is not perfect. its most impactful effect was to teach me a real lesson in wanting more from your hifi. it taught me to be greedy. yes, i know how far my system can go now and i want more.
in my aural journey from now on, i want to seek that illusive density so addictive to my ears. it may be a new pair of gold+silver interconnect, or upgrade of cdp.... whatever, i am determined to chase my new goals...
i don't want this unbearable lightness of hifi being.
infrequent updates
8 years ago
14 comments:
Is it really that good,this audionet?
I remember you raving about the Spectral when you came back From Singapore,but I did not remember you being this love-sick..
Maggielurva,
I am very ,very familiar with the Meridian G08,having owned one before upgrading to dcsP8i.Even then ,it was more of upgrading itch rather than anything else.the dcs is just slightly better.
But having read your post[and knowing how good your ears are] I know wish I have listened to the audionet.
The problem with a lot of German companies are ,they don't spend on advertisement.They let they products speak [which is not good sometime]
Take it easy now Maggielurva.
Maybe you need to take a trip to Phuket to have a good massage;you might even meet a different kind of German player.
maggielurva,
Why not invest in Hardisc base system instead?
Density is what makes analogue sounds better than digital.
It is so rare to find digital playback that accord dense musical note.It is almost the equivalent of digital Nirvana.I think it is the Synergy between your audionet ant The Preamp[and of course the IC ]in between.
I say go for it my man.You might not find it again,even if you got to be the next Bill Gates
Many audiophiles tend to keep their amps and speakers for way longer than their source. I think every 5 years is reasonable. Of course if you have the money whenever you want to.;)
let us know what you find,
Leslie, good to hear Audionet creates better synergy to your whole system. Go for it man. Prices are going up all the time.
I never regreted getting my PLL even though it cost me a downpayment for a car.
Sound like you are in love .
Remember;nothing is wrong in love and war.
maggielurva got that right. when I replaced the audionet ART G2 with my resident player, the lightness of the sound on first listen made me suspect that there was something wrong in my hifi chain.
It took me at least 2-3 days to be able to bear listening to the old system again (and not entirely happily), so I understand maggielurva's feeling. :-)
Hi Les,
No need to change CD player to get more meat to your sound.
Suggest you get the Walker Audio "Valid Points Resonance Control" stuff for either your CD player and/or preamp.
You'll be amazed to death.
Km Ng,
I replaced My Walker's with Finite Elemente Resonator on My Cd transport ,and I thought The Finite was significantly better.
But you are right,a lot of uncontrolled resonance will result in audible degradation of digital signals.
What I get though ,has always been improvement in horizontal and vertical soundstage,rather than improvement in density;except perharps on Female vocals.
guys,
thanks for the input.
i am giving kubala-sosna emotion a 2nd chance in my system ;-)
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