29-Mar-2016, 14:54
(This post was last modified: 29-Mar-2016, 15:14 by GuillaumeB.)
I've just realised that I haven't updated this in ages.... and it's hopelessly out of date... well almost!
I expect to receive the Original d'Atelier any day now; I understand these shipped late last week. In the meantime I am running Oxford Audio's machine and what a fine thing it is. I have to admit that I am not tiring of its sound, or even getting used to it! Each time I sit down to listen to some music I am wowed as though it were the first time. There is something palpable about the sound, the midrange textures have more weight, instrument timbres seem more realistic, vocals are more holographic with more "air" around them. The 3d soundstage seems better proportioned. There is something just much more "right" about the sound. It really draws you in, each time. In my mind it is a big improvement over the 800 - say 20% or something, perhaps even more.
I do have a small confession to make however. A few weeks ago I took possession of a pair of Transparent XL speakers cables, yes the new Gen 5 ones. I had been lusting after a pair ever since I demoed them at Absolute Sounds, and those were the Gen 4 ones! The Gen 5 XL effectively replaces the old XL and MM2 (now that the range has been somewhat simplified) and is the last step before Opus, in fact many consider them to be equal if not a bit better than the Gen 4 Opus. The XLs I have have been "calibrated" to match the impedances of the O d'A and Sasha2.
I first ran the XLs with my 800s. Straight out of the box they seemed calmer, almost quieter than my Sarums. Then I began hearing and feeling textures I hadn't before experienced on familiar pieces of music. On tracks that had previously seemed a bit bright and fatiguing I could now relax and really enjoy the music. In fact it was only once I had the XLs in my system that I realised the shortcomings of the Sarum, and for a long time I had thought Sarum was a fantastic speaker cable, in fact I still do! But whereas Sarum had a tendency to overwhelm the room with energy by giving you more of everything (often a good thing), the XLs just seem calmer and more balanced/poised/natural and as such let you hear more into the music including some midrange and bass detail I hadn't before heard.
Since replacing the 800 with Jon's O d'A things have gone to an altogether new level and the crazy thing is that they are still improving. Last night I had a wow moment whilst streaming from Qobuz. I had simply never heard anything quite like it, and this was streaming CD-quality material from the internet, something I have always been a bit dismissive about! Goosebumps, elation... you name it!
I should say that some time ago I invested in a Paul Pang "audiophile" switch which I partnered with an iFi iPower power supply. This is positioned close to the hifi rack and led to some noticeable improvements, particularly when streaming from Qobuz (don't ask me why!). The combo wasn't crazy money and I would heartily recommend to anyone looking to squeeze a bit more performance out of their ethernet network.
Last but not least I have become a complete convert to decoupling, and actually was quite late to the party in this regard. I now have 3 Ansuz Diamonds under each Devialet unit and have transferred my Ceramics to the Totaldac streamer. When Alasdair last visited with the loaner O d'A I carried out the Ansuz test, ok it wasn't a blind test or anything but the impact was sufficient to have Alasdair stare at me in utter disbelief. In my setup it makes a ridiculous improvement, certainly more than most tweaks I have carried out over the years. Could it be that the glass shelves in my rack transfer so much airborne and ground vibrations to the units? Who knows? Close proximity of my right hand side speaker to the hifi rack? I couldn't tell you.
Pictures to follow...
Guillaume
I expect to receive the Original d'Atelier any day now; I understand these shipped late last week. In the meantime I am running Oxford Audio's machine and what a fine thing it is. I have to admit that I am not tiring of its sound, or even getting used to it! Each time I sit down to listen to some music I am wowed as though it were the first time. There is something palpable about the sound, the midrange textures have more weight, instrument timbres seem more realistic, vocals are more holographic with more "air" around them. The 3d soundstage seems better proportioned. There is something just much more "right" about the sound. It really draws you in, each time. In my mind it is a big improvement over the 800 - say 20% or something, perhaps even more.
I do have a small confession to make however. A few weeks ago I took possession of a pair of Transparent XL speakers cables, yes the new Gen 5 ones. I had been lusting after a pair ever since I demoed them at Absolute Sounds, and those were the Gen 4 ones! The Gen 5 XL effectively replaces the old XL and MM2 (now that the range has been somewhat simplified) and is the last step before Opus, in fact many consider them to be equal if not a bit better than the Gen 4 Opus. The XLs I have have been "calibrated" to match the impedances of the O d'A and Sasha2.
I first ran the XLs with my 800s. Straight out of the box they seemed calmer, almost quieter than my Sarums. Then I began hearing and feeling textures I hadn't before experienced on familiar pieces of music. On tracks that had previously seemed a bit bright and fatiguing I could now relax and really enjoy the music. In fact it was only once I had the XLs in my system that I realised the shortcomings of the Sarum, and for a long time I had thought Sarum was a fantastic speaker cable, in fact I still do! But whereas Sarum had a tendency to overwhelm the room with energy by giving you more of everything (often a good thing), the XLs just seem calmer and more balanced/poised/natural and as such let you hear more into the music including some midrange and bass detail I hadn't before heard.
Since replacing the 800 with Jon's O d'A things have gone to an altogether new level and the crazy thing is that they are still improving. Last night I had a wow moment whilst streaming from Qobuz. I had simply never heard anything quite like it, and this was streaming CD-quality material from the internet, something I have always been a bit dismissive about! Goosebumps, elation... you name it!
I should say that some time ago I invested in a Paul Pang "audiophile" switch which I partnered with an iFi iPower power supply. This is positioned close to the hifi rack and led to some noticeable improvements, particularly when streaming from Qobuz (don't ask me why!). The combo wasn't crazy money and I would heartily recommend to anyone looking to squeeze a bit more performance out of their ethernet network.
Last but not least I have become a complete convert to decoupling, and actually was quite late to the party in this regard. I now have 3 Ansuz Diamonds under each Devialet unit and have transferred my Ceramics to the Totaldac streamer. When Alasdair last visited with the loaner O d'A I carried out the Ansuz test, ok it wasn't a blind test or anything but the impact was sufficient to have Alasdair stare at me in utter disbelief. In my setup it makes a ridiculous improvement, certainly more than most tweaks I have carried out over the years. Could it be that the glass shelves in my rack transfer so much airborne and ground vibrations to the units? Who knows? Close proximity of my right hand side speaker to the hifi rack? I couldn't tell you.
Pictures to follow...
Guillaume
Industry disclosure: UK distributor for Shunyata Research
220 PRO, totaldac d1 server with additional external power supply, totaldac d1-seven, Echole PSU for Totaldac, Wilson Audio Sasha 2, Shunyata Research cables, Shunyata Hydra Alpha A10 + DPC-6 v3, Various Entreq ground boxes and cables, Entreq Athena level 3 rack, 2 X SOtM sNH-10G with sCLK-EX + 10MHz Master Clock input + sPS-500 PSU, i5 sonicTransporter w/ 1TB SSD
UK
