Lonely Raven
Seasoned Member
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Jack of all Trades, Master of None
Posts: 3567
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Sorry so late to chime in, I've been busy shoveling a couple tons of topsoil by hand, pulling carpeting, floor repairs, and starting to lay out flooring. Busy, busy.
Anyways, it was a great meet!
Palomino's room sounded probably the best it's been in ages (yes, as he said, I wasn't happy with the sound for a long while now), and the TEAC along with this custom/modded Open Baffle speakers was a fantastic mix. Tom really has his system dialed in, and I was very happy with it!
Then the Multibit. Sitting out of the sweet spot I immediately heard a great improvement in micro-detail, especially in cymbals and spatial cues, and reverberation. But then when I sat down in the sweet spot and played some tracks I'm familiar with, I just didn't like it. It had too much...I don't know, "hash", midrange and down. As the others mentioned, I attribute this to not being "warmed up" and settled in.
Then we brought the DS in, and I was just so Meh about it. I was the most disappointed in how the DS sounded, from end to end. Of the three, I thought the Teac sounded best, but I do crave the micro detail and spatial cues that the Multibit was producing - I just kept saying, "this doesn't sound like my DAC". I'm glad I left it with Tom to play with while my house is torn up so he can really get a proper feel for it. The not very responsive touch screen was frustrating, but then I've not needed to touch it in probably a year or more, it just stays on the BRIDGE II input. But it didn't feel right, and I know that was an issue with some screens. The remote for the DS pisses me off how cheap it is, so I've not even look at it in 3 years.
As for the OTL - yeah, it knocked me out. Granted, I'm sure the copious doses of benadryl and 10% ABV Stout Palomino fed me could be blamed for that...but no, the amp just engages you and drops you into that Zen state. I was "turned to stone" as Steve puts it, which he's done to me before, 20 years ago with the original Zen amp in his heavily treated room. You get so into the music, your mind starts to wander around in it and your body shuts down into this relaxed, almost hypnotic state. I was "listening", but I was pretty much asleep. I could hear people coming and going, I could hear the songs roll one after another, but I was otherwise checked out. I even caught myself snoring and in my head I'm like ERIC! Shush, I'm listening!! And I'd shift in the seat, then just drop right back into the music.
That amp, in that room, with the El Camino speakers was truly something. So very engaging - like that special listening session you have after midnight, gear warmed up, when the planets are in alignment and everything falls into place. Except, this amp does it just about every damn time!
Now that I think about it, I don't even remember what DAC we were using. It kinda didn't matter. I'm so very glad that amp is local, and with a friend; it's truly special, and world class special at that.
Thanks for another great session guys - I look forward to seeing you all at Decfest.
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