sonosphere
Well-Known Member
Background: Refer link here >> http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/2...ons-various-gear-combinations.html#post310038
For previous demo see here (Usher V-601 + Electrocompaniet Pre-Pro + Yamaha S2000 SACD player >>
http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/3...er-amp-yamaha-s2000-sacd-player-new-post.html
Alternative technology always delivers something that original didn't. Take tube based amps versus transistorised, for example. This demo was first of it's kind for the newly formed Pune HFV group, considering that not only they got to hear the flavour of tubes, but also got to hear Electrostatic speakers. This demo retained Yamaha SACD player from previous demo, and added new gear i.e Unico 100 Integrated "Hybrid" amp @ 3.5 lac ~(having Tube-pre inside, whereas power section is Solid-stage) and Martin Logan Electromotion ESL Electrostatic speakers @ 1.85 lac ~. This is also a "Hybrid" design, wherein the mids to treble are reproduced by electrostatic panel, whereas the bass by conventional woofer-in-a-ported box. (Again, I thank Amit, and all guys from AV Xellence, who lugged around all this drool-gear, on a Sunday, for the benefit of HFVians)
In the end this combo underlined one fact, more than any other combo in the meet, that we all hear differently. Read on...
(Note- We also exchanged the Yamaha CDP with Arcam R-Dac DAC that had digital data streamed over wireless thru a gadget attached to Iphone however this mini-review focuses on Yamaha CDP based performance. See post-script at bottom)
Songs played:
See the song-list in the Observation-report.
The two "common songs" were >> Hotel California by Eagles... This soft-rock classic needs no introduction and "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff... is another classic, er. western classical. This was chosen as it is a really dense and highly dynamic combination of choir, string sections, steel drums... you name it. (A combo that can play it with all details but without strain on your ears, gets entry to HiFi club).
The two "uncommon songs" were >> "Yellow" by Coldplay, a Soft Rock tack having dominant rhythm guitar + drums, with soft vocals. Second song was "Hey you" by Pink Floyd, Another soft-rock track, having diversity of dynamics and complexity from a soft introductory notes of guitar-plucks to a dense, raging end with distortion guitars and pounding drums.
Demo# 05 in progress
Demo# 05 amp & CDP closeup
Unico 100 Integrated amp (at bottom) and Yamaha S2000 SACD player (above Unico)
Demo# 05 Speaker
Martin Logan Electromotion ESL
(Electrostatic Speaker with conventional woofer)
Demo# 05 Option with R-Dac DAC
Arcam R-Wand (@6k~) attached to bottom of Iphone, relaying digital-out over wireless (wi-fi) to R-Dac's (@42k~) built-in wifi reciever.
Amit is ecstatic after establishing wireless connection between Iphone and R-Dac (R-Dac: See small white box on top of white/grey CDP)
Observation report
For those new to above Observation-report...
- Explanation of criteria used in audition, is given in Observation feedback form here >> https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B0...EyOTItYWFiY2ZiNTZlYTRi&hl=en&authkey=CI2L5P8H
- Since all the observation feedback forms were submitted as anonymous, the actual HFV IDs were substituted with Sample ID from "A" "B" "C" onward.
- The "1" numeral you see in the form indicates the tickmark that was made under that criteria. So all tick marks get added at the bottom to compare which criteria got max tick marks
Observation-Conclusion:
It is rare to see the kind of polarized opinion, that was received for this combo. Considering written notes on observation-forms, I find two distinct camps... one who like it a lot, and others who don't. Not much of middle ground here. What is surprising that though on individual sonic-criteria like Clarity, Dynamics, Distortion, etc... the majority liked it, however regarding overall performance, the majority gets split down neatly in middle. Refer Observation-report for audience's remarks and conclusion-statistics at the bottom of each table
My two cents...
The first thing that struck me about the sound of this combo was the lack of "sound-in-a-box" character in mids to treble end. Secondly the "attack" transients of instruments /vocals had lesser "hard edge" than the earlier combo, yet it sounded more authentic. To explain my point I'll give an exaggerated example... Imagine a singer's vocals coming thru a cheap P.A system blaring at marriage function and the same singer heard thru a hifi system. One of the differences you note in the Hifi system is that the voice sounds less "edgy", yet doesn't sound muffled, and it has "air" of ambiance around it. It is this difference that this combo delivered compared to previous one (refer "Background" at top). Now that is "improving upon perfection" in my book". I am hazarding a guess that tubes in pre-amp of Unico and Electrostatic speaker jointly created this magic. You won't get this if either of component was changed to something else.
Now lets hear about the bass-end... I found bass to be good (tight, tune full, and with heft)... however it didn't match the authentic tone of previous demo. Some may find this mismatch in brilliance between bass, and above-bass spectrum, a letdown. I have been so mesmerized by the brilliant part that somehow the "authentic tone" issue of bass didn't take anything away from the overall enjoyment. I would rate this combo as good and enjoyable as previous one, if not better.
Post-script: The demo done with R-Dac with wifi as digital-in, was underwhelming (considering 42k being the cost of R-Dac) hence we were not inclined to record observations separately.
For previous demo see here (Usher V-601 + Electrocompaniet Pre-Pro + Yamaha S2000 SACD player >>
http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/3...er-amp-yamaha-s2000-sacd-player-new-post.html
Alternative technology always delivers something that original didn't. Take tube based amps versus transistorised, for example. This demo was first of it's kind for the newly formed Pune HFV group, considering that not only they got to hear the flavour of tubes, but also got to hear Electrostatic speakers. This demo retained Yamaha SACD player from previous demo, and added new gear i.e Unico 100 Integrated "Hybrid" amp @ 3.5 lac ~(having Tube-pre inside, whereas power section is Solid-stage) and Martin Logan Electromotion ESL Electrostatic speakers @ 1.85 lac ~. This is also a "Hybrid" design, wherein the mids to treble are reproduced by electrostatic panel, whereas the bass by conventional woofer-in-a-ported box. (Again, I thank Amit, and all guys from AV Xellence, who lugged around all this drool-gear, on a Sunday, for the benefit of HFVians)
In the end this combo underlined one fact, more than any other combo in the meet, that we all hear differently. Read on...
(Note- We also exchanged the Yamaha CDP with Arcam R-Dac DAC that had digital data streamed over wireless thru a gadget attached to Iphone however this mini-review focuses on Yamaha CDP based performance. See post-script at bottom)
Songs played:
See the song-list in the Observation-report.
The two "common songs" were >> Hotel California by Eagles... This soft-rock classic needs no introduction and "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff... is another classic, er. western classical. This was chosen as it is a really dense and highly dynamic combination of choir, string sections, steel drums... you name it. (A combo that can play it with all details but without strain on your ears, gets entry to HiFi club).
The two "uncommon songs" were >> "Yellow" by Coldplay, a Soft Rock tack having dominant rhythm guitar + drums, with soft vocals. Second song was "Hey you" by Pink Floyd, Another soft-rock track, having diversity of dynamics and complexity from a soft introductory notes of guitar-plucks to a dense, raging end with distortion guitars and pounding drums.
Demo# 05 in progress
Demo# 05 amp & CDP closeup
Unico 100 Integrated amp (at bottom) and Yamaha S2000 SACD player (above Unico)
Demo# 05 Speaker
Martin Logan Electromotion ESL
(Electrostatic Speaker with conventional woofer)
Demo# 05 Option with R-Dac DAC
Arcam R-Wand (@6k~) attached to bottom of Iphone, relaying digital-out over wireless (wi-fi) to R-Dac's (@42k~) built-in wifi reciever.
Amit is ecstatic after establishing wireless connection between Iphone and R-Dac (R-Dac: See small white box on top of white/grey CDP)
Observation report
For those new to above Observation-report...
- Explanation of criteria used in audition, is given in Observation feedback form here >> https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B0...EyOTItYWFiY2ZiNTZlYTRi&hl=en&authkey=CI2L5P8H
- Since all the observation feedback forms were submitted as anonymous, the actual HFV IDs were substituted with Sample ID from "A" "B" "C" onward.
- The "1" numeral you see in the form indicates the tickmark that was made under that criteria. So all tick marks get added at the bottom to compare which criteria got max tick marks
Observation-Conclusion:
It is rare to see the kind of polarized opinion, that was received for this combo. Considering written notes on observation-forms, I find two distinct camps... one who like it a lot, and others who don't. Not much of middle ground here. What is surprising that though on individual sonic-criteria like Clarity, Dynamics, Distortion, etc... the majority liked it, however regarding overall performance, the majority gets split down neatly in middle. Refer Observation-report for audience's remarks and conclusion-statistics at the bottom of each table
My two cents...
The first thing that struck me about the sound of this combo was the lack of "sound-in-a-box" character in mids to treble end. Secondly the "attack" transients of instruments /vocals had lesser "hard edge" than the earlier combo, yet it sounded more authentic. To explain my point I'll give an exaggerated example... Imagine a singer's vocals coming thru a cheap P.A system blaring at marriage function and the same singer heard thru a hifi system. One of the differences you note in the Hifi system is that the voice sounds less "edgy", yet doesn't sound muffled, and it has "air" of ambiance around it. It is this difference that this combo delivered compared to previous one (refer "Background" at top). Now that is "improving upon perfection" in my book". I am hazarding a guess that tubes in pre-amp of Unico and Electrostatic speaker jointly created this magic. You won't get this if either of component was changed to something else.
Now lets hear about the bass-end... I found bass to be good (tight, tune full, and with heft)... however it didn't match the authentic tone of previous demo. Some may find this mismatch in brilliance between bass, and above-bass spectrum, a letdown. I have been so mesmerized by the brilliant part that somehow the "authentic tone" issue of bass didn't take anything away from the overall enjoyment. I would rate this combo as good and enjoyable as previous one, if not better.
Post-script: The demo done with R-Dac with wifi as digital-in, was underwhelming (considering 42k being the cost of R-Dac) hence we were not inclined to record observations separately.
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