Listening to a Haydn Piano Trio as I write this through the DS. More on the DS later.
I went with a coworker yesterday to audition some Magneplanar loudspeakers (the 1.7s and 3.7s). He had always wanted to hear them based on my telling him that it was the best midrange transducer I’d ever heard, other than the original Quad ESLs, of course.
I have a dream system in my mind that I’ve always thought would be a killer: Maggie 20s with a pair of REL sub-bass speakers, driven by really, really good high-power tube amps – VTLs, Carvers, or McIntoshes. It’s a pipe dream, I know, but the quest for great sound is never ending.
We spent about three hours listening to some high-res stuff I brought, some regular CDs, high-res files, etc. While my friend loved the sound of the Magneplanars, he came to a similar conclusion as I did when I almost bought the 3.6s six years ago: they need a special room, a big room, with enough space to make them bloom. Alas, his living room, and my music room, just aren’t it.
However, the most interesting result from our visit was this: we both kept comparing the CDs we were hearing to the DS DAC and found the DAC they were using (an inexpensive Jeff Rowland DAC in a preamp) wanting. The DS DAC, assuming you’re playing a well-recorded disc, just nails the presentation of just about any music. We came back to my house and replayed one of the CDs we had played at the store and were convinced of what our ears told us.
The DS DAC continues to impress and delight…