We, too, had a good listening session last night. Perhaps the best, most thorough listen so far.
20 days in, give or take time for thunderstorms and a hurricane, so I think we’re getting pretty close to that 500 hour mark.
There is no question that the DS has opened up very nicely. In short, most of the things that people had said seem to be true: Great soundstage and placement; incredible detail and clarity; more information than we’ve heard out of Redbook before. Although we still have 10 days on our trial period, I’m quite confident we have a keeper.
In the days to come, I’ll be swapping around some ICs, seeing if the Off Ramp will stay or go, etc. Sort of fine tuning, to the extent that we can.
There is only one thing that still causes me to pause a bit… that of the “bottom end” concern. It seems to be an issue on some albums, and certainly not an issue on others.
For example, based on something someone said, I put on “Billie Jean” from Thriller. I kept waiting for the oomph, the presence of the low end, the engagement. All I got out of it was the bright, clear, ticky-tick of the back rhythm. Nothing about it ever drew me into the music. Mind you, it was clear and detailed, but it certainly seemed to lack something important.
So, then I played “When I Still Needed You” from Anatomic, by Afro Celt Sound System (World Music, Peter Gabriel’s label.) The bass and low end was stunning; the sound was full, dynamic, engaging, and almost scary in how good it was. It proved that there is certainly no issue with the Vandy subs…
I guess another way to say it is, “When it’s bright, it’s very bright. When it’s not too bright, it’s very right.”
I know that we could swap the PWDII back in and get slam galore, but then we’d give up all that delicious detail. For now, detail is our choice, but there’s still something that leaves me feeling just a bit unsettled.
Any thoughts that haven’t already been discussed to death?
Thanks Frode.