High-end mini demo
F1nut
Posts: 50,654
I stopped in the local high-end shop today to pick up a power cord that I had ordered. While there I saw they had the new Musical Fidelity kW 500 integrated amp set up, so I had to hear it.
A quick run down on the gear,
Musical Fidelity kW 500 - 500 wpc @ 8 ohms, 1000 wpc @ 2 ohms $7000.00
Nordost Red Dawn IC's - 1 meter $400.00
Nordost Red Dawn Bi-Wire Speaker Cables - 3 meters $1600.00
Esoteric DV 50 Universal DVD-A, DVD-V, SACD, CD Player - $5500.00
Aerial 20T Speakers - Impedance 4 ohms, Sensitivity 90dB $23,500.00 to $28,000.00
I popped in Beck's - Sea Change SACD and sat back. I listened to a few cuts and then put Norah Jones - Come Away With Me SACD on and listened to a few tracks. As I sat there I kept thinking something is missing. The soundstage was pretty good with sound coming from outside the speakers, not quite SDA, but better than a lot of other high-end speakers I've heard. The center image was perfect and there was good detail, but only some of the time. Bass was not a problem and the top end was very smooth, although a bit laid back. The problem to me seemed to be in the mid range, it was lifeless and veiled. I turned up the volume close to the noon position, but it still sounded veiled. I'm very familiar with MF gear, so I ruled that out. The Nordost cables I'm not all that familiar with and wondered about them and the same for the Esoteric, but then it dawned on me. I had listened to the same Aerial's on another set up with Krell mono blocks, BAT pre and a VPI TT and walked away with the same feeling, underwhelmed. I thought at the time that at must have been the TT as I'm not really a vinyl fan, but I now realize it's the speakers. I talked with one of the guys about this and he told me that they couldn't get the Aerial's to sound good in the Krell room and that yes, this new set up in the MF room wasn't much better. The Aerial's seem to be very picky about the room they are in and this is confirmed by the current Stereophile review.
At this point it was closing time, so we agreed that I'd come back next week for another MF demo on different speakers with MIT cables. I'll post a follow up after that.
A quick run down on the gear,
Musical Fidelity kW 500 - 500 wpc @ 8 ohms, 1000 wpc @ 2 ohms $7000.00
Nordost Red Dawn IC's - 1 meter $400.00
Nordost Red Dawn Bi-Wire Speaker Cables - 3 meters $1600.00
Esoteric DV 50 Universal DVD-A, DVD-V, SACD, CD Player - $5500.00
Aerial 20T Speakers - Impedance 4 ohms, Sensitivity 90dB $23,500.00 to $28,000.00
I popped in Beck's - Sea Change SACD and sat back. I listened to a few cuts and then put Norah Jones - Come Away With Me SACD on and listened to a few tracks. As I sat there I kept thinking something is missing. The soundstage was pretty good with sound coming from outside the speakers, not quite SDA, but better than a lot of other high-end speakers I've heard. The center image was perfect and there was good detail, but only some of the time. Bass was not a problem and the top end was very smooth, although a bit laid back. The problem to me seemed to be in the mid range, it was lifeless and veiled. I turned up the volume close to the noon position, but it still sounded veiled. I'm very familiar with MF gear, so I ruled that out. The Nordost cables I'm not all that familiar with and wondered about them and the same for the Esoteric, but then it dawned on me. I had listened to the same Aerial's on another set up with Krell mono blocks, BAT pre and a VPI TT and walked away with the same feeling, underwhelmed. I thought at the time that at must have been the TT as I'm not really a vinyl fan, but I now realize it's the speakers. I talked with one of the guys about this and he told me that they couldn't get the Aerial's to sound good in the Krell room and that yes, this new set up in the MF room wasn't much better. The Aerial's seem to be very picky about the room they are in and this is confirmed by the current Stereophile review.
At this point it was closing time, so we agreed that I'd come back next week for another MF demo on different speakers with MIT cables. I'll post a follow up after that.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Post edited by F1nut on
Comments
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Hi F1,
thanks for sharing. I like to read about these experiences. Even though this is a Polk Forum, I find that it is good information to know what other speakers members here enjoy (or in your case didn't enjoy) listening to. Kind of gives Polk some ideas as to what some of us consumers are after in sound.
What other speakers do they have there?
Oh yeah. I saw that new MF integrated. Sure looks sweet.
P. -
Hey Paul,
They have Wilson Audio, Totem, NHT, Energy, Joseph Audio, Klipsch, Snell, Martin-Logan, ProAc, REL subs , Aerial, Theil, Vandersteen, Audio Physic, Krell and probably a few more I can't think of right now. Oh yeah, they carry POLK too.
It's a very nice place, tons of high-end gear with 7 nice sound-proof demo rooms.
JessePolitical Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
So... you think when you get a second listen you'll be bringing one home with you?
I haven't visited my local boutique to demo in quite a while. Way too tempting to spend, spend, SPEND. Oh yeah, they don't have a huge line though. MF, B&W, Cayin, Rega, Paradigm, Martin Logan.
What power cord did you pick up?SDA-2a, Anthem Pre-2L, Anthem Amp 1, MF A324 DAC, Rotel RCD1070
Senn HD650 Cardas, Mapletree Audio Ear+ HD2, Kimber KS1030, Bel Canto DAC2, M-Audio Transit, Laptop. -
Originally posted by pjdami
Hi F1,
P.
Thought it was Hi FI for a moment...
madmaxVinyl, the final frontier...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... -
SDA-2a, Anthem Pre-2L, Anthem Amp 1, MF A324 DAC, Rotel RCD1070
Senn HD650 Cardas, Mapletree Audio Ear+ HD2, Kimber KS1030, Bel Canto DAC2, M-Audio Transit, Laptop. -
Originally posted by dcarlson
So... you think when you get a second listen you'll be bringing one home with you?
No
What power cord did you pick up?
It was the new PS Audio Power Punch cord with a C7 end for the DVD player. To be honest, I haven't noticed a difference with this one.....oh well.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
