Returning to the Bernstein-led Berlioz Symphony Fantastique after a good 100 hours of playback "cooking time" with a variety of program material on the Alpha, I hear a more expansive, more ambient-cue-rich soundstage than initially...and with it more "liquid" mids and highs. The tuba, which plays a key role in establishing the dark-side atmospherics underlying the march to the scaffold and beyond, breathes lungfuls of palpable, room-loading menace to a degree not felt--I use "felt" advisedly--pre-Alpha. (Its rendering of the Dies is particularly eerie.)
Switching gears to Andre Previn, Mundell Lowe, and Ray Brown in Uptown (Telarc, 16/44 rip), Previn's piano in "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" exhibits more "jump", indicating that there's no noise-induced time-smear to blunt attack or distort tonality. The same applies to Brown's bass and Lowe's guitar, not least in the fast-moving runs that grace this frenetic reading.
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Jim
Bedroom: Aurender N150, TEAC UD-505 AKM version (to be replaced by inbound Bryston BDA-3), EMIA Cu Elmaformer passive line stage, conrad-johnson MF2500, Paradigm Studio 20 v5. Shunyata Delta D6, Altaira CG hub. Shunyata Alpha XC, Delta NR v2, Alpha USB, Alpha and Venom CGC/SGC. Wireworld Eclipse 8 interconnect & speaker cables. Stillpoints footers, Butcher Block Acoustics maple platforms. Stillpoints and GIK acoustic panels.
Home Office:Windows 11 PC/JRiver 31, TEAC UD-501, Luminous Audio Technology Axiom II Walker Mod passive, conrad-johnson Sonographe SA-250, Paradigm SE-1. Shunyata Hydra (Original Version), Venom 10 NR. Wireworld Eclipse 7 interconnects. Blue Jeans speaker cable.
Living-Dining Room: Windows 11 Laptop/JRiver 29, Oppo BD-83, TEAC UD-501 DAC, SOTA Sapphire TT, Graham Slee Era Gold V, Ortofon 2M Black, McIntosh MR-77, c-j Sonographe SC-25, c-j MF2500, Paradigm SE-3. Wireworld 8 IC, Blue Jeans SC. Shunyata Hydra 8 v.2, Shunyata Delta NR, Venom NR. GIK 244 bass & scatter-plate panels.
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