So I've had about a week or so to get used to the D'agostino sound and It's simply stunning. The clarity and immediacy of what I'm listening to is almost beyond belief. Here's a couple of observations....
1. The Avalon Isis while fairly efficient, needs some power to control the woofers.....the MC 402 while nice just didn't perform well in this area and I knew it from the second I had the Isis in the system. The S250 (500W/CH in to a 4 ohm load) fixed this problem immediately. All muddiness and wooly bass was gone from the second it was hooked up. I also had a slightly annoying mid bass hump around the 70 to 90 Hz areas which was very easy to hear on certain recordings. With the S250.....gone.
2. System synergy.....always knew it was important but holy crap....the C2300 tube preamp is a very nice preamp, but it apparently didn't play very well with the S250. I heard a much bigger difference one the Momentum pre was placed in the chain. It was as if a veil had been lifted from the front of the speakers. Not only that, the S250 must have brought out what little noise was inherent in the C2300.....it had always been dead silent with the MC 402 but there was quite a bit of hiss and electronic tube noise for lack of better words. This also disappeared once the Momentum pre was in the chain.
3. Good vs. Poor recordings. Yes, we've all heard the audiophile characteristic of a component truly bringing out what's on a recording, good or bad. I've never heard such a difference in my own listening space. Some would say that the Mc combo smoothed out the differences which may very well be the case. With the D'agostino combo there is nowhere to hide. Poor recordings sound exactly as they should while audiophile recordings sound so pristine and perfect it's almost too hard to believe. Like I said before, the first few hours I was listening I couldn't even get through a complete song since I started laughing out loud it was so ridiculous. Analog sounds insanely better than digital BTW.
4. The Avalons are sensitive to placement. This is a characteristic of Avalons in general, but I believe that with the Dag equipment in the chain, it's almost hard to believe how slight a movement can change the tonal balance and placement of vocals and instruments in space. I took me forever to get them focused and balanced correctly. It was one of those situations where I would move them slightly and have to back the other way....it is simply amazing the way they play with the room boundaries/dimensions. I have a feeling if I could get rid of the French doors on the right side of the room that would solve many problems but I probably should quit while I'm ahead!
Those are some initial thoughts so far....it's really been an eye opener. I've heard components such as these at shows and retailers, but never in my own room, it's been an experience so far.
- Buck