Audio Note U.K. M10 3-box Preamplifier

The Marten Design ‘Coltrane’ loudspeakers, Audio Note Kegon amplifiers, Audio Note M10 preamplifier, Emm Labs CDSD Signature transport and DCC2 Signature DAC, Brinkmann’s Balance turntable, Lamm’s LP2 phono preamplifier.

It kind of spreads out acorss the floor, doesn’t it? Cable length issues dictate that the Meitner CDSD Transport be out front with the Kegons. Then we have the two ‘Galahad’ power supplies in the row behind them. All are on HRS ‘M3’ Isolation Bases. Shunyata power cords and Valhalla cables adorn the floor space between the monoliths.

We do now seem to have a equal numbered set of both silver faced and black faced equipment. What to do… what to do.

How does it sound? Even though cold? Even with the M10 not broken in?

We haven’t heard the Kegons on this system in a long time, the Meitner for an even longer time. But given what we know about the Kegons and Meitner together – and these speakers – and we know a bit….

This is a big step towards the sound we have been always looking for.. engaing, magical, sophisticaed, natural, dynamic, exciting,,,.

The guitar on Radiohead Amneeeeesiac now sounds like my guitar upstairs. Never noticed that it didn’t sound quite exactly right, tonally, until now.

The soundstage is much more dynamic – like the recording engineer intended it to be – things not only more solid, but moving much more fluidly around while maintaining their solidity, keeping the part of one’s brain, that ancient part that keeps an ‘eye’ on things in one’s immediate neighborhood, which was suspicious before about those solid-sounding singers and instruments that were seemingly invisible, at even fuller attention. [uh, sorry about all the commas in that sentence…kind of a parsing nightmare… but onward…]

And we have two more big steps to go until we get to our RMAF Show system:

1. Putting the Jorma Prime cables on the system…

2. Replacing the Coltranes with the Coltrane Supremes.

Holy ‘How am I supposed to get any work done NOW?’ Batman!