by Michael

Edge NL Reference and Soundlab Ultimate 1

We have decided [actually years ago, but we get attached to things] that equipment that has been on the floor for more than two years should find a new home. We shouldn’t hog things to ourselves for years and years.

The above two items, the 800 watt Edge Reference ‘pyramid’ amps and Soundlab electrostatic ULTIMATE speakers have been on the floor for 5 years.

They are up on Audiogon, in case any of youse is interested.

Otherwise, hopefully you will see things evolve a little more quickly, and see things change a little more frequently here at the house on the hill.

But we do get emotionally attached to things – they give us so much pleasure over the years, It is like seeing one’s youth leaving, bit by bit.

Why oh why does it have to go some part of us whines.

And the other part says the alternative is stagnation, which is worse.

OK, no. Not starting a philosophical thread. Sorry. [though it is that time of year…. :-)]

in Edge / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Soundlab 0 comments
 by Michael

CES 2008 etc

At this time of year we get preoccupied with CES, what to take, how to get it there, what to ship and what to put in the car, will there be SNOW between us and Vegas, and how MUCH….

The Odin is still settling in on Kharma system. After such an intense burn-in process, it helps to just leave them in one place for a week or two.

We put the Emm Labs CDSA on the system with the ODIN, so we have CDSA -> Audio Note Ongaku. A little more detail, a little less warmth.

Detail fans are just going to go ga-ga over the Odin, especially the interconnect. There is so much more on the CD and LP than I ever had imagined – and I thought we had pretty high resolution here before …

And, as you can quite imagine, looking at Nordost’s line of cables as it extends up through Valhalla – the ODIN has w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l tone.

The Jorma Prime might have more emotion (though we haven’t done the shootout yet) but the musicality and tone on the Odin is way, Waaaay out there – very close to the real thing – recorded electric guitars really invoke the sound of my old electric guitar and amp [over and over again, it is not like it sounded like this once, on one CD, but many times, many CDs, springing out at me when I was just listening casually], significantly unlike anything I have heard.

in CES 2008 / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Nordost 0 comments
 by Michael

Starting tests with broken-in Nordost Odin

Kind of duplicating the whole process that we took with the UN-broken in Odin, 1st one interconnect, then the speakers cable, then as a digital cable, for a 100% ODIN solution.

Immediate impressions similar to the first time:

Louder
Bigger
More dynamic
More balanced
More resolution

New things I noticed:

Really engrossing. After checking the imaging and soundstaging out [It is awesomely clear and stable. Apparently, the better the cables, the less awkward the positioning is, positioning being just being a way to use a room to compensate for problematic system components and cables. Goes against established truths, I know, but…] I got bored and just listened and spaced out – but was drawn back to the performance.

The gestalt was very much that this was a ‘Performance… For… Me’. Or perhaps a ‘Creation’ for me [being that Radiohead KidA was one of the CDs, that being much more of a creation than a performance, and Neli having lost my *2nd* copy of Radiohead Amnesiac. Well, if I can’t find it, it is by definition LOST. :-)].

Even on classical music, the variations on a theme were almost playful, the clarity of purpose of the composer revealed in a way that did not require intellectual participation – or less so anyway. Just like our systems bring us to greater depths of enjoyment and appreciation compared to a decent car stereo, so do these cables.

OK, trying to stay away from the generalizations here. My text is and should always be too terse to be classified as hyperbole, hopefully, but as a hifi system’s clarity [separation, correct note formation blah blah blah] brings us more enjoyment than a system, like my car stereo, that has good tone, modest separation, and is enjoyable [as one can indeed determine and enjoy the melody is that is playing], so a system with really quality components, properly cabled, can give us an equally improved experience compared to that system with more modest cables.

It is THAT big of a difference.

It is THAT addicting.

I, personally, have only felt this way a few times before. Well, only once, when I met the Audio Note U.K. Kegons for the first time [the Coltrane Supremes speakers made us hallucinate, kind of scary, and anyway, hallucinogenics aren’t addicting 🙂 – and the Triolons were kind of just much better Campaniles – and the original Cogent horns… well, that is too close to call but they certainly had their problems].

The Coltrane Supremes are like food and water. Not much choice if we want to have competent sound reproduction as part of our lives. But, when it comes to the choices we get to make….

I will NOT live without my Kegons (or Ongaku. or Gaku On. But you get what I mean).

And I will NOT live without my [sorry Neli, OUR 🙂 ] Odin cables.

You know, it might be a good thing that most high-end audio dealers suck. Otherwise, in Central Park, people’d get mugged by people wanting money not to buy drugs, but buy $16K interconnects. And $57K amps. And 3-box line-stages….

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Nordost 0 comments