Just a few words to describe a bit of an epiphany I had at the wkend
Ked has been spreading the restored Graz Apogees line for a long time now, and keeping word of them as a going concern, as a Bucket List component, to be heard at least once before you die, even if you don't end up owning a pair
I had missed the opportunity to hear the "Interstellar" Duetta Signatures of Justin/User211 last year, but finally got the chance on Saturday after picking up my recently serviced NATs Utopia tubed preamp
If I'm honest I went to Justin w as low expectation bias as you could imagine
I'd recently heard frustratingly underperforming Apogee Divas, and Analysis Omegas ribbons don't hit the spot for me
Within moments of Justin firing up a bass torture electronic dance melange, I was hooked
There was NO way any non cone spkr should be producing this level of bass, both depth and extension, weight w amazing agility
Now I'm finally getting the concept of planar dipole bass, hefty but nimble
As we progressed onto Genesis, Nirvana, Miles Davis and Bob Marley, the breadth of these v special spkrs really became apparent
Superb imaging, depth and width, transparency way beyond most transducers, a really intoxicating and energetic treble, and fascinatingly a unique holistic/of a piece continuousness w the bass having no seperate quality from the mids and treble, and all frequencies coming from the same location
So what I got was a sound that hybridised the three fave sounds I have atm
The immediacy of Blue58's AG Duos horns/45 tubes amps, the power and bass impact of Audiophile Bill's Focal Utopia box spkrs/Analog Domain SS amp, and the involvement of my Zus/NATs 211 SETs
And all of this pwrd by 80W/ch 211s SETs, pretty much what my NATs provide
Any weaknesses?
None that I could hear
It's been a long long time since I've been so floored by a component
And it's got me very seriously thinking about a radical upgrade that at one fell swoop will transform my sound from excellent to stellar w'out having to spend the kind of budget that would break the bank
Kudos to Ked for the repetitive prompts, and to Justin the owner for offering the invite
Ked has been spreading the restored Graz Apogees line for a long time now, and keeping word of them as a going concern, as a Bucket List component, to be heard at least once before you die, even if you don't end up owning a pair
I had missed the opportunity to hear the "Interstellar" Duetta Signatures of Justin/User211 last year, but finally got the chance on Saturday after picking up my recently serviced NATs Utopia tubed preamp
If I'm honest I went to Justin w as low expectation bias as you could imagine
I'd recently heard frustratingly underperforming Apogee Divas, and Analysis Omegas ribbons don't hit the spot for me
Within moments of Justin firing up a bass torture electronic dance melange, I was hooked
There was NO way any non cone spkr should be producing this level of bass, both depth and extension, weight w amazing agility
Now I'm finally getting the concept of planar dipole bass, hefty but nimble
As we progressed onto Genesis, Nirvana, Miles Davis and Bob Marley, the breadth of these v special spkrs really became apparent
Superb imaging, depth and width, transparency way beyond most transducers, a really intoxicating and energetic treble, and fascinatingly a unique holistic/of a piece continuousness w the bass having no seperate quality from the mids and treble, and all frequencies coming from the same location
So what I got was a sound that hybridised the three fave sounds I have atm
The immediacy of Blue58's AG Duos horns/45 tubes amps, the power and bass impact of Audiophile Bill's Focal Utopia box spkrs/Analog Domain SS amp, and the involvement of my Zus/NATs 211 SETs
And all of this pwrd by 80W/ch 211s SETs, pretty much what my NATs provide
Any weaknesses?
None that I could hear
It's been a long long time since I've been so floored by a component
And it's got me very seriously thinking about a radical upgrade that at one fell swoop will transform my sound from excellent to stellar w'out having to spend the kind of budget that would break the bank
Kudos to Ked for the repetitive prompts, and to Justin the owner for offering the invite