some further thoughts on the Anna.
in late January Joel Durand came over and installed the Anna and i loved it. but i only had it installed for a few days and then was out of town for a week so i loaned the Anna to Joel to play with in his system and learn it's tricks. i figured he would find it's ideal settings in his own system. then i returned and picked up the Anna from him and he was then out of town for awhile. so i re-installed it on the Telos.....and to the Anna's credit it sounded fine, but i strongly suspected that it was not perfectly dialed in. knowing Joel would return i did not chase ultimate set-up. not that i could get there on my own, but i knew that Joel could and would.
not that the Anna sounded wrong in any way. only that the amazing energy i first heard was somehow not fully manifest. the information but not quite all the life.
and today Joel did return and nail down the Anna set-up. it's now more broken in than initially, Joel knows it better.......and i must say that it is a force of nature. breathtaking. alive. yet so sure of itself and sooooooo effortless. the music just leaps from the grooves.
tonality is quite advanced from the A90. much more color and richness, a sweetness of tone....but not any sort of thickness or blunting. just halographic color with infinite shading.
the A90 is a particularly dynamic and alive cartridge. the Anna is another level of dynamics entirely. the Anna has such an ease and unforced kind of power and control; like a mega watt amp but with the finesse of a tiny watt SET. so the music is just so relaxed but with all the tension and explosiveness you might imagine. the music moves with more synergy and and natural flow. more real.
did i say this cartridge is full of energy?
i guess i did.
you have not heard a String Quartet or Cello Lp until you've heard it thru the Anna. and i'll give the Telos and NVS their rightful share of the credit too. foundation, body, tender soaring string tone, and every tiny musical part of a string quartet comes alive right in front of you. the music gets personal and captivates.
bass. big bold ballsey bass. it packs a whallop. and the attack is explosive and precise. yet there is perfect focus. there is a wonderful bloom, and unlimited decay, yet never overshoot or rounding, and not a trace of edge or roughness.
