Eera Tentation

[JackD201]

I went to Singapore and heard the Ayon. I have to say I really liked what I heard listening to them play through Gradient actives. I wanted to hear the amps but unfortunately they had a tube failure.

Joe, like I told you, the M-B Ultras are crazy good. Thank God aural memory is short because I can't afford them. Not a complete loom anyway. Maybe I'll go for 3 ICs max just for my sources. Problem is that the supply of the alloy wires used is limited as these are surplus sourced (like the Verbatims cables). When the supply is gone from the foundry, they will be gone forever.

My experience with the power cords on the Tentation were different however. To these ears, the Tentation actually sounded most natural with less exotic cords. While I deal M-B, best results were with a basic Shunyata Python. The opposite was true for Amplifiers however.

 

[gammajo]

Jack
Thank you for writing - great information! Yup. I stay with tubes in the preamp and away from them in the amps. The Ayon keeps signal path ultra short and eliminates two sets of IC's and two power cords by combining the Trans, DAC and pre, which really cleans things up and saves money at this level of wire. Your experience with the Tentation will lead me to experiment with the Python PC on the Ayon - nothing to lose. My experience was different with a cheaper but excellent PC on the Ayon which has a tube rectified power supply which may react differently. Still want to do a shoot out with the Ayon and Tentation.

 

[spiritofmusic]

You're in the US? Why don't you contact Albert. personally my delving into balanced power, grounding and power cords has transformed my Emm CDP, so the Tentation will have to be spectacular to tempt me away from it. Tbh, this demo is a chance out of the blue, not something I've been planning.

 

[gammajo]

I have been in touch with Albert. So far not been able to arrange an audition - we are 2,000 miles apart - but hopefully someday soon. I have also found that the things you mention matter.

 

[Al M.]

Just to chime in - I am still very wedded to the CD. I live in a rural area where it would take a day to download a high res album, the complexities of computer audio still need to be sorted out, and I spend much od my day on computer and don't associate them with the joy and relaxation of my listening time. But most important is listening. A friend with great ears and I just listened to two very well regarded and expensive streamer based systems and we both felt great relief upon returning home and firing up our CD based systems. This disappointment with computer based audio has been there every time I have listened with high hopes to high res. I am a detail freak, but even more so am looking for richness and naturalness of timbre, attack and decay etc.
My reference is live concerts and a 6'8" Grand Piano in the same room as my system. To my ears properly set up with very careful attention to reducing noise from electrical and mechanical issues, CD play can allow that going back and forth from analogue without a feeling of loss and provide much of the realism and delight of live music. I do use Albert Von's Signature wire throughout with his Ultra from Ayon CD5s (Transport-DAC-Pre, combined) to mono amps. I do not think Albert's wire is essential for getting a great sound (as defined in this thread) from a CD player, but in my system it did take things to a level well above what I thought possible.

I hear you. I just bought a new CD transport, Simaudio Moon Neo 260 DT, which sounds identical on my Berkeley DAC to my old Wadia 8 transport that it replaces. The old transport is dying and no replacement parts are available anymore (it has served me well for 20 (!) years). With the latest upgrades that eliminate electronic noise, BorderPatrol external power supplies for my amps, and Shunyata Dark Field cable elevators for my speaker cables, I can't believe how refined in resolution and real the timbres now sound from Red Book CD (yesterday I marveled again at the sounds from my Boulez/Chicago recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra). I am also re-discovering old recordings. I had always thought the sound from my cherished Hindemith string quartet set (Danish Quartet/CPO) was rather mediocre, but yesterday, with the new improvements to my system, I found it to be borderline excellent.

No server and hi-rez for me anytime soon.

 

[jap]

I hear you. I just bought a new CD transport, Simaudio Moon Neo 260 DT, which sounds identical on my Berkeley DAC to my old Wadia 8 transport that it replaces. The old transport is dying and no replacement parts are available anymore (it has served me well for 20 (!) years). With the latest upgrades that eliminate electronic noise, BorderPatrol external power supplies for my amps, and Shunyata Dark Field cable elevators for my speaker cables, I can't believe how refined in resolution and real the timbres now sound from Red Book CD (yesterday I marveled again at the sounds from my Boulez/Chicago recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra). I am also re-discovering old recordings. I had always thought the sound from my cherished Hindemith string quartet set (Danish Quartet/CPO) was rather mediocre, but yesterday, with the new improvements to my system, I found it to be borderline excellent.

No server and hi-rez for me anytime soon.

Too bad you didn't check out the PS Audio PWT.

In addition to CDs, it would have allowed you to play Hi-rez DVD-R data discs like the HRx Reference Recordings 176.4 kHz / 24-bit digital masters.

 

[Al M.]

Too bad you didn't check out the PS Audio PWT.

In addition to CDs, it would have allowed you to play Hi-rez DVD-R data discs like the HRx Reference Recordings 176.4 kHz / 24-bit digital masters.

Thank you for your suggestion on the PS Audio some time ago, but I had no chance to audition it before purchase and it probably wouldn't have mattered on my Berkeley DAC, as also an Esoteric transport (I had my eyes on a used one) most likely would not have mattered much. I may open a new thread on this topic sometime.

 

[spiritofmusic]

So, I'm not the only one who is wedded to rbcd. My combination of general computer averse personality, and the need to handle physical media, with unconvincing demos of hi rez, mean that interesting dedicated players, few on the ground, like the Eera, really interest me. Due to arrive on Thu. I'll give it a good week to bed in, and report my thoughts the week after next.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, I thought the Eera was going to need some bedding in before sounding of it's best, but within SECONDS it really hit the ground running. Will post my thoughts over time, but it's amazing how well it demonstrated it's chops re the hardest instruments to reproduce in audio IMHO, piano and snare drum. Piano was just spooky real, with full percussive impact of hammer and no curtailing of harmonic bloom of notes. Snare drum demonstrates full impact of stick on skin and again warmth of the wood of the drum unrestricted.
To achieve the disparate aims of impact and bloom requires a really impressive speed with simultaneous full reproduction of tone and texture. I've never heard this from digital before, and I've heard some of the best (my current Emm Labs CDSA SE, Linn CD12, various Wadias/Meridians, AMR, Reimyo etc etc).

 

[spiritofmusic]

A follow up on my Eera Tentation review, and the way it's going it's pretty identical to Robert Learner's 2 year old review in Positive Feedback. So my initial impression was respect at the player's ability to combine blazing speed with no curtailing of tone ie like live unamplified music where notes start and stop on a dime, but the full tone of notes is present. Somehow the player is able to do this more than any other I've heard, and this is leading to exemplary dynamics where music is explosive and rich simultaneously.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that even hi rez struggles to get to this level of dazzling realism. I've not heard all (Trinity esp.), but a fair number of pricey rigs, and the Eera is hitting so many more buttons than other cdps/hi rez setups. IMHO.
As someone who's struggled to love digital over the years, I'm getting my first real crush !

 

[Al M.]

A follow up on my Eera Tentation review, and the way it's going it's pretty identical to Robert Learner's 2 year old review in Positive Feedback. So my initial impression was respect at the player's ability to combine blazing speed with no curtailing of tone ie like live unamplified music where notes start and stop on a dime, but the full tone of notes is present. Somehow the player is able to do this more than any other I've heard, and this is leading to exemplary dynamics where music is explosive and rich simultaneously.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that even hi rez struggles to get to this level of dazzling realism. I've not heard all (Trinity esp.), but a fair number of pricey rigs, and the Eera is hitting so many more buttons than other cdps/hi rez setups. IMHO.
As someone who's struggled to love digital over the years, I'm getting my first real crush !

Congratulations on finding a CD player that you can enjoy so much!

I have no doubt that the limits of CD playback have not been exhausted yet, and this player appears to confirm the trend towards ever better CD sound, and here at a price that is not even astronomical.

Why this player has not been more widely reviewed puzzles me somewhat.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hi Al, we've conversed before. It's a total game changer. I know Albert Von Schweikert distributes it in the US. You owe y'self a listen via him if you can. Lost for words. Not for long, more review pending!

 

[gammajo]

Spirit
Thanks for sharing your feedback on the Tentation very helpful and Exciting!
Joe

 

[Al M.]

Hi Al, we've conversed before. It's a total game changer. I know Albert Von Schweikert distributes it in the US. You owe y'self a listen via him if you can. Lost for words. Not for long, more review pending!

Well, it's a bit out of my price league, and implementation in my system would be complicated by the fact that it has no volume control, if I am correct. I have no pre-amp, and my Berkeley DAC drives the power amps directly. If I would look in the Eera price range I guess I'd rather have my eyes on the new Berkeley Alpha Reference DAC coming out soon.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I've done my best not to pen words like sledgehammer bass etc, because from my experience, other players prob beat it in individual areas eg I've never heard better bass than Wadia/Esoteric etc. But where this player knocks others out of the water is it's holistic presentation of music, and a kind of removal of haze that leaves every other digital source sounding mechanical and restrained. For the first time in my digital experience, music is literally jumping out from the speakers v.much like the best of analog. One of my biggest criticisms of digital has been that no matter how loud I turn it up, the illusion of real music is spoilt by the feeling that sound is being restrained and not filling the room, and when turned down the whole soundstage collapses.
With the Tentation, music just projects into the room, charging the air like listening to a great lp. Play it loud and the room fills, play it low and the soundstage doesn't really shrink, just becomes a lot more intimate and personal. I'm putting this down to not just resolution of detail, but a greater flow to the information coming off the disc, and an amazingly low noise floor.

 

[microstrip]

I've done my best not to pen words like sledgehammer bass etc, because from my experience, other players prob beat it in individual areas eg I've never heard better bass than Wadia/Esoteric etc. But where this player knocks others out of the water is it's holistic presentation of music, and a kind of removal of haze that leaves every other digital source sounding mechanical and restrained. For the first time in my digital experience, music is literally jumping out from the speakers v.much like the best of analog. One of my biggest criticisms of digital has been that no matter how loud I turn it up, the illusion of real music is spoilt by the feeling that sound is being restrained and not filling the room, and when turned down the whole soundstage collapses.
With the Tentation, music just projects into the room, charging the air like listening to a great lp. Play it loud and the room fills, play it low and the soundstage doesn't really shrink, just becomes a lot more intimate and personal. I'm putting this down to not just resolution of detail, but a greater flow to the information coming off the disc, and an amazingly low noise floor.

It is curious that a few French manufacturers target the type of sound you describe. Since long I remember that the cheap but unreliable Micromega's CD players and the ultra-expensive Metronome's share some of these traits. Lavardin and Yba electronics also fits your description. I would state that more than being very complete electronics their designers avoid anything that can sound unnatural, letting the music flow freely. And, yes, the subjectively low noise floor is part of it.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Interesting, I nearly shelled out on a French Audiomeca Mephisto cdp a few years ago, but got sidetracked and ended up buying my current Emm Labs CDSA SE instead. That too had an organic quality. This Eera Tentation is really bringing so much more to the table, and, ahem, is outperforming my analog rig atm.

 

[JackD201]

 

[spiritofmusic]

Jack, you are a man of many words! Seriously, I am beyond impressed with this player. I find it wholly ironic that just as RBCD finally matures, we're all meant to move on to hi rez/downloads. I personally haven't got tremendous experience of 24/96 or 48/192, but what I have heard is handily outperformed by the Eera.

 

[Al M.]

I've done my best not to pen words like sledgehammer bass etc, because from my experience, other players prob beat it in individual areas eg I've never heard better bass than Wadia/Esoteric etc. But where this player knocks others out of the water is it's holistic presentation of music, and a kind of removal of haze that leaves every other digital source sounding mechanical and restrained. For the first time in my digital experience, music is literally jumping out from the speakers v.much like the best of analog. One of my biggest criticisms of digital has been that no matter how loud I turn it up, the illusion of real music is spoilt by the feeling that sound is being restrained and not filling the room, and when turned down the whole soundstage collapses.
With the Tentation, music just projects into the room, charging the air like listening to a great lp. Play it loud and the room fills, play it low and the soundstage doesn't really shrink, just becomes a lot more intimate and personal. I'm putting this down to not just resolution of detail, but a greater flow to the information coming off the disc, and an amazingly low noise floor.

That all sounds great, but I fail to see how all this is any different from what I hear in my own system with the Berkeley DAC (?).