I've just done the same demo as you Steve, courtesy of Laszlo's generosity of an extended demo. For your "just right" I used the phrase "more refined", i.e. the EF802's make the c3g's sound a bit uncouth. Needless to say, I've done the trade too!
the L1 line stage is one of the best I've ever heard, and is exceptional when you add the X1, excelling especially in the wide soundstage it throws. Conversely I have yet to hear a system that engages me using CH digital. I would therefore strongly suggest getting an L1 and a DAC to suit budget.
Hey Bob - I've found in the past that some sealed box designs like Magic & YG need to be driven at a certain volume to come alive. How does the M7 fair in this regard?
I've now heard both in well set-up rooms - Clarisys at Florian's and Alsyvox at Bob's. The challenge is that those rooms are very different and the partnering equipment, although both solid-state throughout, also differ. As such, I'm inclined not to draw rigid conclusions but have a few loose...
I had the pleasure of listening to Son's incredible system last week, and was certainly a fun experience!
The system has incredible power and grip over the music, never becoming strained, muddied, or losing instrument separation no matter the volume or complexity of the music. In particular, I...
I echo what Thundersnow says - I visited Bob yesterday at the end of a business trip primarily to hear the Alsyvox given the lack of distributor here in the UK, but ended up listening to the other systems too. I learned a lot, heard some great music on some world-class systems which made the...
Personally I think adding more CH power amps to the situation is throwing good money after bad. If you don't like what you are hearing with one A1.5 then I don't see things improving much from there. Yes you might get more but the signature is the same IMHO.
I guess my experience and the above comments reinforce the age-old point that the only true way to evaluate a hifi component is in your own listening room with your own components. This is perhaps even more so given how different the system and surroundings were in this instance.
Apologies for the delay - it's taken a while to process my thoughts as the system is so different to what I'm used to in many different ways.
First off, huge thanks to Florian and Daisy for being such fantastic hosts - it was an honour to spend time with someone so knowledgable and passionate...