Audition of Da Vinci Grandezza
I am just a freshman in the hi-fi world but I am honored to be invited as the world first listener of the Da Vinci Grandezza system. The audition was done yesterday in the AE showroom.
The first song played was Sara K. The voice of Sara K was crystal and stood out clearly from the background. The soundstage was deep and wide. Yet the background guitar was found a little bit blurred. The recording of the CD was believed to be the suspect. Another CD with vocal and guitar (sorry, can’t recall what it was) was then played to isolate the situation. All the imperfectness on the guitar sound was vanished in this playing. I particularly admired the performance of Da Vinci Grandezza when it played the “err” sound generated by the guitar. The sound was just so lively and concrete.
Then the most exciting part came. Two cuts of opera were played. The first one was a tenor solo while the second a tenor and soprano duet. The sound was absolutely transparent. I could distinguish without any difficulty the tenor, the soprano and the background music even they appeared at the same time. Detailed parts like the breath of the tenor before he delivered a high note or the vibration of the throat of the soprano were illustrated without any ambiguity. Sound was so harmonious that I really sensed the rapport between the two singers. I was deeply stunned by the performance. Five thumbs up. I was told that the manufacturer of Da Vinci Grandezza was an opera enthusiast. No wonder the system was designed particularly optimal for opera playing.
After the opera, several records were played including Tamaki Koji Live, Noah Jones Come Away With Me, Teresa Teng 10th Anniversary and a cut of orchestra. I will not repeat here describing how detailed and transparent Da Vinci Grandezza playing these records. During the audition of these few records, it was recognized that there were rooms for improvement in the bass. The pre-amp was then stuffed with BACH and the door behind the speakers was opened a little bit to let the energy escape. After the adjustments, the sound became more wonderful. For the orchestra, Da Vinci Grandezza system delivered more than enough energy to fill up the listening environment. Some improvement in room acoustics might be required. I just did not have a chance to listen to the orchestra again after the pre-amp was stuffed. Perhaps the situation was improved by the stuffing.
There is one caveat on this so called “report”. As mentioned in the very beginning, I am green hi-fi listening. Particularly, I don’t have much experience on listening to high end systems. Thus, I may not be able to compare Da Vinci Grandezza objectively with other systems. I believe veteran like Marvel will visit AE showroom very soon. He could definitely provide a report with more substance to all other hi-fi veterans in this forum.
Finally, I would like thank Piano Tuner once again for inviting me for the audition of Da Vinci Grandezza. It was an enjoyable experience and I learnt quite a lot from him during the audition.
The first song played was Sara K. The voice of Sara K was crystal and stood out clearly from the background. The soundstage was deep and wide. Yet the background guitar was found a little bit blurred. The recording of the CD was believed to be the suspect. Another CD with vocal and guitar (sorry, can’t recall what it was) was then played to isolate the situation. All the imperfectness on the guitar sound was vanished in this playing. I particularly admired the performance of Da Vinci Grandezza when it played the “err” sound generated by the guitar. The sound was just so lively and concrete.
Then the most exciting part came. Two cuts of opera were played. The first one was a tenor solo while the second a tenor and soprano duet. The sound was absolutely transparent. I could distinguish without any difficulty the tenor, the soprano and the background music even they appeared at the same time. Detailed parts like the breath of the tenor before he delivered a high note or the vibration of the throat of the soprano were illustrated without any ambiguity. Sound was so harmonious that I really sensed the rapport between the two singers. I was deeply stunned by the performance. Five thumbs up. I was told that the manufacturer of Da Vinci Grandezza was an opera enthusiast. No wonder the system was designed particularly optimal for opera playing.
After the opera, several records were played including Tamaki Koji Live, Noah Jones Come Away With Me, Teresa Teng 10th Anniversary and a cut of orchestra. I will not repeat here describing how detailed and transparent Da Vinci Grandezza playing these records. During the audition of these few records, it was recognized that there were rooms for improvement in the bass. The pre-amp was then stuffed with BACH and the door behind the speakers was opened a little bit to let the energy escape. After the adjustments, the sound became more wonderful. For the orchestra, Da Vinci Grandezza system delivered more than enough energy to fill up the listening environment. Some improvement in room acoustics might be required. I just did not have a chance to listen to the orchestra again after the pre-amp was stuffed. Perhaps the situation was improved by the stuffing.
There is one caveat on this so called “report”. As mentioned in the very beginning, I am green hi-fi listening. Particularly, I don’t have much experience on listening to high end systems. Thus, I may not be able to compare Da Vinci Grandezza objectively with other systems. I believe veteran like Marvel will visit AE showroom very soon. He could definitely provide a report with more substance to all other hi-fi veterans in this forum.
Finally, I would like thank Piano Tuner once again for inviting me for the audition of Da Vinci Grandezza. It was an enjoyable experience and I learnt quite a lot from him during the audition.
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Comments
Hey freshman, you write quite well. Are you a big fan of opera? The description of the duet suggests more than a freshman. You could even suggest PT there might be acoustic problems, BRAVO!
Those little cutie BACH thing sounds very interesting. I called J up a few days ago but they were all sold. Have you visited Marvel bro lately? His super rich bat is wild. My poor bat is quite difficult to control. I have to reposition my speakers a few times, expereince different listening location before getting it right. It ain't a machine that will sound right by switching a power cord. I got a feeling that silver bat might be even more difficult to tame.
Freshman, keep up the good spirit. It does not matter whether you are green or red. Speak up when you spot a problem, speak up with the sound is not right, no system is perfect. I presume he followed your suggestion and did a few more tweaks. I am sure PT admire your spirit a lot.
VR
I am very very tied up this month and next month. I could not find any free slot for a visit. Please keep sharing your silver bat expereince wiith poor bat owners. We need enlightenment!
What is your impression of the Da Vinci system? It must be serious electronics. The tonearm by Da Vinci is worldclass, the electronics cannot be bad. I love to hear your professional judgment. Do you know the freshman dude?
VR
I am not a big fan of opera. I like everything related to Italy. People sing opera in Italian and thus I am interested in it. By the way, Azzurri is the nickname of Italian national soccer team. I am a really a big fan of them.
I was excited about DV Grandezza playing opera because it changed my thought. From my listening experience on opera (of course not using high end stuff la), the vocal and the background music were usually entangled. The vocal is “normally” not loud enough. If I turn the volume louder, the music will become too loud overriding the vocal. However, the DV Grandezza played the vocal and the background music harmoniously. I was therefore stunned by the performance.
I just know that there might be room acoustics issue in AE showroom but of course I don’t know how to resolve it. Tuning room acoustics is always the strong aspect of PT.
I visited Marvel place some time ago. I know he has got a new toy. I will try to arrange another visit so as to widen my horizon.
Azzurri
Share a bit more on how did you feel listening to my system some weeks ago. New toy will shock you in the transparency and dynamics. I am listening to Beethoven Symphony No. 6 'Pastorale' conducted by Bruno Walter. With some tunings suggested by PT today, I felt the overall performance in orchestra is up to my expectation and comparable to Karan. I am stil too green on classical music but certainly this new toy stuns me on the symphonic big picture exhibited in front of me....
Come again and use your golden ears to play as a judge.
Marvel
Don't 'play' me. You are always welcome! Are you in HK in the next 2-3 weeks? I will try my best to accommodate. I will be switching back to Karan in the coming weekend to add some contrast observations on the Syren.
Marvel