PT, is it possible to place the Spartan with the face plate facing the ground(carpet), so its easier to plug heavy duty power cords and much easier to find a place to hide it, such as behind the Crazy Rack,my concern is its performance, is it as good as in its usual position.
It is not a good idea to hide it. It is because it is built like a high class European furniture. My digital camera does not do any justice to the real presence of the Spartan. I enjoy looking at the massive presence of it. Also, like the Troy, the whole Spartan is mechanically tuned to achieve very low resonances. No one from the AE customer group requires a SRA for the Troy. (Including the crazy PT) Why? It is because Tripoint has taken mechanical vibration into account during the design phase. You should just put it in front of your craze rack.
Over the weekend, I had received many SMS and private enquiries on my impression of the Spartan. This monster does require burn-in and I don't know how long will it take to complete. Also, some of my power cables are not long enough to reach it. At the moment, only the Takumi and the two active amps driving the subwoofers are connected to the Spartan.
This is by no means a review given the scarcity of available time for me to truly judge it. But if some of us feel the Troy could bring us closer to unamplified music, I feel the Spartan does this point "exponentially" more than the Troy. The stability it brings to the bass-line is phenomenal. Imagine the formation of bass notes is under some sort of "slow motion" - you can feel how the structure develops into the final offering. In the past, the revelation of sustain (harmony decay or whatever) after connecting to the Troy immediately make the sound much more natural. Now, with the Spartan, I can feel even these harmonic tails can reflect the acoustic properties of the recording venue even at very low volume. The volume on the Tron syren preamp at 12:00a.m. was less than one, I can still hear the acoustic property (hall sound) when Horowitz was either playing in Berlin or Moscow.
The Spartan also enables me to understand a lot more about the acoustic properties of the recording. As an audiophile, we enjoy the dimensionality of the Hall. But somewhat we tend to separate them in our mind. It means the ambience is standing on one individual layer; and the performers or the instruments are standing in another layer. As a result, we feel there is a clear "separation" and hence we applause great 3D effects. Sorry, this is not what the Spartan does. Instead, through the Spartan, I can hear each musical note embodies the acoustic signature of the hall - a true integration. Not separation; not random blending; this is amazing if you can follow my poor English description. The amazing factor is different from the "SHOCK" factor. You need to sit down and concentrate. Take time to appreciate what it does. It is not something that will shock you right at the first second. I am referring to ALL FREQUENCIES. That's why the bass is so damn natural now because even the bass notes integrate with the acoustics. That is the most daunting challenge in my view. The articulation of micro-dynamics must be experienced. It is “coherently” articulated without a “microscope”, and yet all the details are there. And once again, I want to point out these details are integrated with the acoustic in the recording venue.
Mr.DV recommends a very good European pianist to me and JLam. Over the weekend, my father came to help me to learn about the Spartan. Immediately, he points out that this piano recording is very "unnatural" either because the recording venue tends to be on the bright side or there is too much echoes added during the recording sessions. (He is not challenging the techniques of the pianist but the fact that the hall sound seems to be too bright.) I tried to argue with my father and he moved on to say to me, "Just play a few more piano recordings and then you know what I am talking about." Subsequently, I played 3 more piano recordings. Then he said, "Son. See what I meant now. The hall sound of all other three recordings is not as pronounced as this one. The notes from the piano reflect a warmer acoustic tonal balance.
I am still learning as fast as I can. The Spartan is built for the true music lover. There is no special sound effects, no artificial enhancement of dynamics, no emphasis of any frequencies. It seems like it takes away AC noises with 太極功夫 quietly, naturally, and peacefully.
I believe your details reach to other level, far beyond few weeks ago……. I bring other record in same place, same piano, but different person next time.
Uncle Ray, I always enjoy your listening report. Please do share with us about the Spartan. Peter already surrendered yesterday. Will you follow his path?
Raymond,
See if you could spot any electronic haze, dynamic restriction and unnaturalness in the Spartan which are so common in other AC Conditioners, regardless of the price.
To my tin-ears, the Spartan is a break-through in home audio, its 10 times more powerful than the Troy in the power line purification process.
The Spartan is groundbreaking. The "see thru" transparency is uncharted. As a Sunray user, I don't believe anything can be transparent than what I have until this morning.
What really shocks me is the stability in the bass. When the Takumi and subwoofer were unplugged, the magic is gone in exchange for AC noises. The whole musical picture is very naturally rendered with excellent timing and control.
PT told me you helped him to fine tune the speaker position today. Your advices to him are absolutely spotted on. I need to digest more before I can write a more detail report.
By the way, this system that I listened this morning probably can't find any peers that come close. I said it even I was not a horn lover. It is because everything is taken good care of by logics and reasoning. The result is in the music, very very close to live especially the bass. It is there in the room but you can only feel its presence. Very well done.
The recording that you left for PT is good to truly show off the capability of this system.
And I do agree the Tron Black Label preamp is the best tube based design preamplification that I have come across.
Pt, your system is so good that I'd like to request a 2nd audition to justify my decision to get the subwoofer for the Sunray. Your bass is excellent. I have clean bass, tight and speedy but you have bass closed to live performance. Credit due to the Spartan, I am sure but the seamless integration between the main and the subwoofer is also the key and yours truly does a great job.
Peter,
I did not spot any restriction of dynamics at all. Instead, I feel the dynamic is well controlled. The structure of the dynamic development stems from a cleanest background I have never experienced before even with the Troy. The tonality of each objects are revealed clearly.
Comments
It is not a good idea to hide it. It is because it is built like a high class European furniture. My digital camera does not do any justice to the real presence of the Spartan. I enjoy looking at the massive presence of it. Also, like the Troy, the whole Spartan is mechanically tuned to achieve very low resonances. No one from the AE customer group requires a SRA for the Troy. (Including the crazy PT) Why? It is because Tripoint has taken mechanical vibration into account during the design phase. You should just put it in front of your craze rack.
Over the weekend, I had received many SMS and private enquiries on my impression of the Spartan. This monster does require burn-in and I don't know how long will it take to complete. Also, some of my power cables are not long enough to reach it. At the moment, only the Takumi and the two active amps driving the subwoofers are connected to the Spartan.
This is by no means a review given the scarcity of available time for me to truly judge it. But if some of us feel the Troy could bring us closer to unamplified music, I feel the Spartan does this point "exponentially" more than the Troy. The stability it brings to the bass-line is phenomenal. Imagine the formation of bass notes is under some sort of "slow motion" - you can feel how the structure develops into the final offering. In the past, the revelation of sustain (harmony decay or whatever) after connecting to the Troy immediately make the sound much more natural. Now, with the Spartan, I can feel even these harmonic tails can reflect the acoustic properties of the recording venue even at very low volume. The volume on the Tron syren preamp at 12:00a.m. was less than one, I can still hear the acoustic property (hall sound) when Horowitz was either playing in Berlin or Moscow.
The Spartan also enables me to understand a lot more about the acoustic properties of the recording. As an audiophile, we enjoy the dimensionality of the Hall. But somewhat we tend to separate them in our mind. It means the ambience is standing on one individual layer; and the performers or the instruments are standing in another layer. As a result, we feel there is a clear "separation" and hence we applause great 3D effects. Sorry, this is not what the Spartan does. Instead, through the Spartan, I can hear each musical note embodies the acoustic signature of the hall - a true integration. Not separation; not random blending; this is amazing if you can follow my poor English description. The amazing factor is different from the "SHOCK" factor. You need to sit down and concentrate. Take time to appreciate what it does. It is not something that will shock you right at the first second. I am referring to ALL FREQUENCIES. That's why the bass is so damn natural now because even the bass notes integrate with the acoustics. That is the most daunting challenge in my view. The articulation of micro-dynamics must be experienced. It is “coherently” articulated without a “microscope”, and yet all the details are there. And once again, I want to point out these details are integrated with the acoustic in the recording venue.
Mr.DV recommends a very good European pianist to me and JLam. Over the weekend, my father came to help me to learn about the Spartan. Immediately, he points out that this piano recording is very "unnatural" either because the recording venue tends to be on the bright side or there is too much echoes added during the recording sessions. (He is not challenging the techniques of the pianist but the fact that the hall sound seems to be too bright.) I tried to argue with my father and he moved on to say to me, "Just play a few more piano recordings and then you know what I am talking about." Subsequently, I played 3 more piano recordings. Then he said, "Son. See what I meant now. The hall sound of all other three recordings is not as pronounced as this one. The notes from the piano reflect a warmer acoustic tonal balance.
I am still learning as fast as I can. The Spartan is built for the true music lover. There is no special sound effects, no artificial enhancement of dynamics, no emphasis of any frequencies. It seems like it takes away AC noises with 太極功夫 quietly, naturally, and peacefully.
Uncle Ray, have you already booked a session?
See if you could spot any electronic haze, dynamic restriction and unnaturalness in the Spartan which are so common in other AC Conditioners, regardless of the price.
To my tin-ears, the Spartan is a break-through in home audio, its 10 times more powerful than the Troy in the power line purification process.
The Spartan is groundbreaking. The "see thru" transparency is uncharted. As a Sunray user, I don't believe anything can be transparent than what I have until this morning.
What really shocks me is the stability in the bass. When the Takumi and subwoofer were unplugged, the magic is gone in exchange for AC noises. The whole musical picture is very naturally rendered with excellent timing and control.
PT told me you helped him to fine tune the speaker position today. Your advices to him are absolutely spotted on. I need to digest more before I can write a more detail report.
By the way, this system that I listened this morning probably can't find any peers that come close. I said it even I was not a horn lover. It is because everything is taken good care of by logics and reasoning. The result is in the music, very very close to live especially the bass. It is there in the room but you can only feel its presence. Very well done.
The recording that you left for PT is good to truly show off the capability of this system.
And I do agree the Tron Black Label preamp is the best tube based design preamplification that I have come across.
Ray
Peter,
I did not spot any restriction of dynamics at all. Instead, I feel the dynamic is well controlled. The structure of the dynamic development stems from a cleanest background I have never experienced before even with the Troy. The tonality of each objects are revealed clearly.
You two super guys only heard it once and you have signed it.
Yes. The Spartan is a breakthrough.