It is really rare to have two experienced man to give such high compliments to a system. Chinese New Year is around the corner, I will go visit for sure.
The 2nd visit was not a “dramatic” experience. And that’s good because I was not shopping for home theatre. For a week after the 1st encounter with the Beta system fed almost entirely by the Spartan AC, I couldn’t find the sense of unnoticed ease in my own system. The bass in particularly, in my system, may have better contour lines and shaper articulation, what it lacks are the ease of energy dispersion. Although I can truly experience the “foundation” of bass serving as the spine for the whole musical picture in my own system, the engulfing factor due to the elevation of transparency by the Spartan AC is unprecedented as Peter Tsang suggested the other day. Mr. Ng, whom I met yesterday, was profoundly challenged by what he heard yesterday too.
The Bach piano recording by Murray Perahia is extremely delicate. The tiniest touching by the pianists is delivered in a non-highlighted manner and that immediately implies supreme coherence. And that’s why it will not be a dramatic experience in the usual Hi Fi sense. The integration of the acoustic property with the instrument under the control of the performer is perfectly blended. Spatial resolution is not located in a separate axis. The X, Y, and Z axis of the recording venue is reproduced in completeness that I have never experienced before. I don’t want to describe the effect as widening of soundstage width/deepening of soundstage depth per se – because it is substantially more than this. The Live Recording of CHAGE & ASKA that PT loves demoing so much was pretty scary because I have never heard reproduced live recording can get this far. I can hear the voice of human flesh, not artificial warming of the mid-range which is so common amongst tube design. I have to say I begin to fall in love with the Tron Syren black label after Peter Tsang singled out is capability. Be realistic, the scarcity of space there can’t reproduce live orchestral scores to an alarming realistic level. But for smaller live recording, I felt as though I was co-sharing the same place as other audiences appeared in the recording. Caveat emptor: PT quietly applied the master reference ground wire to the Zanden DAC without informing me the last minute. Mr. Ng was truly “shocked” by the revealing power of a single ground wire – as the changes are no smaller than a pair of interconnects.
The location of the timpani at the back row of the orchestra is clear and the impact propagates from the back row to the front row without any hints of forwardness. If the control of any of the component in the chain is not up to speed, most of the time, the timpani will sound as though they are in the front row. I guess Mr. Ng enjoyed the system so much to the point of forgetting which component he would like to test as all the components basically disappeared.
Perhaps, the most dramatic experience yesterday was the sound after PT unplugged the active subwoofers and the Takumi from the Spartan AC. Other than that, the rest was simply music.
How much noise are we hearing from the power source that contaminate the restoration of the musical soundstage of the original recording? Whilst it may not be totally answered by Spartan knowing that technology is ever evolving and there isn't such a term called 'end-game' in the technology domain, only approaching to the utopia...But one thing I am sure is Spartan is just another league from the conventional wisdom in cleaning the power path, AC2, deploying the utmost technology on transformer, to me, is still belonging to the conventional camp.
Why is Spartan then unconventional, I didn't open the box to look at what is inside but PT told me it deploys some kind of proprietory technology using magentism and the sheer weight of 180LB of the Spartan have me convinced that it is something outside the box...of course I won't simply say it is unconventional judging by the above. I judge by listening with and without Spartan and side by side comparing with the AC2.
clarity of the bass dispersion, air and space surrounding the musical images, depth of the soundstage, speed and slam, uncompressed dynamic range, control but at ease dispersion of full frequency spectrum with lyrical coherence....these are the terms that repeated coming up to my mind when PT was busying swapping cables, turning gears on and off for the comparison...
Whilst AC2 cleans up the noise the power signal at a macro level and Troy does the micro level at the signal level, I am confident to say Spartan does the cleaning of the power at both micro and macro level without a trace of adding or subtracting any tonality and ambience to or from the original recording...
As a cable freak, I can also confidently say the 2 power cords connected from the Spartan to the wall socket are also 'secret weapons' leading to the success of this product...bearing in mind we are comparing the most advanced transformer based AC2 power conditioner with the FMR power connected...
Voy, you like Opera, if I remember right, you need this as one of the testing CD that PT is a soprano and after hearing this, I understand the magic it does. I have not recommended you anything in the Forum in the past, but this one definitely worth it!
Thks. Was this track very difficult to play? Why did you single out this particular recording? Tell me more about your listening experience of this track. I will get this CD asap today.
Magdelena is a mezzo soprano, not a soprano. She's good but her voice is not as explosive as Anna. Dynamic range of her voice is OK but not spectacular. Her tonality at the upper mid range is pleasing. For such voice, it is good for leider or a band capable of supporting his lower mid range without crowding out the angelic upper high range.
Marvel, are you aware the major contribution of the master reference ground wires? Did PT hide these facts from you? If yes, he is treating. You should tell him to do an AB comparison between master reference ground wire and silver signature ground wire on the spot. They put the finish touch on his carefully tuned system.
Voy, it is not the soprano, it is the background music which is explosive under PT's system....
Raymond, of course we did compare the Master reference ground wire...I am a cable freak, remember. The first time I heard this cable connected to PT's system, I put in the forum that the change is subtle...my view changed last Sat and I think it is quite audible in terms of more transparency from the MR than the standard one...does this cable need some burning in?
Comments
The Bach piano recording by Murray Perahia is extremely delicate. The tiniest touching by the pianists is delivered in a non-highlighted manner and that immediately implies supreme coherence. And that’s why it will not be a dramatic experience in the usual Hi Fi sense. The integration of the acoustic property with the instrument under the control of the performer is perfectly blended. Spatial resolution is not located in a separate axis. The X, Y, and Z axis of the recording venue is reproduced in completeness that I have never experienced before. I don’t want to describe the effect as widening of soundstage width/deepening of soundstage depth per se – because it is substantially more than this. The Live Recording of CHAGE & ASKA that PT loves demoing so much was pretty scary because I have never heard reproduced live recording can get this far. I can hear the voice of human flesh, not artificial warming of the mid-range which is so common amongst tube design. I have to say I begin to fall in love with the Tron Syren black label after Peter Tsang singled out is capability. Be realistic, the scarcity of space there can’t reproduce live orchestral scores to an alarming realistic level. But for smaller live recording, I felt as though I was co-sharing the same place as other audiences appeared in the recording. Caveat emptor: PT quietly applied the master reference ground wire to the Zanden DAC without informing me the last minute. Mr. Ng was truly “shocked” by the revealing power of a single ground wire – as the changes are no smaller than a pair of interconnects.
The location of the timpani at the back row of the orchestra is clear and the impact propagates from the back row to the front row without any hints of forwardness. If the control of any of the component in the chain is not up to speed, most of the time, the timpani will sound as though they are in the front row. I guess Mr. Ng enjoyed the system so much to the point of forgetting which component he would like to test as all the components basically disappeared.
Perhaps, the most dramatic experience yesterday was the sound after PT unplugged the active subwoofers and the Takumi from the Spartan AC. Other than that, the rest was simply music.
Why is Spartan then unconventional, I didn't open the box to look at what is inside but PT told me it deploys some kind of proprietory technology using magentism and the sheer weight of 180LB of the Spartan have me convinced that it is something outside the box...of course I won't simply say it is unconventional judging by the above. I judge by listening with and without Spartan and side by side comparing with the AC2.
clarity of the bass dispersion, air and space surrounding the musical images, depth of the soundstage, speed and slam, uncompressed dynamic range, control but at ease dispersion of full frequency spectrum with lyrical coherence....these are the terms that repeated coming up to my mind when PT was busying swapping cables, turning gears on and off for the comparison...
Whilst AC2 cleans up the noise the power signal at a macro level and Troy does the micro level at the signal level, I am confident to say Spartan does the cleaning of the power at both micro and macro level without a trace of adding or subtracting any tonality and ambience to or from the original recording...
As a cable freak, I can also confidently say the 2 power cords connected from the Spartan to the wall socket are also 'secret weapons' leading to the success of this product...bearing in mind we are comparing the most advanced transformer based AC2 power conditioner with the FMR power connected...
Voy, you like Opera, if I remember right, you need this as one of the testing CD that PT is a soprano and after hearing this, I understand the magic it does. I have not recommended you anything in the Forum in the past, but this one definitely worth it!
Marvel
Can you be more specific on which soprano record that impressed you so much?
Magdelena Kozena (French aria), L'Heure espagnole by Ravel....just advised by PT...a CD being used by PT's senior for a long time for testing...
Marvel
Magdelena is a mezzo soprano, not a soprano. She's good but her voice is not as explosive as Anna. Dynamic range of her voice is OK but not spectacular. Her tonality at the upper mid range is pleasing. For such voice, it is good for leider or a band capable of supporting his lower mid range without crowding out the angelic upper high range.
Raymond, of course we did compare the Master reference ground wire...I am a cable freak, remember. The first time I heard this cable connected to PT's system, I put in the forum that the change is subtle...my view changed last Sat and I think it is quite audible in terms of more transparency from the MR than the standard one...does this cable need some burning in?