I'm no writer but I just couldn't keep this to myself. I am absolutely blown away by the performance of the ESP Concert Grand Si speakers driven by the ASR Emitter II Exclusive. This combination represents the best I have ever heard this speaker perform. The upper frequencies are more extended, sweet and airy. Midrange continues to be natural but there was a greater sense of presence to the sound. The overall sound is more pure in a way I find difficult to describe. It simply didn't matter what type of music I played. This combination is simply a wonderful match as the speaker literally became a living breathing thing. I am truly impressed. I could only expect the same performance with the Emitter I Exclusive on the Bodhran SE.
Let's talk about bass. I used one of my reference tunes by the YellowJackets ( Live Wires, 1992 - Track 9 - Wildlife ). This is a live recording and I literally felt like I was in the audience. The percussion, bass and audience came to life in a manner never before experienced in my 25 x 15 x 8 foot music room. The CGSi loves the power. The sound is organic and there was a natural height to the performance. The presentation was wide and the soundstage deep with layering you could nearly walk into. With all due respect to John Mark's experience, I never agreed with his limited bass comment as the CGSi's bass was never any less than tuneful and controlled in my room when driven by the highly respected Lamm Reference Electronics. However, with the ASR driving them, the bass was even tighter and very very deep. Mr. Marks would easily retract those comments if he heard this tune on this speaker and amp combination in my room.
Although unit comes with two good power cords, my experience is that it's performance was transformed even further with the Argento FLOW cords.
Here's the system:
ESP Loudspeakers Concert Grand Si
ASR Emitter II Exclusive B
Esoteric X-01 Limited SACD/CD player
Argento Serenity Reference Interconnects
Argento Serenity Master Reference Speaker Cables
Argento Flow Power Cords
Shakti Hallographs
Critical Mass Systems PXK Isolation Systems
Critical Mass Systems Black Label Reference platform
I heard the ASR Emitter II in RMAF 2008 driving Xavian speakers which was very nice with excellent sound and very good build quality. The only other speakers to excite me was from Tidal. But they're not in your price range.
I would strongly suggest that anyone who is buying or owns ESP speakers, consider, no go out and buy, the ASR electronics and, if possible, connect them with Argento cables (of course this applies the other way around). You won't be sorry.
