Audience Au24 speaker cables with Vandersteen

Bigtee it looks like you've made some changes to your system since we last corresponded months ago. How do you like the Ayre V5x compared to the Belles 350A you had? I know you really liked the Belles, said it controlled the 3A Signatures better than the Dreadnaught 1 you had before that. And the Aesthetix Calypso, I'm envious, others have told it me it sounds wonderful. Besides its great ease of use with so much controlled by remote (which I miss a little with my Belles 21A), how does it sound compared to the Audible Illusions L-2 you had? Your review of the L-2 was nicely written and gave the impression you may have found a pre you could be happy with for a long time. If you like the Calypso better than the L-2, then I definitely can see one of these in my system maybe next year. Do you still have the 2Wq subs we did the deal on? Cheers, Jeff.

jeff,

there's a review on soundstage.com of the au24 ic and sc's. the reviewer used vandy 3a's. unequivocably stated biwire is better.

aloha keith

Thanks for that Keith.

I still have the L-2 and am in the process of making a comparison between te L-2 and the Calypso. I can say this with certainty, for the money, the L-2 is a no brainer. $2495 vs $4500. The L-2 is currently running neck and neck. The Calypso may have the slightest of edges on transparency and it seems to deliver music with a hair more musicality. However, the L-2 may be more neutral! We'll see.
For $4500, the Calypso delivers nice looks and premium parts and build with lots of features. The L-2 is about the music and not so much fancy looks and features. The one thing I do like about the Calypso is the balanced outputs.
The Ayre V5x is a nice amp but here again, I think you get more value for the money with the Belles. The Ayre may be a touch more transparent and it is holographic BUT it is lighter in the bottom. Overall, I think the Belles wins out at this point. However, neither the Calypso or the Ayre are broken in. Things could change.
I haven't really had any poorly performing equipment through my system. It all has its strengths and weaknesses. I think it comes down to taste and not a quality issue.
One of these days I'm going to listen to that Reference 150a! I still like the L-2 and I like the Calypso just like I like the Ayre and the 350a. It's going to take some doings to pick a pair to keep. I've run out of money so one pair is going to go and one stay!

I appreciate the feedback Bigtee regarding the L-2 and Calypso. Too bad we live at opposite ends of the country, you could try my Belles 150A Ref amps and maybe I could try something of yours. I still have one pair of HT Pro Silway III interconnects so put them between the CDP and pre for another listen. Frankly, not a lot of difference to my perhaps untrained ear, but the HT cables seemed to be warmer and I felt this was coming from the cables, not the music. At times that warmth seemed pleasant but not as natural.