I am a new CS-2 owner.
I have never heard anything like it.
I have never experienced anything like it.
First aproximate position, first DSP setting, first watt from the new ICE amp:
and I just about felt like crying.
I am the 2nd owner, so speakers have some break in, but probably not complete.
Also, I have a slightly used Stratos on the bottom, with some break-in hours remaining.
Spanking new PS Audio Trio A-100 runs the top.
I believe the Adcom GFP 750 running Passive gives the other components a fair shot,
but my Onkyo CD P is marginal at best.
I have an imperfect setup in a 15' x 15' apartment living room.
I have not had large ownership experience with speakers going 2, 5, or $10k,
but I have spent a large portion of my life listening to amplified music.
I have been guested to a wide variety of sound experiences,
that were amazing at their particular place and time.
While I can't claim the advanced "phile" level of critical listening and analysis that many here have achieved through sincere pursuit,
I feel I have developed a strong sense of the selected end-total balance being delivered
when I listen to a particular system.
Right now, the CS-2's give me a clarity, a sense of high fidelity that makes my heart jump.
A large sense of open space, through which the sound just expands.
Rather than feeling a big sound washing over me,
I feel that the music is filling the space where I exist.
There are things that aren't quite right.
It's not that the top end is harsh, or sterile,
but it is perhaps a little hard and tight, not quite completely free and lively.
But, hey, the top amp is in its first 40 hours of life.
The highest impact sweet spot is extremely small and precise.
I move my head a matter of inches and feel it sinking in and out of the center of focus.
But I am just blown away by what happens in that center spot.
And there is a beautiful sense of dispersion throughout the entire room.
As I move my seat up and back and left and right, I notice my perspective shifting,
but I do not feel I am losing anything. I am not thinking, this is spot is OK,
but I really wish I could be sitting over there. I feel captivated and interested by the perspective at each spot, then a little surprised at the impact when I move back to tweeter crossing point.
Ultimately, I am going to want more richness, and probably more depth, or weight.
I know in my mind the aural aspects that are lacking, though I'm not sure of the matching vocabualary. My current experience feels consistent with the new amp factor.
As the consumer, I feel that some change should be expected or is required before I can sign off with real satisfaction. I am enthusiastically anticipating listening to the sound develop as the system breaks in.
But I am getting real joy out of what it sounds like today, at week 1.
What else have I listened to recently; modern equiptment, I mean?
I have been rebuilding my 2-channel system from scratch during the last year.
I was hoping that Revel Performa would give me what I needed.
Though rich and realistic, that setup seemed to lack life, an ultimatate vitality.
I thought it was probably lack of total extension, and I spent a lot of time
trying to integrate sub woofers to fill out the 20 - 35 hz "excitement" range. But I still felt that there was a significant element missing. I felt just a little sad and left out.
With the CS2's I am smiling out of the box. I am enthusiastic about the current experience.
With what I hear now, I have some suspiscion that this system will fall short of perfection.
Something about scale, or robustness, or immersion. Not power, but weight?
Too early to tell. But I just have to let out a big WOW! for what I AM experiencing.
- Brian Taylor Chapel Hill, NC Age: 40s
