Two comments:
- I have the Grand Prix rack & amp stands, and my impressions of them correlate precisely with Cohnaudio's...superb gains in bass clarity as Michael Fremer mentions, but also in the mids & treble - I do not hear any resonance or lack of clarity whatsoever. Mine has the cheaper acrylic shelves, not the carbon fiber which Michael had for test.
- As a fan of Grand Prix Audio/Alvin Lloyd and a guy who'll be in the market for a "lifetime" 'table in the next year or so, I eagerly awaited MF's review and was disappointed in the results - especially because I like my music as juicy, fleshy & harmonically ripe as possible. But he sent me the MP3 comparison of the Van Morrison track, referenced above, and the differences were blatantly obvious, and just as MF described - and this over the cheapo speakers in my laptop! The Caliburn (as well it should, for the coin) was much more harmonically developed, and the music just breathed...the same track as played by the GPA was rhythymically superb, but sounded bleached out by comparison. What I won't know until I hear the Monaco in person is whether this result is an Achilles heel, or just a $20K 'table falling short of a $120K(?) alterntaive, but fully competitive with others in its price class.
Thanks, by the way, to MF. A true keeper of the flame, to be sure, but also a genuinely nice guy who goes out of his way to do things right.
- I have the Grand Prix rack & amp stands, and my impressions of them correlate precisely with Cohnaudio's...superb gains in bass clarity as Michael Fremer mentions, but also in the mids & treble - I do not hear any resonance or lack of clarity whatsoever. Mine has the cheaper acrylic shelves, not the carbon fiber which Michael had for test.
- As a fan of Grand Prix Audio/Alvin Lloyd and a guy who'll be in the market for a "lifetime" 'table in the next year or so, I eagerly awaited MF's review and was disappointed in the results - especially because I like my music as juicy, fleshy & harmonically ripe as possible. But he sent me the MP3 comparison of the Van Morrison track, referenced above, and the differences were blatantly obvious, and just as MF described - and this over the cheapo speakers in my laptop! The Caliburn (as well it should, for the coin) was much more harmonically developed, and the music just breathed...the same track as played by the GPA was rhythymically superb, but sounded bleached out by comparison. What I won't know until I hear the Monaco in person is whether this result is an Achilles heel, or just a $20K 'table falling short of a $120K(?) alterntaive, but fully competitive with others in its price class.
Thanks, by the way, to MF. A true keeper of the flame, to be sure, but also a genuinely nice guy who goes out of his way to do things right.