Roscoeiii,
I've owned the Rock 7 with all the upgrades available (Excalibur 3 Arm, Adjustible mounting plate, Merlin 3 Motor and regulated Power Supply) for over a year now and I simply cannot get enough of it.
While researching, I read all the reviews, went to audio shows to hear it and its price point competitors, including the Amadeus, although no dealer I know has both the The Rock as well as the Well Tempered to A/B. But what I did hear was, at the price, astounding. I am amazed daily as I go through my collection of reference LPs and hear what this TT can extract and deliver from the grooves. The bottom end, well, I think I would have to spend five times this much to reproduce such tight, yet effortless bass... But it's near impossible to notice just one part of the sonic picture, since all the sound hangs together so naturally that within minutes you forget everything, close your eyes, and shake your head in disbelief. I can't help smiling when I listen.
I've been an Audiophile for decades and I've never stopped spinning vinyl as my main source. I believe that the more TTs a person has heard, the more they'll be impressed. Choosing a TT is not a perfect process. We rarely if ever have opportunity to A/B our final candidates in the same system. I took all I had heard and read, combined it with a leap of faith, and ordered one.
Nothing has ever come close. Jaws have hit the floor, people have shouted expletives at the speakers, and most just get lost in the music.
Is this TT a Giant Killer? Well, to my ears, my system as a whole, with The Rock as source, beats systems I've auditioned at multiples of what I've spent.
It's 3:00AM and I'm listening, for the first time on my upgraded system, to Café Blue by Patricia Barber, and I'm still in disbelief at what I'm hearing as I type.
Apologies for ranting on... If anyone takes a chance on this TT and ends up not concurring, they can list it here, it'll sell in minutes.
I've owned the Rock 7 with all the upgrades available (Excalibur 3 Arm, Adjustible mounting plate, Merlin 3 Motor and regulated Power Supply) for over a year now and I simply cannot get enough of it.
While researching, I read all the reviews, went to audio shows to hear it and its price point competitors, including the Amadeus, although no dealer I know has both the The Rock as well as the Well Tempered to A/B. But what I did hear was, at the price, astounding. I am amazed daily as I go through my collection of reference LPs and hear what this TT can extract and deliver from the grooves. The bottom end, well, I think I would have to spend five times this much to reproduce such tight, yet effortless bass... But it's near impossible to notice just one part of the sonic picture, since all the sound hangs together so naturally that within minutes you forget everything, close your eyes, and shake your head in disbelief. I can't help smiling when I listen.
I've been an Audiophile for decades and I've never stopped spinning vinyl as my main source. I believe that the more TTs a person has heard, the more they'll be impressed. Choosing a TT is not a perfect process. We rarely if ever have opportunity to A/B our final candidates in the same system. I took all I had heard and read, combined it with a leap of faith, and ordered one.
Nothing has ever come close. Jaws have hit the floor, people have shouted expletives at the speakers, and most just get lost in the music.
Is this TT a Giant Killer? Well, to my ears, my system as a whole, with The Rock as source, beats systems I've auditioned at multiples of what I've spent.
It's 3:00AM and I'm listening, for the first time on my upgraded system, to Café Blue by Patricia Barber, and I'm still in disbelief at what I'm hearing as I type.
Apologies for ranting on... If anyone takes a chance on this TT and ends up not concurring, they can list it here, it'll sell in minutes.