Allhifi: haven’t been in here in a while.
I’ve no need to get other equipment to evaluate the shunyata, thanks. There’s been a flow of equipment throughout the house: ARC, Hegel, Parasound. And if I needed it, a dealership with things i USED to own: Wilson speakers, newer ARC. And with my ASC-designed room with 30-40 tube traps, that MORE than makes up for the reviews I read by others. It more than made up for what I heard when HP and I compared notes in the old days when he was alive, and I’d point out something HE missed. So there. Besides, I’m going on my 7th decade of life. No point buying something expensive and keeling over the next month. My family wouldn’t even know what to sell my Nordost stuff for. I’d like to spare them selling Valhalla for $400, thanks.
What was left unsaid was that I was once a reviewer for TAS and the equipment manager for the now defunct Fi Magazine. I’ve heard -and owned - equipment most salivate at. And my ears are the most important instrument in evaluations, not the equipment. Poorly set up ARC (meaning, crappy room acoustics - a common malady, by the way, from what i’ve seen, as well as in a dealer’s showroom with a 100k system, which, while more ’detailed,’ sounded less like anything ’live’ than I’ve heard in 40 years of High End listening and 60 years of being in bands, concert halls and other live venues before they starting using microphones and PA systems for Ella (vile!)) - and heard, in others’ systems - give far less musical satisfaction than using "good" but not SOTA equipment. I’ve owned, ARC, Jadis, Goldmund, Infinity, Avalon, Rowland, Convergent, Transparent, MIT, Nordost, VTL, VAC, Clearaudio, VPI and my prized Versa Dynamics 2.3 turntable, as well as many others. And a CJ ET3 SE is nothing to sneeze at (You hurt its feelings! I had to anti-static the poor dear when I told it about your response!) These days, I just want to enjoy music, not - as so many - the equipment. Try to keep an open mind about what can be heard without SOTA. And by the way, the ASL Hurricanes’ realism trumps nearly anything I’ve yet heard. Which is why I still own it after 15 years, longer even than my Goldmund Mimesis 9 (THE most transparent, $14,000 amp I’ve ever had, along with the $13,000 VAC amps). Both fantastic, but certainly NOT the "Good-God-it’s-live-not-Memorex" ability of the ASLs. "More detail" is no substitute for "it actually sounds ’real.’" Have you ever heard the Hurricanes? Doesn’t sound like you have or you’d have kept the disbelief in check. I get it. "Marquee value" impresses you. It did to me, too - 30 years ago. Then I grew past it.
