An electrocompaniet tale

Once upon a time there was a Krell amplifier driving a pair of B&W Nautilus 805 speakers. To extend their bass to the infernal regions these speakers found a friend called the REL stadium III. And everyone lived happily ever after until today.

Today our electrocompaniet CD player arrived. Audiogon used. For the first 15 seconds it sounded like we really had something here, resolution, soundstage, believable reproduction of the sounds of indiviual instruments playing in ensemble, sweet and involving.

Then, said I, let's take a listen to what happens if we turn off the REL sub, as I walked toward the little green rocker switch on the back of the unit. Then to my astonishment I discovered that the REL had NEVER BEEN TURNED ON. Riveting, earth shaking bass from bass-anemic speakers via a CDP upgrade.

Go figure. I thought I might describe everything we now hear, but I convinced myself that noone would believe us anyhow.