Great thread, Teejay! I generally agree with your findings.
Since I never had a chance to audition EmmLabs combo in my system( only at audio show ) I will imagine that it is as good as people say. On the other hand I have excellent experience with Weiss Medea/Jason combo, IMO it is one of the best red book cd playback systems currently availabile.
But, is it #1 or #2? Well, maybe none of them since it combine some qualities of both. It has killer bass,excellent midrange articulation and presence, highs are extended but not agressive. With CEC transport Medea is #2 but, with Jason neither #1 or #2. Also there are new Esoteric gear D-01/P-01 or D-03/P-03( both can be combine with G0s external clock ), what about them? #1?
System synergy is the most important issue, IMO.
It doesn't mean that you can not have good result by combining warm speaker with warm amp/pre and warm dac.
Quite the opposite. Of course, results will vary from system to system...
Since I never had a chance to audition EmmLabs combo in my system( only at audio show ) I will imagine that it is as good as people say. On the other hand I have excellent experience with Weiss Medea/Jason combo, IMO it is one of the best red book cd playback systems currently availabile.
But, is it #1 or #2? Well, maybe none of them since it combine some qualities of both. It has killer bass,excellent midrange articulation and presence, highs are extended but not agressive. With CEC transport Medea is #2 but, with Jason neither #1 or #2. Also there are new Esoteric gear D-01/P-01 or D-03/P-03( both can be combine with G0s external clock ), what about them? #1?
System synergy is the most important issue, IMO.
It doesn't mean that you can not have good result by combining warm speaker with warm amp/pre and warm dac.
Quite the opposite. Of course, results will vary from system to system...