replace a full Cello System?

She should audition the new Carver sat/sub speaker system. The room size and acoustics will significantly compromise the sound she is acustomed to. THe benefit of a Pallete might be neglegible, or more necessary. Hard to say.

She will need A PS Audio Premier Power Plant, an upgraded wall duplex- PS, Wattgate... personally I would go with a PS Audio GCC 250 or 500 integrated amp, upscale power crds like Tek Line Reference, speaker cables- Clear Day Cables- solid core siver double shotgun, and Clear Day interconnects. This will cost much less than what she sells the Cello parts off for, and she will likely not sacrafice too much sonically.

Your requirement is really quite unusual. Most serious audiophiles can only dream of acquiring a full-blown Cello system! After living with my own Cello system for an extended period, I can tell you from experience that your friend will likely regret any “downward” move she makes. Having said that, I have a suggestion that may solve her space and money requirements, and still preserve most of the sound quality she is accustomed to.

Your friend should keep the Audio Palette & Cello Strings. She can sell off the Performance Amps and replace them with a Cello Duet 350 (certainly not as powerful, but maybe even a bit better sounding). The Strad. Masters can be sold and replaced with a pair of Cello Legends. The Legends are substantially smaller than the Masters, and can even be placed on a large sturdy bookshelf if necessary. The Legends were magnificent speakers, and have a very similar sound to the Masters.

Feel free to contact me if you wish. I am the west coast rep. for Viola Audio Laboratories, and may be able to assist you in swapping out the equipment.
Ken G.

I have a couple of friends that had Cello electronics (Performance II + Encore and Duett 350 + Encore) and they moved to Viola Labs (Spirito + Bravo).

I think it´s the correct step if you have money, like Cello neutrality and control and are searching for more else like liquidity and refinement with that both aspects. Both Tom Colangelo and Paul Jayson are/were involved in this absolutely amazing world class components.

I seriously recommend your friend to listen Viola Labs.

Again, thanks to everyone for recommendations. The system is now for sale here on Audiogon.
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstran&1233627102&/Cello-Music-System:-Stradivari

Feel free to contact me with questions or for a link to the image gallery.

I saw the owner kept the Palette. Is it the less expensive Palette Pre or more exotic Audio Palette? If it is the latter, I suppose she has an Audio Suite. Better keep this combination as the preamp/equalizer and replace other components. Suite/Palette are the SUPREMNA!