Shahinian Obelisk vs VandersteenTreo

probably a plot to make  it look like the Italians did it.....

Bob, Tomic,
It’s definitely a plot: you have surely seen that picture on the internet where a lady is writing to customer support asking whether her password is safe from Russian hackers. Customer Support’s answer: Da.
That must have been me ,😂
Yes, indeed, I am a Russian. A Russian, also speaks English, French, and Italian. Hence the Italian keyboard.😁

Finally received my newly bought second-hand musical fidelity A5.5 and hooked it up to the shahinians instead of my beloved, but child-unfriendly Manley Stingray.. So far the only good thing about it is that it doesn’t have any attractive switches or protruding glowing valves...
I guess, I must be doing something wrong. I did, however, phase the plugs and add a good DAC to feed it.
Underwhelmed...

Underwhelmed, how?

I was expecting that "neutral, sweet, tubey" sound that everybody raves about. Fidelity to music. Something like that.

What I got was... like I covered the speakers with a blanket. Powerful, loud, yes, but ... mushy. No air , no clarity, no dimension. The music was in the speakers, it did not come alive.
Calypso Minor from Abdullah Ibragim’s Sotho Blue, or, better, Someday Soon Sweet Samba from Capetown Revisited - all... boring.
Maybe it will get better with time.