Athena has become the ‘heart’ of my audio system. Feeds a Hyperion and a Mystere PA11. I’ve three or four sets of speakers I roll thru w/either amp. It’s definitely a ‘quality’ piece of audio gear. The other night, playing vinyl and using the Mystere feeding my ProAc 1sc, I came close to that ‘forever sound’. Transparent, musical, open, deep, spacious. The kind of session you don’t want to stop, as each slab of licorice made me wonder why I’d spent so much, time, effort, and money on digital playback. And, I really enjoy digital! Some of the recordings were just sublime. That’s hard to do in digital, that feeling of really listening to something special, rare even. It’s what makes the hobby so much fun, vs chasing snipes in the grass. This thru a modest vinyl setup, nothing extraordinary, just well sorted. I wish Athena had another rca input or two, but would be hesitant to give up the numerous balanced connections. I wish the 4th, optimized balanced input, didn’t over ride, disable, the other inputs. The things a beast. The remote is as solid as the unit itself. The matching power amps, if Hyperion is an indication, bring a powerful, richly textured, confident, smooth, deeply musical ‘body’ to both digital and vinyl playback. Music has color and texture, deep tones, and rhythmic drive. Not as see thru transparent as your SET, valve amps, but very good depth, a spacious warmth, tonal color and body that shows off good recordings but doesn’t shred your ears, ever. It may take a bit of time for the Denafrips to show its best, it’s a seductress not a dazzler. Built for the long run, it can rock, or unravel. It may teach you what ‘breakin’ is all about, be patient. When it all ‘opens up’, it is very, very, good. It’s got its own sound and it is seductive, it doesn’t hit you over the head with the ‘hey look at me’, but it will thump you and get the bod a boppin. Look forward to hearing how you set her up. Good luck…
