I have been an audiophile all of my life and was a dealer for such noteable brands as Audio Note, Goldmund and more. When I set out to find an audiophile set-up for my personal office, I started as most people, researching audio cards for my high-end computer (QX6850 Quad Core Extreme) etc.
After trying numerous cards and countless hours of research, I ended up with the ASUS Zonar D2X audio card with what most consumers would have considered very good sound through my AudioEngine speakers or Monsoon Planar's. Results for a guy who was used to S.E.T. amps was not satisfactory, especially in the midrange.
I talked with some of my industry friends who told me about the Era speakers and the Decco amp, processor and tube pre-amp all in one box. There descriptions sounded like they had been smoking something as they pretty much made it sound like it was on par with $4000 pre-amp, amp combinations with a killer DAC as a bonus. When I found out that the DAC had no filter or up-sampling I was sold, as this is the hallmark of AudioNote Dac's which I have always thought were the best sounding in the industry, bar none.
The combination arrived beautifully pakaged, I mean beautifully (AudioNote take notice). They were double boxed with protection everywhere. I was impressed already.
Let me just cut to the chase. This combination rivals equipment I have sold costing 5 times as much. Midrange, transparency, soundstage and imaging (oh that imaging) was to die for. I ordered a Siemens 6922 from Tube World to see what kind of a difference it makes and will let you know later. But at this point I have to tell you that I cannot imagine anything sounding better for the money. By the way, I opted for the D4 speakers as I need a small footprint on my desk but was blown away by the incredible soundstage and open transparent mid's and highs. I am using an Earthquake Sub crossing them over at about 70hz.
I am a happy audiophile sittting in my office with very expensive equipment out in my living room being neglected:)
