Tranfiguration Orpheus description

So sorry(for the traffic involved),but I did go back to my friend,this morning.We listened and played around a bit,with his "O".We both feel that we must have had too much wine,last week!How could we have liked it,SO much?Of course it did not change it's characteristics,one bit,but "now" we don't like it anymore!My friend is going to sell it,and get something new).I think he is going to try to become more influenced by some of these posts,and take things from there.It did not mistrack,played virtually everything thrown at it,to a "fairthywell",had fabulous timbres,harmonics,detail,dynamics(top to bottom),incredible soundstage with depth as good as I have heard.To play it safe,we had a number of other hobbyists,from our little group,give it the "go round" by bringing some of their "torture track" lp's over.I feel sorry for them,as they loved this new Tranny,and did cartwheels.Their own set-ups range from Pipe Dream speakers,BIG Infinities,CJ Art II,the big Maggies,and some other standard and custom equipment,but there must have been something in our brew,as everyone was "flabbergasted" by the performance of the "O".
I am really perplexed,as a potential "serious" buyer,as these are the guys who taught me about the hobby,music,record collecting,equipment,mods,tweaks etc.More than a few actually have contributed "alot" to music journalism,yet I cannot allow myself to believe their "over the top" enthusiasm,for this new Transfiguration,knowing Doug has given it ALL that it can attain.Other than "it was not fully broken in".But no other parameters can be addressed because there was no control over them.So, just, maybe, those parameters could not level the playing field if one was say,going to commit to long term ownership.I'm confused.My pals must,surely,be in the dark,for liking the "O" so much.But none of them are moving to a new cartridge,like me.They are happy with their assortment of Koetsus,Olympos's,Coral Stones,Titan's,"V",s,Benz etc.What could they know,for virtually going "ape-shit" over the "O" in one guys set-up?Maybe the set-up was flawed!
Best!
Mark

Before entering THIS fray, I'll get out my Trio and Sonic Fireworks Albums and listen to them with my lowly Temper W for the qualities Doug describes. In the meantime, and apropos of Doug's stratospheric hearing specs, I ran across this site from the University of New South Wales. All you need is a decent pair of headphones and sound card to test your own amazing hearing ;--):

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/hearing.html

Anyway, I'll listen to both albums as I stare hypnotically at a printout of Doug's comments, and compare my findings with his. Gosh, what if my W turns out to be better than Andrew's O!

This all puts me in mind of the composer Max Reger's reaction to a negative review­­: "I am sitting in the smallest room in my house. I have your review in front of me. Soon it will be behind me."

Hey,in defense of Doug(really),I believe he and the others heard what was stated.My only bone of contention was there was no assumption of possibly getting better performance with a different set of parameters(forget breakin,eighty hrs is fine).It seemed the "wholey incomplete" results stemmed from the desire to "want" a given result.Do you actually believe anyone would not lend creedence to the possibility of varying set-up(s),vying for ownership of a five thousand dollar product.
When I was so over the top last week,about the "O",I specifically stated there had to be equal to,or better designs.Too much competition.
Are we alone in the universe,just because we have no proof,of other life?Are we the smartest life force,in existence?I assume not!
I actually "deeply" respect Doug/Paul,and actually like these enthusiastic guys,alot!If only you could not have been so wooden,and assumed "more could probably be had"(here,assuming is not a real stretch),with this sort of financial investment.
It's great to love one's stuff,but,sorry,the dice seemed loaded before the shootout!And the results seemed,almost,celebrated.Do you have any real criticism of any components you own,is something all of us should ask ourselves!Alot of guys have really good systems.
Best,and I mean only to instigate good debate.
Mark

All,

Just got back from a business trip an caught up on these posts. I beleive Doug's comments echo my own to a large degree. As I said in my post, the Uni defintely sounded better than the O. I think Doug captured the differences well. The most remarkable difference to me was the Uni was very open, clear and dynamic. The O sounded somewhat opaque and flat. As far as the bass goes, I heard a difference but honestly don't have the experience with these tracks that Doug and Paul have; nor did we have time to really go back and forth.

Hopefully the O improves radically with break-in!

Andrew

Andrew,

Thank you for being an upstanding guy. I never doubted what we all heard, though I'm beginning to wonder why we bothered sharing it. You get my vote for honest audiophile of the year.

Like you, I hope the O will open up a lot more. IMO this is likely precisely because it couldn't yet track that warp on 'Trio'. A 9g/13cu cartridge on a TriPlanar should track that, so odds are it will improve a lot. Our Shelter 901 and Airy 3 each needed 200+ hours, so keep spinning.

A repeat visit (in either direction) after a few more months would be good fun.

A wee nip o' the Lagavulin to you,
Doug