UPDATE:
Yay! I finally had a visitor to help with my auditioning. Merrill of Merrill Audio joined me for the Meitner MA1 comparison.
He pointed out something that I mentioned in my Virtual System and Agear touched on many pages back, but MUST be reiterated. My room is NOT the ideal acoustic environment. There are a lot of reflective surfaces and an audible slap echo. At his urging, I am going to broach the idea with my Wife of maybe some subtle acoustic treatments to improve on the room a bit. Don't get me wrong, its not horrific, but it is evident. The system still sounds stunning, but could certainly sound better with some treatments. Since the room is on the bright side, my decision as to synergy and what sounds best in my room are certainly affected by these factors. Just an FYI in an effort to be totally open.
I invited him to join this thread to give his own opinions. He uses Sanders electrostats driven by all his own gear, and his MA1. His system sounds wonderful, but totally different from mine….
OK. The Meitner….
The MA1 is the definition of everything you need and NOTHING you don't. It is an industrial, very meticulously built box with simple front input selection and some red lights to show what sampling rate is playing. Obviously built with thought in mind, but no interest in making it fancy or physically enticing in any way. It is solid and very well constructed, clearly with thoughts of vibration dampening and shielding. It's goal is to sound good. The back is well laid out and designed. With a standard footprint, there is plenty of room in back. The PC socket was a teeny weeny bit wiggly, which surprised me. And the power switch was just above the PC connector, and was partially buried with my bigger Shunyata plug. If Lampy started to make all metal housings, I would expect them to look very similar.
It linked right up with the Mac as the others have. Asynchronous is a beautiful thing! It does do DSD and all things PCM.
Sound - The MA1 brings everything up front and personal. Very accurate, very meticulous and extended up top. The lower end didn't go down as low as the ODSE, but it controlled what it had a tad better. I find the bass response of the ODSE to be quite pleasing and natural. It's sort of like it has a loose grip on the snake to prevent it from getting out of hand as opposed to locking the snake in a vise and forcing it to move the way you want it to. Soundstage was not as 3 dimensional as the ODSE in any of the 3 planes, but imaging was laser point accurate. The ODSE is a bit more laid back (which to me was more pleasing) while the MA1 hands you everything on a silver platter. The MA1 has dynamics to spare and can handle those transients very well. The ODSE can as well, but it is not as lightning quick as the MA1. The notes are there and the music is there, but the MA1 didn't get my toes tapping the way the ODSE did.
To be frank, I unquestionably preferred the ODSE over the MA1 on every track on my list. I found it more engaging, more emotional and more musical.
Merrill felt that the MA1 was more accurate and more revealing, which are qualities he obviously values along with those flat plane electrostats. He also appreciated the grip that the MA1 had on the lower frequencies, and preferred that to the slightly less grip but lower extension of the ODSE. I will let him add any other points if he joins us on this thread. He said that one of the things the MA1 update will provide is better low frequency extension.
Merrill said that, in my room, he would chose the ODSE over the MA1. In his system and his room he thinks he would prefer the MA1. I think I would still prefer the ODSE, it's just more my taste.
We did connect the Aeris, now with about 280-290 hours on it. I feel the same way about it; it has potential and is getting closer, but is still young. It's wonderful, layered, goes deep and holds on tight, sound stages well and just makes music. Merrill didn't say it, but I think he didn't like it. He acknowledged that listening before its fully burned in is not fair and agreed that another 300-400 hours could make a huge difference. It sounds like an excuse, but I just don't want to pass judgement until its got at least 700 hours on it. I can hear and feel that there's something special there, waiting to emerge when it breaks from it's cocoon. Merrill felt that for the money, and in my room, the ODSE was the best choice of the 3. Currently, I agree. I think he was impressed by the ODSE. I know I am.
In a tube systen, I would have chosen the MA1 over the ODSE. Especially with tube amp AND pre-amp. But in my room the MA1 goes and the ODSE survives to fight another day.
Steve has agreed to let me hold onto the ODSE until the Aeris has 700+ hours on it, which is very generous.
Merrill took his MA1 back. He will update it when the update comes out and let me know if he thinks the change is worthwhile bringing it back for a second try.
Merrill LOVED my speakers and how they sound with his amplifiers. He didn't say it, but I think he was surprised at how transparent the Criterion pre-amp was compared to other Rowland pre-amps, which have more of the Rowland house sound. The Criterion is truly a musical window to the upstream and downstream gear. To be honest, its the first time I had anyone with a trained ear listen to my system (besides me) and I was very nervous!!!
Erik - I promise I will put at least 2 weeks on the DS before I try her out. That will be about 336 hours. I need to find another way to burn it in though, because I don't want to lose time burning in the Aeris while cooking the PS Audio. That's why I was happy to hear PS Audio was willing to burn it in before they sent it to me. Oh well…. Necessity is the mother of invention!
'fin
