AudioMeca vs. AudioAero vs. Electrocompaniet

S2K_dude - When I stated, "Upon removing the Mephisto from my system and connecting the Sony DVP-9000ES I didn't immediately notice a difference." Was based on the fact that I was standing in the front of my room, between the speakers. It didn't take any longer than walking away from my rack to the sofa to realize that I needed to buy another Mephisto.

Mr.Bwhite should have a review page here on audiogon. Very open clear and honest opinions. Very unlike the "professional" reviewers. They are just like restaurant crictics they HAVE TO SAY mostly good to keep their jobs. Bwhite brings us a better understanding of these legendary digital units that most of us have not heard much less will ever own. But if I had the bucks its from Bwhites comparison review of three excellent products that i would make the best choice for me.

Thanks Tweekerman that was very nice of you! I just try to call it like I hear it. The thread got a little side tracked with all the high(er) end discussion and I apologize for that.

I will provide a "review" on this tread of the Keops when I get it. My friend has a Mephisto so I'll compare the Keops to it.

I know in your post you asked for a CDP with good bottom end extension. But have you tried an aftermarket power cord on your Orchestra? if so, which one? Also - what interconnects and speaker cables are you using? And of course, what speakers?.

Bwhite you have made some nice comments about the three players, and believe me no one has put the words better than you to describe the players with every single detail.
But, I have one thing in mind which is very important to me. I love musical, hologram, involving, life like and analog sounding presentaion. From what you mentioned I have the feeling that the Mephisto will suit my taste. But, I'm also a person who can not live without bass, I'm talking about natural extended deep bass not overblown boomy kind of bass. I hope you know what I mean. Since, you have been very helpful with your comments, from what I have understood is that the Mephisto lacks the ability for producing punchy bass that delivers straight to the heart not the mind. Could you please verify this matter, thank you..

Farhad, the Mephisto doesn't exactly "lack" bass - it's output does seems softer than the Audio Aero when using similar interconnects and power cords.

Changing the interconnects around produces more or less bass perceived bass on each of these units.

For instance, I found for both of these players, I liked to use Audio Note Kondo KSL between the CD and Preamp. For the Mephisto, I liked a pair of NBS Statement between the preamp and amp... This gave fantastic dynamics - superior detail and created a certain silence between notes. Strong and accurate bass.

Using the same interconnects on the Audio Aero gave me too much resolution - it was less comfortable to listen to. And seemed a bit "harsh" - Acoustic bass was bigger sounding but not quite accurate. So I swapped out the NBS Statement for a Stealth PGS. The PGS smoothed out some of the detail and added a softer quality to the music, taking some of the edge off - bass was diminished ever so slightly by seeming a bit less overpowering and so were the overall dynamics. As a result the soundstage tightened and became more focused. I felt that the PGS was a better match for the Audio Aero than the NBS was. But may not be the perfect IC for this combo. It would take more time to decide.

So far, I am totally undecided whether or not a CD player is the upgrade to make if you seek increased bass. While we all want all the frequencies I have found that most every high end CD player out there will help a system to produce its optimal level of bass only when the right associated interconnects and power cords are used.

Neglecting that will result in limited performance of your CD player - regardless of which one you choose.

As audiophiles we want it all - we want WEIGHT in our music and Transparency... We want Macrodynamics and Microdynamics... we want speed we want pace and timing, we want inner-detail and outer extension. It is very difficult to get everything - which makes this hobby such a challenge. Live music is capable of producing everything but very few high end systems are.

This is why tweaking with the right interconnects and powercords is mandatory at this level of audio-perfection. It takes time and patience but ultimately pays off in results.

Does this make sense?