Any body hear the new improved Merlins at CES?

Brooks-- the DAC they used was an Audio Note/Ken Stevens DAC 3 Signature. It’s waaaaay beyond Audio Note’s stock converters from any series. They are rare, they are expensive and they are like nothing else on earth. Put it this way-- I wish I had one.

Kevin, thanks for the details. Wow, if that is expensive compared to Audio Note's upper end stuff, then you just redefined the word for me. That must be in the "If you have to ask..." category. It would be quite a treat to hear one. It is a bit of delicious irony that Peter Q's rarified pieces are being "modded." I am interested to know if he participated ken's project, if he listened to the result at the CES, and finally what his comments were. This could turn out be the yet to be released DAC 6 in a joint venture form.

Hi Guys,
The modded DAC 3 sounded very very good, relaxed and extremely convincing. I am looking for one myself, or at least Kenny is looking for me.
I was extremely pleased with the sound at the show. The CAT electronics has a live sound that caught me off guard a number of times. More so that at any other show, dynamic interplay made the system sound like performers were in the room. Totally strain free at live SPLs with that life like POP around everything.
Bobby@merlin

Hey Bobby,
What about Srajan Ebaen's comments on Six Moons.com regarding extreme/rude volume levels from a Merlin room. Was that your room or somebody elses's?

Well, I guess it was our room but it certainly was not rude or extreme in any sense of the word. I had very friendly relations with other exhibitors around us and no one outside of the room or in the room made mention of this to anyone in our group. In a situation like this you can never win. You play it at 90 dB and those who like it at live levels walk out bored and you play it at 100 dB and those who like it at 80 dB walk. It is a show after all and this sort of thing is just part of the territory. You basically try to play your music at the recorded volume level. We were getting bombed by a subwoofer system somewhere in the building and I didn't run all over the place trying to find the culprit. You learn to just play things a little louder to drown out the others. If Srajan and his group were offended, they should have said something to us personally rather than writing that nonsense in his show report. I don't care how many years Srajan was in the business, he is being naive if he thinks that shows can be conducted in a fashion where everyone is happy.
I would like to thank him though, he dispelled the myth that Merlins can't play loud. The lack of dynamic compression was clearly evident. :-P
Regards,
Bobby@merlin