Spend my $8,000 pt. 2

Heli_dog: Thanks for the heads up. What are you using the Copland with? Have you compared its phono stage with anything else? I can't seem to find who reps them in NY, so I guess I'll email the copland people. Anyone have an idea?

Also, any Rowland 201 users want to chime in on what they think of the sound? Man am I demanding!

Thanks everyone for your help...I'll continue to update this thread as I audition (starting this friday!) just in case anyone is interested. Maybe someday I'll even be able to add pics of my system, if I ever get to set it up. If you're selling/renting an apt. in downtown manhattan let me know!!!!

So I finally got to audition the rowland gear. I couldn't listen to the integrated, but I heard the concerto pre with the rowland 201s, with a meridian cd player and some B&Ws. The sound was unimpressive. Everything sounded rather condensed, especially in the lows and mids. The soundstage was pretty deep, and the imaging was rather nice, but something about the highs seemed to assault my ears. It seemed a little grating, and didn't make me want to listen. I'm not a B&W fan in general, although I have liked some of their stuff in my time, but this was just a bad match. I tried to get them to switch in some proacs, which I'm much more familiar with, but they only had them on special order. I think it's hysterical that a store of this size and inventory only has B&W speakers to audition with...filling quotas much? So that wasn't my cup of tea.

The Sim i-7 is apparently still not available, which is a bit of a drag. I mean, I know shipment dates aren't concrete things, but that's why it's better to say "Available in Fall 2005" instead of "Available in August 2005". I listened to an ayre K1xe at a friends place and ultimately think it's pretty great, but not for me. I listened to the Aesthetix Janus with a Cary 303/300, Bat VK-250, an Avid TT, and a pair of Audio Physics. The sound was great in the mids highs, but the bass, although it had great extension into the lower registers, sounded a little sluggish and murky. We swapped in some Electra 927BEs and it was a different ballgame altogether. If I was just looking for a line stage or just looking for a phono stage, I think I'd still get the Janus. Jesus, what a piece of equipment. I liked the BAT quite a bit too, and I think it had remarkably little signature. I almost wonder what their tube amp would sound like in this setup, but I'm still partial to SS at this stage. The Avid table sounded killer, and I need to find out the model # of it, because it's the first Avid I've heard and I _really_ enjoyed it. Some people have said they sound slow, but I disagree in this case. Also, I noted none of the tube rush on the Janus that others have cited. It was exceedingly quiet and not nearly as hot as I feared. Okay, so it's not winning any awards for power conservation, but if it sounds this good, who f-in cares.

So it looks like the Aesthetix is the winner. Next up: TT and cables.

I relistened to the Avid and I retract my earlier statement. It may sound a bit slow in comparison to the super scoutmaster. Not that it's a bad table, and I'm not even sure slow is the right word to describe the sound, but I think it involves some careful matching in other areas (but what doesn't?). In any case, I'll need to save up for the power amplifier before any changes to my analog source so I'll bother you all later when the time comes for my TT.

I remember your quandry, I'm in the same boat. I just recently heard the Chord 2600 -- a very sweet sounding integrated which has the most open sound for an integrated I have heard. Very tubelink for solid state with a big soundstage, lots of depth and very musical. Sorry to add one more amp to the mix, but if you can find one used, about 3k, you will have an amp that can last you years. It is 120 wpc into 8 and 170 wpc into 4 ohm load, very stable, no phono stage.

I heard the plinius hooked up to a pair of proc speakers, the chord as well. The chord made the plinius' soundstage sound compressed. The chord has such an extremely open presentation that it is never fatiguing. I am looking at buying an integrated and my search is over.

If you want to see a review, check out this link:

http://www.avguide.com/product/Receivers,_Tuners,_and_Integrated_Amps/Stereo_Receivers_Integrated_Amplifiers/Chord_USA_-_Bluebird_Music_Ltd./CPM_2600/3174.jsp?product=3174

It is from the Absolute Sound, from March/April

Good luck.

re: last post -- saw you are an art dealer, you will love the look of the Chord...