Tvad,
I tried Merlin/Ars-Sonum Filarmonia/Cardas (both bi-wire and single wire Cardas Golden Ref., but not the Clear or Clear Beyond) and I wasn't as happy with it as I was with the Merlin/Berning/Joule/Cardas solution.
So here's the quandary: one can be content as Usblues is with his McIntosh amp and be done with it or one could continue to be obsessed with the perfect sound. I think any of the Bobby's "formulas" or the Berning alternative are outstanding. My taste in bass never goes lower than a double bass, and I think the reproduction of that sound is superb; same goes for jazz or acoustical guitar. When I sold the Filarmonia I played a Sylvain Luc CD that brought tears to my eyes. The buyer threw his money at me before I could change my mind. Having said that, whenever I put on a Brad Mehldau recording I can barely get through it without becoming irritable. Same goes with many of my jazz pianist recordings. Listen carefully to the mids, are they distinctive, continuous and hanging notes or are they surprising curtailed and marred in the pace of the playing? The tempo doesn't really matter. Listen to the first two tracks of Gonzalo Rubalcaba's Inner Voyage. It's not subtle if you've ever played the piano. The highs and lows are great, but the mids suck. Of course one could contest that it's the recording, and I absolutely agree, but I take these piano recordings with me whenever I listen to a new system and I've heard those mids better shaped. The VZN-100 is an improvement; the Berning is OK, but I seek more articulation without having to step up to 15K monoblocks. I would hate to part with my Merlins because they do play a lot of music exceptionally well, thus I'm curious if a 10K solution like a Berning ZH 230, Leben CS660P, or replacing both the preamp and amp with Shindo equipment would put a smile on my face. This is really my endeavor since I've sat with people who cannot hear what I'm talking about (just another obsession of mine).
I tried Merlin/Ars-Sonum Filarmonia/Cardas (both bi-wire and single wire Cardas Golden Ref., but not the Clear or Clear Beyond) and I wasn't as happy with it as I was with the Merlin/Berning/Joule/Cardas solution.
So here's the quandary: one can be content as Usblues is with his McIntosh amp and be done with it or one could continue to be obsessed with the perfect sound. I think any of the Bobby's "formulas" or the Berning alternative are outstanding. My taste in bass never goes lower than a double bass, and I think the reproduction of that sound is superb; same goes for jazz or acoustical guitar. When I sold the Filarmonia I played a Sylvain Luc CD that brought tears to my eyes. The buyer threw his money at me before I could change my mind. Having said that, whenever I put on a Brad Mehldau recording I can barely get through it without becoming irritable. Same goes with many of my jazz pianist recordings. Listen carefully to the mids, are they distinctive, continuous and hanging notes or are they surprising curtailed and marred in the pace of the playing? The tempo doesn't really matter. Listen to the first two tracks of Gonzalo Rubalcaba's Inner Voyage. It's not subtle if you've ever played the piano. The highs and lows are great, but the mids suck. Of course one could contest that it's the recording, and I absolutely agree, but I take these piano recordings with me whenever I listen to a new system and I've heard those mids better shaped. The VZN-100 is an improvement; the Berning is OK, but I seek more articulation without having to step up to 15K monoblocks. I would hate to part with my Merlins because they do play a lot of music exceptionally well, thus I'm curious if a 10K solution like a Berning ZH 230, Leben CS660P, or replacing both the preamp and amp with Shindo equipment would put a smile on my face. This is really my endeavor since I've sat with people who cannot hear what I'm talking about (just another obsession of mine).