Originally posted by wadia-miester
Marco, I would argee with the M/L, but the Krell however hard, can groove and pRat rather well, as for the the Wad's 
Could you, tell what you felt about the Levinson sound that stood out, as a no-no for you what equipment it was used with, as the CDS2 is positively average in groove compared to the Wads, and you get all the other attributes that Naim can't do, to be fair Densen does a better stab at it as well, you see Naim doesn't have a sole claim on the music thing, as more and more people are discovering, I agree also that a 8 foot guitarist and 12 foot wide drummer arn't realistic either, neither is a thin veiled sound, with lacking in presence and texture, it is possible to have a lot of interesting bits from both worlds, just not that many guys have discovered it yet.
Wadia-miester, Tone isn't it? (Please correct me if I'm wrong!), the Absolute Sounds trip where I listened to M/L, Wadia etc was nearly three years ago, so remembering exact details is difficult, but as far as M/L is concerned, I heard their £6k CDP (then) in conjunction with partnering M/L amps (I'm sure the guys at AS used the appropriate components) into a pair of Wilson speakers (not sure what model, maybe WATT PUPPIES?), and the sound was what I would describe as 'impressive' in a hi-fi kind of way, but musically unrewarding and rather bland.
However, it was the system's performance in the midrange (the most important part of the frequency range for me) that did it. I listen to a lot of female vocalists, so I took along some discs from Lucy Kaplansky and Kim Richey (amongst others), and their voices had a distinct 'pinched' quality, as the integration between mid and treble frequencies was poor; they just didn't sound real. The top end was also somewhat over-exposed. Furthermore, the system sound, as a whole, was dominated by a flat, rather 'thuddy' bass and, compared to my vastly less expensive (at the time) Naim system at home; it lacked believable dynamics and made little discernable attempt at timing.
Your comment: "the CDS2 is positively average in groove compared to the Wads.ââ'¬Â is of course your opinion based on your experience, but I'd have to say, on the contrary, that as far as my experience is concerned, when I heard the Wadia player (the one a couple of grand more than a CDS2?), I liked it much better than the M/L, but, for me, it still didn't do what the CDS2 did...I guess it comes down to your definition of "groove", and a multitude of other variable factors to do with the room/mains/set-up and partnering equipment.
What I agree with entirely is your comment: "it is possible to have a lot of interesting bits from both worlds, just not that many guys have discovered it yet." Yep, so true. For me, though, having assembled a musically satisfying system over a number of years, the desire to further experiment with equipment just really isn't there. Your assertion is better directed at those currently building a system or starting off for the first time. If I do anything to my system, it will be to add a further four 135s (second hand) to tri-amp my SP100s because my system is set-up to allow me to realise the huge benefit of doing this, or maybe a pair of Stealth monoblocks. Mana-wise, I will continue to add levels until everything is at Phase 7; that done, the budget will be spent on music, wine, and good living :MILD:
Marco.
