Here is a slightly amended version of a post I made elsewhere... My existing system consists of an Audio Synthesis CD transport and DAC, a Jadis Orchestra integrated tube amp, Sonus Faber Elector Amator II speakers on Partington stands, and some serious TEAC cabling. I listen to FLAC files ripped with EAC.
My first impression of the Transporter was that it is incredibly revealing, separates every instrument, voice, and sound with astonishing clarity, and is very neutral. One of the things that struck me almost immediately was that it made my system do something I have never heard before: it could really capture the timbre of acoustic instruments - a plucked guitar really sounded like a plucked guitar with just about all the twang and resonance you would get from the real thing. Whats more, when there are lots of instruments playing different things at once I never have to struggle to hear pick them out and hear what each one is doing individually. They are just there. There was just one thing that bothered me. Compared to my SB3, the transport seemed a bit lightweight. I walked around the room and found that actually there was plenty of bass - but not where I wanted it. It was at the sides of the room, and in the hall outside, but not in my listening position. So I experimented with moving my speakers to new positions, including firing across the room rather than down it. What a difference! With the speakers firing across the room the bass lightness problem was gone. I have now achieved something I never thought possible. The sound is detailed, powerful, full of life, capturing all the nuances of the original performance: just sublime. Some tracks, recorded well (the Stones track, Love in Vain from Let it Bleed is a good example), are just unbelievable - I can (I know this sounds dead corny, but its true) close my eyes and Mick, Keef, and the boys, still in their 20s, are playing there just for me! I have never heard anything like this - even from a system costing over $500,000 I once sat and listened to that had so many tubes in the multiple amps that the owner listened to it in his singlet in a vain attempt to keep cool. I don't know for sure why the Transporter sounded more lightweight than the SB3 before I changed the speaker positions, but it is possibly because it is more controlled - it is easy to mistake uncontrolled bass for good bass. Sorry, I've gone on a bit. But I just want to thank Sean for designing the most wonderful front end to a stereo system that I have heard in my life, and to warn anyone else out there who might be a disappointed when they first hear it to blame other components of their system, and the way their system is laid out and set up, before they blame this amazing piece of equipment from Slim Devices! Cheers Sean, this is one blissfully happy customer in London. -- Transporterator ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transporterator's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=7784 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=28056 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
