Hi All,
So way back in January, yes before we knew how Covid was going to change the world, I decided that it would be cool to have a so called resident ‘Reference’ system in our Highend Room so I placed a load of orders for a lot of Highend kit to create this system, then Covid hit and I thought Bugger as lot of it started to arrive during lockdown and needed paying for, but we are through that now and the system is complete and up and running and sounds incredible and was worth every penny.
When it comes to a digital front end then the best in the world has to the the 4 Box dCS Vivaldi system so I am really excited to have this now on permanent demo at the heart of our Reference system, if you go to any Highend show then inevitably it is Vivaldi that is being used, I remember when I went to Dave Wilsons house to hear the Wilson Wamm’s he was running Vivaldi with D’Agostino so we have created a mini version running into the Wilson Alexia 2’s.
So the system basically comes to over £300,000 and comprises of the dCS Vivaldi fed by the Taiko SGM Extreme, I have to say that the Vivaldi system sounded incredible but when we added the Taiko it really did take the Vivaldi to another level, the Extreme really is an incredible digital source, this is then fed into the Audio Research Reference 6 SE Preamp then into either amps from Constellation, D’Agostino, Audio Research or Chord Electronics with their Ultima Mono’s, due to weight we keep the Constellation Taurus and D’Agostino Progression Stereo permanently in the rack, these then go to the awesome Wilson Audio Alexia 2’s which are underpinned with a REL 212 S/X subwoofer, all connected with Transparent Reference cables with all the kit sitting on Quadraspire X Reference supports.
How does it sound? in all honesty incredible, when I first listened to it trying songs I always use to try new kit I got a little emotional as I have been playing these same songs over the years but I can honestly say I had never heard them like this before, it really is incredible, so much insight and tangibility, there is an air of realism I have never heard before with HiFi, it is such a shame that we can’t do any open days at the moment to showcase it all but if any of this system is of any interest please feel free to book an appointment to come in for a listen.
Being a HiFi enthusiast I already have plans how to take this system to the next level when funds permit, as a lot of people will know speakers are my favourite part of a system, for me they give you the biggest upgrade so I’m definitely eyeing up a bigger pair of Wilson’s next year all being well.
Please find a few pics below but to be honest as nice as it all looks it can’t convey the magical sound quality, one thing is for sure I’m glad I did order it all before Covid hit as I may not have done it with the world we are living in at the moment but I am so glad to now have this system on permanent demo.
In order below is the Vivaldi Upsampler, DAC, CD/SACD Transport +Clock.
Cheers,
Paul.
