Systems: dealer top picks

By Michael Jones

October 2007

Previous issues of AudioEnz have set some specific constraints of the systems chosen by our five dealers - usually by price, room size of type of system. For this systems article I've asked our dealers to come up with their best hi-fi systems, with only one constraint - that the components chosen be either in stock or normally in stock in their stores.

Here's the wide variety of systems chosen by The Listening Post:

The Listening Post, Hamilton

Wadia 921/931

VTL TL7.5 preamp

Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 8

This is an article that we can get truly excited about! We all know that the better a system is, the closer it brings us to the performances we love. And as we all know, being completely and utterly immersed in great performance is one of life’s most rewarding experiences.

So break out your cheque books, gentlemen, and let us show you Nirvana.

Start getting used to the words “worlds finest”. We have spent the last 30 years travelling, listening, comparing, and enjoying the best equipment in the world. Our recommended system is comprised of our favourites.

Our source is the four box Wadia. The 270SE transport spins the disk and outputs a high quality digital feed. The two 921 mono block decoding computers turn this pure digital data stream into extraordinarily music. The 931 Digital Controller coordinates the whole affair and offers choice of decoding algorithms, volume control, input selection and so on. Performance is the finest we’ve heard from a digital source. $78,998

We’d recommend connection of the Wadia with The Aural Sympohonics optical interconnects. These are custom made for the Wadia four box, and are the only interconnects we’ve heard which will let the Wadia deliver everything it’s capable of. $9,000

For amplification we’d recommend the VTL TL7.5II/VTL Siegfried combination. This is one of the two best amplification products on the planet, and certainly the best valve amplifier product. The Siegfried’s deliver a staggering 800W of glorious valve power. Both units use extensive use of microprocessors to keep the valves operating at their absolute best, and to make owning valves a stress free experience. $32,995 and $89,995 respectively.

In an ideal world we’d partner these with the phenomenal Wilson Audio Alexandria X2’s ($284,000). Unfortunately we don’t have a pair of these in stock so are beyond the scope of this article. Instead we’ll use the legendary Watt Puppy 8’s. At less than one fifth the price of Alexandria’s, the Watt Puppy 8’s offer extraordinary value. $50,000.

We’d recommend connection of the VTL’s and Wilsons with the Analysis Plus Gold Oval interconnects and speaker cables. These cables use a mixture of pure gold and high purity oxygen free copper. The Gold Ovals are Analysis Plus statement product, and represent the best cable design possible with current technology. They are certainly the most transparent and communicative cables we’ve heard.

No high end system would be complete without room treatments and vibration control. For vibration control we’d recommend the Still Points. Typically they will lower your noise floor, allowing fine detail and musical textures to shine through. In most systems we also find they remove a layer of “grain” and offer a more relaxed and liquid presentation.

For room treatment we’d recommend a Rives consultation. One of our technicians will visit you listening room, make a detailed plan of it, then make a number of acoustic measurements using a calibrated microphone and high end acoustics software. We then send this information to Rives Audio in the USA, who will do the analysis and provide a treatment plan for the listening environment. Once the treatment plan is approved by the client, and installed by our technicians, we complete a second set of measurements and fine tune the treatment plan for optimum performance. At $5000 (excluding treatments) this is one of the best investments any one with a high end system could make. Few people realise just how much impact their room has on the performance of their system till they hear differences.

We shan’t bore you with all the normal audiophile crap. When you get into this league neutrality, dynamics, speed, clarity, and authority should all be givens. The only possible criticism would be that sound stage height could be a little greater, which is precisely what you get when you move up to the Alexandria’s. What makes this system breath taking is the way it can transport you to your favourite performances, and connect you so directly with the emotional in your music.

The only way to really understand why some one would invest in a high end system is to experience one. Till you’ve spent some time with a great system you simply can’t understand what a rewarding and uplifting experience recorded music can be. Once you’ve lived with one, life without one seems empty. Our system comes in at a total of $306,310.

In the immortal words of Friedrich Nietzsche “Without music, life would be a mistake”.—Romesh Anandaraja

Source: www.audioenz.co.nz