Updated listening opinions
Here's a brief update on today's Tampa Bay caravan listening session. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to Brad's, so will let the others comment on his sonics, as well as mine.
Craig's updated setup, with his new Wadia 581i directly feeding his Electrocompaniet monoblocks, was jaw-dropping incredible, playing back redbook CD's, SACD's, and streaming from his Squeezebox. Craig has been experimenting with lots of room treatments, and his efforts have really paid off. The synergy of the entire setup yielded extraordinarily tight bass (the best I've ever heard with Summits), with exquisite resolution, detail, and imaging. The midrange and highs were incredibly clear, with an organic and lifelike presentation, that, IMHO, sounded better than tubes! For comparison, he swapped in his 20 W Art Audio Jota tube amp, which drove the Summits cleanly, but IMHO lacked that last 5% of resolution compared to the Electrocompaniets. Overall, I'd give Craig's setup an A+.
We next headed over to hear George's system. Since I last heard his setup, he had rotated everything 180 degrees in his room, eliminating the sonic imbalance from an off-center fireplace. He had also replaced his Simaudio Moon pre with the Pass Labs (? X series), feeding his X350.5. The new setup had prodigious power and superb imaging, driving his ML Aeons, with a Paradigm servo sub nicely dialed in. George has just started adding room treatments, so his room was definitely brighter and a bit boomier, than Craigs. We all had suggestions on where to best locate his smartly built DIY bass traps, and some other acoustic treatments, as well as perhaps reorienting his sub. Overall, his system had sparkling detail from top to bottom, and with additional room treatments, should compare favorably with Craig's. Overall, I'd give his setup an A- on sonics at this point, but with the X350.5 as the foundation, he'll be "graduating with high honors" once he finishes with room treatments.
As usual, I returned home with a bit of remorse, realizing I still have a ways to go yet, to achieve both Craig's and George's level of sonic achievement. I'm hopeful that most of my systems failings are due to poor room acoustics, which I'll be focusing my efforts on for the near term. After hearing the other systems today, I'm demoting my setup to a B+ grade. Gotta run now and do my homework!