Well,
that certainly strains credulity, doesn't it?
Well, considering you don't own a CD555 (or any of the other components I own...) I don't think you've got much of an opinion to offer here.
Not that it ever stops you..
But back to matters at hand.
Having quite a bit of seat time with the SME 30, which is an awesome table, it's up to you whether the Continuum offers 15 thousand dollars more worth of performance.
It's a relative question. It certainly does reveal more music than the SME, and it has the best bass performance I've ever heard from an analog source in terms of weight, definition and texture. I had a long chat with Michael Fremer over the weekend and confirmed pretty much what I'm hearing.
I've also chatted with a couple of other Continuum owners over the weekend and though we all have different systems, we are hearing pretty much the same improvements.
As for the worth of the Continuum, it's just like buying a Porsche GT3RS or a Ferrari F430. (and yes, I've driven both...) Is the F430 worth 70 thousand more than the GT3RS? It depends. If you want the F430, it's immaterial, that car costs 70k more. Doesn't mean the Porsche is a bad car.
Because this is such a limited production item, I'm sure part of the extra dough for the Continuum buys exclusivity, but it also delivers the goods.
I've spent plenty of time with a lot of great tables in the 10-40 thousand dollar range and own a few decent tables myself, but the Continuum is definitely a step up.
What I've also noticed with the Continuum, even though I've only got about 40 hours of listening time under my belt is that just like any other premium table, if you don't have the system and ESPECIALLY a collection of pristine recordings, it's probably not worth the money.
It does a great job with average recordings, but the good stuff is where it really shines. As my record collection is probably only about 25% primo stuff, I probably won't be buying the Continuum unless they make me a killer deal on it. I'll be just fine with my P9 and an SME 20.
Whether you've got an extra 56k to drop on a table is up to you. However, if you are someone with an extensive collection of great records, I would definitely put the Continuum on your short list of tables to audition. We have three people on the staff that have much more collectable records than I do and the two that have already heard the table came away very excited by what they experienced.
I just wish this kind of turntable performance was only about 4000 bucks, so a lot more people could have this experience!
