Joey, what kind of music do you use for your testing? Are the instruments acoustical or electronic? Were the electronics tube or SS?
Sorry for the questions, but I find it curious that the Summit X is better on vocals but the Diamond is better on instruments.
I know that way back when you bought a turntable, but promptly sold it. Are you planning to get back into vinyl?
Hey Bernard -
1. Yeah, going back to vinyl at some point.
2. Source will likely be Esoteric K1 or K3, if I'm trying to save money, then a Cary 306SACD Pro. Still looking to outlay either $10K on the Esoterics or about $3500 for the Cary since it is not a current production.
3. I have dedicated 20 amp outlets in my dedicated room for the system.
With regards to the listening tests - the system was technically out of my control, the system used subpar upstreams on both speakers, solid state from top to bottom. Listened to my CDs, well known tracks that I use for every one of my auditions.
Michael Buble, John Legend, Lana Del Ray.
I just cycle through a few tracks and do back to back tracks, probably stopping midway on each track and swapping to the other system. The speakers were both in the same room, one was on one side and the other was on the other. Down time between swapping tracks between speakers probably 20 to 30 seconds.
Not a perfect audition by any means, but it was good enough to get an idea of how each sounds.
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When I say vocals were better on the Summit X, what I mean is that the placement of the vocalist is just how I like it and how I remembered it. Right there, mid center, but has a beaming effect to it almost giving the effect that the singer is spitting energy at you. More forward sounding is a better way of describing it, which is what I like. Also, I felt like the vocals sounded more natural - very similar to what I had been used to with my legacy Summits.
The downside, I felt, is that if I tried to follow the other aspects of the music like let's say the background violin or the piano in the background, it was more "muted" on the ML. On the BW, I could feel the crescendo of the music and the emotion because you could really relate to the music as the background violin would swell up to a climax... vs same track on the Summit, I had to listen for it and even then, i could "hear it" but not "feel it". Very hard to describe but easier if you were with me. My brother agreed and he said he preferred the overall sound of the BW.
I told him I preferred the vocal presentation of the more forward sounding ML, the fact that the music just envelopes you... but that I agreed, the ability of the 802 Diamond to place instruments in their place along the front/back plane of stage was very very good.
