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My first "speaker stands" were also bar stools. For twenty bucks a pop, they worked great.
Less successful was the room where the same Plinius amp and modded Oppo joined forces with handsome Eficion F300 loudspeakers ($18,100/pair), an eXception DAC ($4000), eXception SE linestage ($4250), and eXception integrated amp ($4950). The eXception integrated was providing the power this time, and it’s likely that the Expo T105 modded Oppo was being used solely as a source. Whatever combination of electronics and speaker I heard, they produced an unnaturally bright edge on baritone Matthias Goerne’s voice, and emphasized the brightness of cymbals at the start of Mahler’s Symphony 2. As has often been the case with Eficion demos, the lack of good cabling and room treatment may have also contributed to the brightness and absence of midrange warmth.
My first "speaker stands" were also bar stools. For twenty bucks a pop, they worked great.