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STEVEHOLT!!!
Next door, Tony Weber, who came to MIT by way of Cary, managed to fit a very impressive system into a very small space. I’m talking about an AMG V12 turntable with Benz Micro slr Gullwing cartridge ($18,000), Sutherland Engineering Phono Blocks ($9000), Spectral’s SDR-400SL CD transport ($19,000), DMC-30SS preamplifier ($15,000), and DMA-260 stereo amplifier ($12,000); Magico Q1 loudspeakers ($27,000/pair); and, with apologies for not writing it all out, a total of $65,000 worth of MIT Oracle MA-X interconnects, $50,000 worth of Oracle MA-X speaker interface, a Z-Powerbar ($3000) and numerous Oracle Z-cords for power ($4000/each).
It sounded great. The tonalities of soprano Renée Fleming’s recording, “Touch the Hand of Love” were gorgeous, and the spacious acoustic around soprano Elly Ameling’s voice was extremely special. I continue to find a certain dryness to Spectral’s sound that is not my favorite, but with it comes a depiction of voice and acoustic, including a natural-sounding die-off of acoustic reverberation, that are truly superb.