What are the digital to analog architectures employed by the Esoterics, AMRs and Ayons?
Part of what attracted me to the Eera is that it employs Sigma-Delta conversion. In my experience Sigma-Delta has always been smoother than ladder or even ring architectures. Most professional ADCs are Sigma Delta at the recording stage. My beef with it if you scroll up to the first page, is that this smoothness often translates to a dull, lifeless presentation most especially at the frequency extremes. Albert did however say that this player was different in that regard.
Now I have great trust in Albert. It's not that I think he is the best designer out there, albeit he is way up there IMO. I think if he had a name easier to spell or pronounce, VSA could have been more than just one of the best kept secrets
While I respect Albert a great deal I don't regard him as some sort of prophet or mystical audio guide. For six years, however, it has been CONSISTENTLY made very clear that we share the same sonic priorities and even taste in music. That would be wide bandwidth, transparency, an expansive, airy, wrap around presentation, big headroom and jump thanks to the use of high sensitivity midrange drivers (100dB/1w/1m) and an attention to complete depiction of the musical envelope from transient to decay with complete harmonics. Something I attribute to our common interest in Classical Music, Classic Rock, Jazz and a penchant for up and coming singer songwriters. This are sonic attributes I also see with my favorite electronics designer, Vladimir Lamm and my favorite Turntabe Designer Thomas Woschnick of TW Acustic. These same traits even extend to my choice of cartridges, my favorites being the Dynavector XV-1t and the MY Sonic Labs Ultra Eminent BC. So when Albert said the Eera fits his/our tastes to a proverbial "T". I gambled and went for it despite my skepticism on the basic architecture.
This is why I am always hesitant to say anything is the "Best" since after more than twenty years I sincerely believe there IS no best, only what is best for me. This is also the reason that I am extremely conservative with any of my recommendations. After all, a product may be great but set up alone can turn any great product into a piece of underperforming junk. The Eera Tentation, as I hoped share exactly the same qualities that I have come to love with the rest of my set up and as a result slotted in like a perfectly CNC'd peg in a laser cut hole. The Emmlabs combo does bass like no other I have heard, tight tuneful, accurate in the midband, hear everything clarity with little harshness, my beef with it has always been that it reminded me too much of my days listening to my mixes during my studio days. Great for work which demands full attention but not so great after a long day or week at work. The Accuphase DP-78 was factory upgraded to DP-200 firmware after a laser assembly change and was even more natural than my Emmlabs. Not as firm in the bass department but prior to the Tentation had all great resolution, an analog feel but came across as too pure sounding to ultimately be natural with it's very slight emphasis on tone thus a very slight penalty on harmonic content.
The Tentation however just sounds like the VSAs, Lamms and TWs of CD Players. No wonder Cor Dekker married the two. Where it loses out to my two previous references is that the drumkits are more recessed in the stage than I am accustomed to. Thankfully, my VR-9 speakers allow for adjustability. Now mind you the Tentation has only some 20 hours under its belt. While I am a firm adherent of the "If it doesn't sound good out of the box, it isn't" philosophy with respects to electronics, I do think there may still be improvements. Just not huge improvements.
My system consists of the following
VR-9 SE Mk2s (integrated 1kW 15" subwoofers, rear firing 5" ribbon ambience tweeter)
choices of Lamm M1.2 Reference Monos, M2.2 Monos both fitted with Mullard Military CV2492 tubes, Lamm ML1.1 Tube Monos
Lamm L2 Reference Linestage
Lamm LP2 Deluxe Phono Preamp
TW Acustic Raven AC-3
2 Graham B-44 Phantoms (Mk.1 and Mk.2)
Kubala-Sosna Emotion ICs from sources to preamp
VSA Signature ICs to amplifiers
VSA Signature Speaker Cables
Kubala Sosna Emotion Power Cords
Shunyata Python PCs for VR-9s
Cartridges are Dynavector XV-1s, XV-1t, Koetsu Jade Platinum, Clearaudio Titanium, ZYX Airy 3 S, MY Sonic Ultra Eminent, Ortofon A90, Graham Nightingale I hope to have the Orpheus and the Miyabi joining the stable soon
3 dedicated 15amp lines and 4 dedicated 20amp lines off a Siemens Breaker
The room is custom designed RFZ with with prime number dimensions (3m x 7m x 11m) an RT60 of .4 and a noisefloor of ~30dB with air conditioning running
Here's a pic of it. Final finishing will be done in a weeks time. The fabrics finally arrived and those garbage bags can finally come down. The area rugs come in three weeks later. Great room for listening, even greater for getting sloshed
So I guess you can say, I could've opted for most any player out there except those dCs, full on Esoterics so for me to be happy with the Tentation is a testament to its performance never mind its plain looks. After all some my carts cost more than many of the players mentioned. For me it's all about enjoying. Once I get past the wife's internal auditing I'm scott free!
If you look at the bottom picture you'll notice that the pair is signed. That stems from the fact that while I am one of Alberts most dedicated supporters, I am also probably his biggest PITA critic
What I like about him most is that he listens to owner's feedback unlike so many out there that get defensive and all worked up with "righteous indignation".
