[Albert Von Schweikert]

Hello Fellow Audiophiles,

After months of hearing about a new "killer" CD player (the Tentation made by Eera of France) that reportedly sounds like an analog master tape, I couldn't resist and asked Mr. Cor Dekker of Musical Reality in The Netherlands to tell me more.  Mr. Dekker is the European Distributor for this Eera player and has been very excited about the response he is getting.  The Eera Tentation model is quickly becoming a reference standard for the dealers and owners who have tried this amazing unit, and many have owned far more expensive units.  After reading a review in the French magazine Haute Fidelite, which gave the Tentation Five Stars (out of five available) and called it 'the best CD player they had ever heard' my curiosity was captured, so what the heck, I bought one.

As I have tried over ten of the world's most expensive DAC's and CD players, including units made by DCS, Meridian, Ayre, Benchmark, Bel Canto, Linn, Esoteric (modified), EMM Labs, and quite a few others, I have become hyper aware of the small differences in sound between them all and am amazed at how digital technology is changing every few weeks. It seems that the magazines are continuously hyping new models in every issue.  Since my partner and I have a rather large collection (7,000+) of regular CD's I started buying in the late 1980's, I have a significant investment in software and want to hear this music at its best.  By the way, I HATE digital sound and greatly prefer tape or vinyl.

[TONEPUB]

So, will you be the US importer for these players?

[Albert Von Schweikert]

After receiving the Tentation from Eera in France, I warmed it up for 30 days while I read the reviews and checked out the specs.  Haute Fidelite, the leading French audio magazine, called the Tentation 'the world's best CD player' and gave it their top Five Star rating in every single category.  After studying the specs, I learned their chip set is modified, has Delta Sigma Modulation at 24 bit 192 kHz sampling rate (theoretical), has 128X oversampling, and a 3 beam laser.  It has both RCA and XLR outputs, with a S/PDIF digital output.  However, it has no USB or Ethernet connection for music servers and will not play SACD (no great loss).

After comparing the Tentation to several other players including the DCS stack at $75,000, I believe the $12,000 Tentation is in a league of its own. It sounds like analog tape, but without the tape hiss, and has clarity of 24/96 downloads, but with a highly musical sound field - no sign of "digititis."  In fact, this is the best CD player I've heard, so I just bought the US Distribution rights.  More to come, stay tuned.

[Albert Von Schweikert]

We are working on setting up a US dealer base, but until then, we invite interested audiophiles to call or PM me if they wish to become a beta tester. If you're looking for the most musical CD player available and have tried other brands and were disappointed with the analytical sound, this player might be the answer to your dreams.  If you grew up on tubes and vinyl and have heard master tapes of great performances, you will understand what the Tentation offers.  It is expensive, but we will have a very special price for beta testers.

Happy Listening,

Albert Von Schweikert
CEO, VSA Corp
California
Phone (951) 696-3662

[msm_1]

Hi Albert

Would you make this available in Canada as well ?

Thanks

Mike

[JackD201]

For a minute there I thought Yoav came out with a CD player 

Sorry Albert, I couldn't resist that one.

I like the smoothness of Delta Sigma conversion but like the CAL Audios of old, I always found them rather dull and lifeless. Never the less, these are big claims Albert. I'm looking forward to hearing from the Beta Testers.

I wish however that all CD players were fitted with at least SPDIF inputs so as not to need separate DACs for servers. If the Tentation had one I probably would dive in even just to check it out.

[werd]

Hi Albert

This sounds very interesting. Would you happen to have a link to info on this player?

[Phil A]

Hi Albert

This sounds very interesting. Would you happen to have a link to info on this player?

http://www.eera.fr/

[Phil A]

If you click on the British flag symbol on the upper right - you get the site in English if that is more helpful

[werd]

If you click on the British flag symbol on the upper right - you get the site in English if that is more helpful

I looked for that website thanx 

[Phil A]

I looked for that website thanx 

I believe the appropriate response is "de rien" but my audio is better than my french

[Albert Von Schweikert]

I used to have one of the twin chassis California Audio Labs CD players using a tube output stage.  Just like Jack says, it had an overly smooth sound that was a little dull and lifeless.

This was due to the tube output stage and the old chip sets from the 1980's, which cannot be compared to the new custom chip sets.  Also the Tentation uses a Class-A discrete transistor output stage, without the dull and lifeless character Jack talks about.

The lack of an input to use with a music server isn't really a problem, as this player was designed for guys with large collections of CD's and this particular type of customer isn't interested in computers.  You would be shocked at how many phone calls we get from older rich gentlemen who want us to mail them a printed catalog of our big speakers, since they don't own a computer.  Oh, they can afford one, they just don't want to bother.

By the way, if ayone wants to compare specs, here are the most pertinent ones for the Tentation - if you've seen better on a stand-alone DAC, please let me know, since I've never seen specs this good except for the $75,000 DCS stack:

 DA  Conversion 
 
Theoretical  Resolution:  24bits  >192
Resampling:   384 Fs   ( that  is  twice  the  theoretical)
 
Bandwidth:  5hz  to  24 Khz...  +/-  0.0015 dB   (get  a  load  of  that  one)
 
Channel/channel  phase   error:   N   measurable   (that  is  excellent)
 
SignalNoise  Ratio:    -130 dB  (  That  is  the  highest  I  have   seen ) 
 
Phase  linearity:   +/-   0.19*

Best regards,

Albert Von Schweikert
Exclusive US Importer for Eera

[JackD201]

Looks darned good. I gotta grill Cor some more.

So who are the lucky Betas? I'd go for it but I'm in Asia.

[ceedee]

Looks darned good. I gotta grill Cor some more.

So who are the lucky Betas? I'd go for it but I'm in Asia.

I can introduce you to EERA to become the Philipinian distributor Jack.
No Beta, just for real

Cor

[JackD201]

What's the minimum order quantity Cor? I'd need to test the entry level and the flagship, then do market testing before I can commit anything to them. Will they be okay with that?

[Charles Calkins]

Albert:
  Have you listened to the Oppo BDP-83SE?

                                   Cheers           
                                  Charlie

[es347]

I can introduce you to EERA to become the Philipinian distributor Jack.
No Beta, just for real

Cor

Cor, can I floorplan the EERA players for under $100?? 

[underdog64]

I'm puzzled what makes it so good/special? but not doubting that it is.Doesn't have seperate power supply (like Naim) or elaborate mechanical construction like Oracle,Lector or other top notch single box players.Are there any extensive professional reviews on it in English anywhere?

[Zero]

Can't help but wonder how it would stack up to my AMR.  I love that front end.

Anyways, thanks for sharing the info/enthusiasm of this relatively new player.  

[underdog64]

Since my last post I did find one review of an EERA cd player (the DL2) from 6 Moons from '07.Not shure how the DL2 would compare with the newer model Tentation but it did offer some insights into the mechanical "hotrodding" EERA did on the transport as well as jitter reduction to get better performance from the player.Here's the link to the review:http://www.eera.fr/PDF/DL2_6moons.pdf