Drat
Got the dreaded "yellow slip" from UPS Friday saying they'll be back on Monday with the CDP
Strangely enough "FedEx" brought the MiniMax CD player just about an hour ago.
Oh Yeah, it's already in the system and playing away.
Straight out of the box impressions:
Rich - this thing is much richer than my Denon, my Luxman, my Harmon Kardon, or my Rotel. On Johnny Cash's last album, his voice is old and raw. This player gives it just enough richness to "hear through" his present voice and hear the man inside.
The guitars are also very rich sounding and fuller without losing a bit of detail.
Piano is very rich sounding now with nice warm overtones. (although some of the Diana Krall riffs are still a little over modulated)
Bass - the Bass is also richer. It is also so big, deep and dynamic that I had to turn it down "one click" on the X-2 (crossover)
Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, might describe the Bass of this thing on the Bela Fleck & Flecktone's cut of Flight of the Cosmic Hippo. My couch is vibrating...Oh Yeah!
Male Voice - My biggest challenge was to get Josh Roban to sound the way I felt he should in his louder passages. No matter what I did, I still seemed to get a bit of "grain" or sibilance at the very loudest SPLs.
This too is mostly gone to the point that I think anything else that I'm hearing is in the mike modulation
True tests: (well of course nothing is a true test, but these do tell you how "real" something can sound.
#1 The audience clapping on "A Case of You" by Diana Krall. With most CD players, it sounds more like a cacophany of rain on a tin roof and people whistling and shouting. With this player, it sounds like applause (although recorded "WAY" too loud)
#2 The finger snapping of Krall on a cut called "My Love". While most players will allow you to hear her moving her fingers closer to and further away from the mike as she turns and looks at the Bass Player, this MiniMax make the snaps sound "very real" in comparison, by softening them to sound like they really do, rather than dry and brittle.
Soundstage: Hold on to your hearing aids, this (along with depth and imaging) is one of my favorite things and this player certainly places the instruments and sounds across the stage with accuracy and stable precision.
On my favorite cut on the "BlackLight Syndrome" CD, it is remarkable how it moved some instruments away from the speakers.
And all this with no warm up or break in!!
Let me get at least 50 hours on this baby, and I'll be happy I became a dealer.
If I had one little nit to pick it would be the "feel" of the remote. The buttons actually feel like they "click". Don't worry I'll get over it, if it keeps sounding this good..
So anyone in Los Angeles, Southern CA, or if you are visiting, vacationing or for some reason "in the area";
Buzz me up and stop in for a listen. This is a very cool little CDP in my system and room.
