I finally received my upgraded Master BAM and RC's and, as promised, my impressions follow.
But first, I want to put in a plug for the hideous, but remarkable Altmann DAC. My system has undergone about three major upgrades since I first got the battery-powered Altmann. Each time I was worried that it would not keep pace, and each time I've been amazed at how musical and analogue-like the darn thing is and how much more detail was waiting to be revealed. Definitely the best value I've come across in audio, if you can put up with its appearance and inconvenience (car battery needs to be recharged every hundred hours or so.)
Now on to the Master BAM and RC upgrade. First, a bit about burn-in. I have to disagree with the information sheet provided. To me, it did NOT sound good right out of the box. Yes, there was some noticeable increased resolution in the higher frequencies, but quite edgy, and lower frequencies were pronounced in their absence. I found the overall sound to be quite constricted. (I think I'm particularly sensitive to a lack of smoothness in the high frequencies, so ymmv). After 10 hours, however, hints of magic slowly started to become evident. But only hints.
By the end of day three (36+ hours,) it was sounding really good, significantly better than pre-upgrade.
It is now the end of day four (~50 hours), and I think it's fair to say I'm blown away.
My general subjective experience is simply that of a giant leap forward in my enjoyment of the music. Of course, that's not to say that the VSM system that I had before was at all a slouch. That's why it's surprising, but true, for me to be saying this. Especially on good recordings, I'm just hanging out with the musicians, heart to heart. The unconscious stress that we all experience trying to fill in missing sonic details, or removing what doesn't belong there, has faded.
I think the simplest description is that more than ever before with the Merlins, the speakers have just disappeared. There is now a venue in front of me with discernible acoustic characteristics and musicians playing within that venue. Again, this definitely varies from recording to recording, but the best recordings are startling in their realism.
I think much of the improvement can be attributed to the blacker background. It allows all of the complex harmonic details that contribute to realistic tone to be heard. And tone is key. Without natural tone, all the other audiophile goodies are worthless, as far as I'm concerned. The VSM's have always excelled at natural tonality. This upgrade has hit it out of the park.
One other observation: there is a manifestation of distortion that I've never given any thought to, but it has to do with accurate relative sizing of instruments. It's obvious that different systems throw different sized sound stages. And it's also obvious that some systems bloat or constrict the size of all instruments. But the flattening out of size of instruments is a more subtle aspect of distortion. It wasn't until now that I even became aware of the phenomenon. The Master BAM improves the relative sizing, which makes a significant contribution to overall realism. A double bass is big, a violin is small. A baritone sax is big, an alto sax is small.
It's not so much that I'm hearing things I've never heard before, although there is some of that. But more importantly, I'm hearing things in ways I never heard before. I'm hearing full, well-rounded piano notes, with all their harmonic complexity. Saxophones have body. Drum sets are particularly interesting. Each cymbal and drum has its own signature, yet the set is presented as a coherent whole.
I still have 50+ hours of recommended break-in period and the thought that there's more coming is making my lips smack. How much better can it get? In my opinion, this upgrade is a tremendous value, provided your upstream equipment can keep up.
System: Equitech 2Q balanced power unit; Drobo hard drive storage unit; Mac Mini and iTunes; Altmann DAC; ARS-Sonum Filarmonia integrated tube amp; Merlin VSM-MMe w/Master BAM; Cardas GR interconnects; Audience AU24e speaker wire.
