Can any player challenge Audio Aero Prestige SE ?

To Snook, how the hell can you make the statement you made without having an Audio Aero or anything else of that calibre next to it.

Even if your piano sounded real to you through your system you don't know if a better playback system might still uncover things that you were missing such as overtones or harmonic structure of textural nuances that you still don't know that your missing.

The only way we know anything is empirical testing and evidence, your current setup might be way better than your old set up but you can't make the claims you made to dis the AA setup or any other player unless you had it side by side in your system.

Just a thought, I am glad you like your setup.

The same thing can be said to Snook 2, a Prestige SE is a compleatly different machine than a way out of date Capitole mark II. There were many parts changes and modifications done to make the SE or MK III versions of these players. There is also a new transport in the works with new software.

I have tweeked my player with acoustic system feet and a Sunny power cord on a HRS base and the sound of the Presige SE is amazing! The player really does sound like analog to a great degree!

So the major point I am rallying for is opinions are great but keep them to the facts. Unless you have a current Capitole or a Presige and you have compared those players to an EMM labs then and only then can you make a statement to which is better and that is in your system.

EMM labs players are beloved and despised as much as anyone else's digital front ends, There are many people who find the EMM labs stuff to be too anaylitical. I have not heard an EMM labs player in my system so I am going on what others have said, but I repeat the only way you know something empatically is to test in your own system.

So test away!!!

Hello Guys,

Here is the infamous Audiooracle to add some clarity to the above thread. Yes I am an Audio Aero dealer, and the reason I didn't disclose that I am, had to do that my initial post was about the setup of the player and nothing more.

What you guys need to understand as a dealer, I have to purchase my demo pieces just like you do and as so I believe in the merits of my products. A good dealer doesn't push products they don't believe in. I didn't think my disclosing that I am a dealer had anything to do with my initial point which is not to rush to judge a component until you know what you want to get out it by setting it up and tunning it to get the sound out of it you are striving to accheive.

I was a Remiyo CDP 777 owner and dealer, the Remiyo was one of the most amazingly musical cd playback systems out there and I would never have moved into the Audio Aero if the Remiyo was still available, because I don't need two reference class CD front ends, but alass the Remiyo became no longer available, and thus my search begain.

I went with the Prestige because my fiends at Audio Federation as well as numerous others in the industry said that the Prestige is an amazing player that does battle with $20,000-$30,000.00 front ends and has a great collection of really cool features.

My inital expereience was the the stock Prestige sounded good but was not as musical as the Remiyo, the low level resolution was better, but I was not blown away by the player, so being an artful tweeker I went about making the player sound more liquid and more like the Remiyo. I did this by:

1: Removing the Black Diamond Feet and trying two other sets of footers.
2: Trying three different power cords.
3: Trying two different isolation bases
4: Adding one cd damping mat.

I repeat the stock player was good but hardly amazing sounding! The well tweaked up player started sounding like a good analog front end!

This was the very point I was trying to illustrate, far too many Audiogoners keep on switching out components without applying the art of tweeking to bring out the good things a product does while minimizing the things that a product does not do.

As to the comments made about both the Memory Player and the AMR I am awaiting both in for testing and if they are indeed better products, than I will sell them over, or next to my well tweaked up Audio Aero Prestige, depending on the merits of each player. Sometimes the grape vine is right while other times it is wrong!

As per the comments on my non-exsistant website it is non exsistant because I paid $4,000.00 to a guy who did a rotten job and we scraped it.

Look in the last few issues of the Absolute Sound and my full page ads are in there. We will have a website up shortly and I invite anyone in the Northeast to come in and see what I have on display, it is all there.

The other point I will make regarding Frankpiet's comments is that these are the results in his system which may favor one player over another, and may or may not be the same in mine or anyone elses systems. We do not know the conditions of the demo, also is the Audio Aero player fully broken in as they take 1,000 hours to do so.

I have listened to and sold Wadia's, and Accuphases and Esoterics, etc, for many years and the mechanical construction is excellent for many of these as for the sound they tend to be mechanical sounding, I am not discounting his finding which may or may not be the same as mine or anyone else's. There are no absolutes in Audio, or anything else, it all comes down to your experience and how experienced you are at setting up a system to make magic.

I would have to hear all these players set up in my system to verify his comments, he might be right in his findings in his demo. I would have loved to be there.

To Mrtenis,

If one of my customers has a contrary opinion he or she is right to have one. I can not force someone to like a particular product.

Frankpiet, your set up for the AA may or may not have been optimal. I use an HRS base and it makes a gigantic difference with most CD player, also a Margio damping disc is stellar.

The Omega cables may be the culprit in losing bass, I tried a similar cable and it is fast but thin. I would love to be there and join your testing session, but alass it is not meant to be.

The Audio Aero is a fantastic player, avguygeorge and there are many people using it directly as a full preamp.

You well need some good footers, the black diamond footers are excellent but the Acoustic system topline footers made the player much richer and more relaxed sounding. A a good power cord and place the player on a isolation bass, I use the HRS but here a black dimond base might be just the trick.

I just did a shoot out vs a $30k DCS stack and the AA blew it away! So if you got a Prestige you will be quite happy.
Do not have buyers remorse the player is excellent.