Well, I just auditioned a set of Legacy Audio Focus SE with Raven amplification at Dave's place, and, well, I don't even know where to begin or what to say. I've always had SS amplification and pretty much mid-fi equipment at that, so it's not like I have much, if any, listening experience with tube amps. But I have heard lots of speakers demoed with SS amplification over the years, some of which sounded very good. Dave played CD quality tracks off his computer, no high rez. Suffice it to say, I've never heard CD level audio sound anywhere close to this natural. Ella Fitzgerald seemed right in front of me. Bass like crazy, and with impact.
What I heard today is certainly eye opening. There is no way to assign the percent of relative contribution to the awesome sound for each component involved, all of which are orders of magnitude better than what I currently have. I've just never heard any reproduced music sound that good. I attended the East Texas Symphony(better than you might think) last Saturday, so I have a very recent experience with live, large scale music. What really got my attention is cymbals, which sounded pretty much exactly like they did at the symphony. Very open and "airy". The Focus SE are certainly excellent speakers, but my suspicion is that the Raven amplification played a huge part in the incredible sound quality. Now, I'm going to have to re-think my whole approach to audio.
What I heard today is certainly eye opening. There is no way to assign the percent of relative contribution to the awesome sound for each component involved, all of which are orders of magnitude better than what I currently have. I've just never heard any reproduced music sound that good. I attended the East Texas Symphony(better than you might think) last Saturday, so I have a very recent experience with live, large scale music. What really got my attention is cymbals, which sounded pretty much exactly like they did at the symphony. Very open and "airy". The Focus SE are certainly excellent speakers, but my suspicion is that the Raven amplification played a huge part in the incredible sound quality. Now, I'm going to have to re-think my whole approach to audio.