I think it will (yet again) essentially boils down to careful system matching.
Earlier this year, I accompanied my brother to rebuild his system. I got him to use my out-going Magico V3, but after 2months, he just wasn't too happy with the result, noting simply not enough juice for his Ref.150 to get the V3 to fully open up and get the bass going right.
So on we go a shopping spree..
Four different dealers, four different set-ups (within his budget) were scrutinized over a period of two weeks.
Results, in order of our preferences were :
1) Sasha (ARC Ref gears)
2) B&W 800D (Mark Levison)
3) Thiel 3.7 (All Mac Intosh)
4) Revel Salon2 (Krell Evo series)
Naturally, he came away buying the Sasha + the complete set of ARC Ref electronics--CD8, Ref.5, Ref.150, Siltech cabling, plus few Shunyata pc's. He was/is still elated with his new system, and I must say that it sounded very good!
In short, within the above system context, Sasha sounded the most balanced, full and alive, whereas to our ears, the Revel were a 'tad' tilted up at top, thin and lifeless.
However, a caveat, had all these been demo'ed under one roof where to mix and match components is a possibility, it might have resulted in different outcomes. But hey, isn't a dealer suppose to showcase their equipments at best (although admittedly, limited by brands they represent).
Earlier this year, I accompanied my brother to rebuild his system. I got him to use my out-going Magico V3, but after 2months, he just wasn't too happy with the result, noting simply not enough juice for his Ref.150 to get the V3 to fully open up and get the bass going right.
So on we go a shopping spree..
Four different dealers, four different set-ups (within his budget) were scrutinized over a period of two weeks.
Results, in order of our preferences were :
1) Sasha (ARC Ref gears)
2) B&W 800D (Mark Levison)
3) Thiel 3.7 (All Mac Intosh)
4) Revel Salon2 (Krell Evo series)
Naturally, he came away buying the Sasha + the complete set of ARC Ref electronics--CD8, Ref.5, Ref.150, Siltech cabling, plus few Shunyata pc's. He was/is still elated with his new system, and I must say that it sounded very good!
In short, within the above system context, Sasha sounded the most balanced, full and alive, whereas to our ears, the Revel were a 'tad' tilted up at top, thin and lifeless.
However, a caveat, had all these been demo'ed under one roof where to mix and match components is a possibility, it might have resulted in different outcomes. But hey, isn't a dealer suppose to showcase their equipments at best (although admittedly, limited by brands they represent).