Jeff Rowland

Pleasure is all mine Richard... Reality is that audible beauty lies in the ears of the beholder... And I suspect that you and I might be hearing in ways that are not dissimilar.

Undeniably, someone else,, equally passionate about audio and music, might have prefered M525... Or the house sound of a totally different brand.

Guido

Guido,
I try hard to express my preferences while respecting other's points of view. Audio is definitely a preference, but not an absolute. I submit the M525 is great in a smaller system/room, but in my 20' x 26' room, combined with Aerial 7Ts the power and fidelity of the S2 is very obvious.
I submit the Bricasti M1 DAC is great, but knowing what I know now, if someone gave me a choice between having a PS DSD DAC with the JR Continuum S2 or Bricasti M1 DAC with the JR M525, I would take the former of the two. That speaks volumes to how good I think the Continuum S2 is compared to the M525.

I had the chance to do a long side-by-side between the C500 and the S2.  I used the same external DAC, cables and monitors with both.  I alternated the monitors between the SF Amati Serafino, Maggie 3.7, and a pair of Shahinian Hawks.  I must say it's really a toss, I expected the S2 to be better and it was at times, but not all the time.  I think the Maggies overall sounded better with the C500, a better bass and midrange.  The Shahinians sounded best with the S2, and it was a complete toss up with the Serafino's.  I think the Serafinos are the least colored speakers of the bunch.  All of the monitors present difficult loads to an amp.