APL NWO2.5 ?

Puremusic - pointing to an APL forum is helpful but in no way is it objective IMO.

In my experience, nothing about this hobby is objective.

Several people have remarked that it noticeably outpaces the NWO-1, which was categorically the most lifelike digital I've heard to date. That includes many of the finest players available. In this hobby, the music becomes the focus when the component doesn't interrupt your listening by 'shouting out' its attributes. And that's APL.

As good as this unit might be, I would sure want to hear the Meridian 808 Signature Reference ($13.5K) before buying in this price class

My neighbor has one. It sits idle on his shelf, bested by both MBL & Zanden. Yet even with the support of a $250K system in a blue-printed listening room, neither his MBL or Zanden transport/DAC combos dig out nearly as much presence and palpability as I heard from the APL. Not even close. I'm not talking about extension, air, transparency, etc....but purely about the daring presence of a person singing in front of you.

I'm the first to argue that there is no absolute 'best' in this hobby, but I must say that the NWO was spine-chillingly good.

Well, I finally got to hear the NWO-2.5 tonight. My review of the player? ___________________(insert expletive here) unbelievable!

Alex said he had reached a point with the player where he was now unable to analyze or dissect the sound. We also found it impossible to do so. Everything we heard sounded like music, plain and simple.

During a piece by Rachmaninov, Alex asked if I heard the triangle struck in the background, and then muted by a hand. "Yes, I heard it," I said, "and saw it, too." If you can get one, do it. That's all I can say.

Where will Alex be in five years when your unit fails?

If you own the same player five years from now, you ain't no stinkin' audiophile!

Enjoy the Meridian. It's a very nice player.

Following up on a thread titled 'Reference DACs', how would owners of the NWO-2.5 characterize the player on the scale of #1 to #2 sound?

I don't own the player, but I've heard it on three occasions, for maybe an hour each time, playing a wide range of music: Rachmaninov, Diana Krall, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Nick Drake, and some avant-garde jazz (Banyan, Nels Cline, Tuatara, Steven Bernstein), etc. In my opinion, the player balances the best of both types of sound. It is extended top to bottom, with by far the most tuneful and resolved bass I've ever heard, confidently detailed (though neither crystalline or lush), with tonal reproduction and true-to-life palpability that will make you forget you're listening to an audio system. It just sounds like music, absent a designer's signature.