Continuum Caliburn - really the best TT on earth?

Syntax,

after CES your link hit the spot, thanks.

we are a sorry lot, aren't we.

Thuchan,

it's not a trifling thing to consider a product like a Caliburn. your comment that certain tt's "do not push my emotions very much" tells all. looking at your already formidable array of analog beauties which i'm sure you highly enjoy, what will it take to go to the 'next' level?......"to push my emotions"? you already have excellent tt's, but how to get to the top of the heap?

i can relate. although 7 years ago when i purchased my Sirius III there was less a question about 'top dog'. not that there was or ever will be universal agreement on performance with tt's. cars, or most anything.

what will be interesting will be to come back a year or so after your purchase decision and see how you then view things in terms of your other tt's. did it 'push your emotions?'

it's fun to see people who clearly are 'all-in' on the hobby pursue the best.

enjoy.

yesterday i spent 30 minutes or so at CES listening to the Caliburn. it had an Air Tight Supreme mounted, playing thru ARC electronics.

i've listened to the Caliburn 3 other times at shows but never had a true sense of what it's character was compared to my impression of my Rockport. it seemed in the past that i was always listening thru other gear and so could not get a handle on things.

anyone who thinks that the Caliburn is the best tt is certainlly justified. i think it does dig more information from the gooves than the Rockport. there is a remarkable amount of musical (not just stuff) info that is easy to hear. OTOH i think the Rockport has more forward propulsion and continousness, has a greater feeling of solidity and ease, and maybe, just maybe, darker backgrounds.

all these differences between the 2 tt's are not huge, but it's easy to hear when both speak so clearly.

i can think of a few potential reasons for the differences but the 'why' is not really important. i don't have a hankering to sell the Rockport to buy a Caliburn. but i'd love to own both if i could possibly afford it. since it is a current product it's nice to know that at least it's a choice. the Caliburn is a fantastic tt and all us vinyl lovers are better off that it exists.

i'm on the way home to Seattle from CES, sitting in the Sacramento airport on the wifi, with 3 hours to kill (the flight is delayed till 8pm).

Raul,

true, the CES system the Caliburn was in was not familiar to me, but added to my previous experiences i am comfortable offering my opinion. as a long time Rockport owner i feel there might be an interest in my viewpoint relative to the thread subject. nothing i said was any sort of revelation or bombshell. anyone can ignore or consider my comments as they see fit.

my comments were prefenced by 'i think'. no statements, no proclamations. i'm not likely to hear these tt's side by side anytime soon, or even in the same or similar system. we do what we can.

btw, your point is not unreasonable to make.

So I guess one "reason not to go for a Caliburn", as you originally asked, is that it costs so much?

i think a better way to look at it is that the cost/benefit ratio is not sufficient to close the deal.

not a matter of means but of value.

he is already drinking from the extreme tt performance well with his current rigs. how much better for how much more money?

evidently not enough....yet.

so then it comes to the issue of 'i gotta have it anyway'.

i've had opportunities to own a Caliburn for less than i'd been offered for my Rockport (although in the interests of full disclosure, not recently). for many different reasons i never went that way. not that i might not be equally or more satisfied with the Caliburn. i just like the Rockport and did not want it to go.

Kostas,

your comment is a reasonable one; but only if one assumes that Eckart liked the Caliburn lots more than he liked the Criterion.

again we come back to the cost/benefit-value issue.

i've heard the Caliburn and the Criterion 4 times each in different systems. i've spent more total time with the Criterion. but i've never heard them side by side. other than having them both in your own system for an extended comparison, the next best thing would be what Eckart apparently did do, compare them side by side in Oz.

he has not written any detail about his final decision making experience (at least that i have seen). so we may wonder what the tipping point(s) actually ended up being.

my guess is that the Criterion came 'close enough' at approx half the price. if he only liked the Caliburn a little more that would be a decision he is likely very happy about.

there is nothing to prevent him from tradeing up later. at least he knows the difference between them to his ears.

no regrets needed.

i say congrats and let the music flow....

Good tuntable VERY VERY OVERPRICED!!

so a Magico Mini 2 owner is calling a tt overpriced, that's rich.

btw, i'm not saying that the Magico, or any product, is overpriced. just that if one sees $30k value in a small 2-way, then one should be understanding of a $60k tt.