I had a chance to listen to both the Sphinx and Cronus Magnum recently, just a few weeks ago. Visited my local dealer to hear the Sphinx specifically, and while there figured I'd branch out and check out all-tube options as well. We tried a fun exercise - we went through the CD collection and tried to find what we thought would be the lowest-fidelity, most poorly produced and possibly lousiest-sounding CD we could...and we chose a Great White CD from the late '80s. I wanted to hear how it would sound on the CM vs. the Sphinx, to see if an all-tube design would make a difference with a "bad" recording. The rest of the system was an ARC CDP and a pair of Proac Studio 140 MKII speakers, with Nordost ICs and speaker cables. All together, some nice gear.
On the Sphinx, the Great White CD sounded lousy...borderline unlistenable. It was harsh, it was bright, it was strident, it was just not enjoyable. Which is nuts if you think about it - between the Proac, ARC, Nordost cables and Sphinx it was probably $22-23K worth of equipment, and the result wasn't pretty.
On the CM, it sounded worlds better. Dramatically better. Still a poorly produced CD, but the output was just more musical and less fatiguing.
I offer this anecdote not as criticism of the Sphinx - I enjoyed listening to it through the Proacs with other music, and The Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session sounded great through the CD7 into the Sphinx and Proac. But everything sounded better on the CM. It's very possible that was just a matter of system synergy with the Proacs, and through any other speakers the Sphinx would sound better. So take this anecdote for what it's worth. Our test wasn't scientific, just going back and forth with one CD between two amplifiers to see which we liked better. But I did change course and ended up buying an all-tube integrated instead of the Sphinx that I originally went to demo. I didn't get the CM, but only because the dealer had just taken in a mint pre-owned ARC VSi55 with new tubes and the money was similar - if the ARC hadn't just come in, I'd have walked out with the CM.
And side note, I did take the CM home for a night and tested it with my B&W PM1, which are difficult-to-drive speakers, and that was a great combo. So I wouldn't hesitate to pair the CM with speakers that people might otherwise consider best with solid state, depending on your specific room and speakers, of course.
On the Sphinx, the Great White CD sounded lousy...borderline unlistenable. It was harsh, it was bright, it was strident, it was just not enjoyable. Which is nuts if you think about it - between the Proac, ARC, Nordost cables and Sphinx it was probably $22-23K worth of equipment, and the result wasn't pretty.
On the CM, it sounded worlds better. Dramatically better. Still a poorly produced CD, but the output was just more musical and less fatiguing.
I offer this anecdote not as criticism of the Sphinx - I enjoyed listening to it through the Proacs with other music, and The Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session sounded great through the CD7 into the Sphinx and Proac. But everything sounded better on the CM. It's very possible that was just a matter of system synergy with the Proacs, and through any other speakers the Sphinx would sound better. So take this anecdote for what it's worth. Our test wasn't scientific, just going back and forth with one CD between two amplifiers to see which we liked better. But I did change course and ended up buying an all-tube integrated instead of the Sphinx that I originally went to demo. I didn't get the CM, but only because the dealer had just taken in a mint pre-owned ARC VSi55 with new tubes and the money was similar - if the ARC hadn't just come in, I'd have walked out with the CM.
And side note, I did take the CM home for a night and tested it with my B&W PM1, which are difficult-to-drive speakers, and that was a great combo. So I wouldn't hesitate to pair the CM with speakers that people might otherwise consider best with solid state, depending on your specific room and speakers, of course.