Meitner DCC2

I have just heard from someone else who put a Hovland linestage in that it considerably opened up his system, that is, he bypassed the DCC2 preamp, and, much to his surprise, as he takes a somewhat skeptical view of the Hovland, though the improvement was noticeable.

Henryhk,

I spent last evening listening to my friends system. The DCC2 is fully broken in. Prior to last night we had been in awe at how good the preamp portion is and busy with selecting the best interconnects and speaker cables. Last night we used his Supratek Syrah as the preamp and didn't do any critical listening. In fact the music we listened to ran the gammut from super high resolution SACD's to marginally recorded Redbook CD's from the 60's and 70's. Steve knows that I'm a huge Neil Young fan so he had purchased "On The Beach" for my benefit. We also listened to "Harvest Moom". You might get a kick out of knowing that we also listened to Iron Butterfly's "Innagoddadavida" and Booker T. And The MG's "Green Onions".

This system consists of The Meitner gear, The Supratek, two modified Berning ZH270's, Merlin VSM's with BAM with the latest upgrades. The best interconnects and speaker cables, to our ears were the Ridge Street Midnight SE II's. One thing to note is that optimal use of the Merlin's is placing the BAM between the source and the preamp which cannot be done with using the DCC2 as the preamp. Ridge street jumpers were also used for the first time ever in this system.

I have listened to this system many, many times and I consider myself to be as familiar with it's nuances as the owner. Last night was remarkable. I was totally blown away. The musicality, smoothness, body, texture, layering, detail and toe tappin' attributes were there better than I've ever heard before. Yes, this system is as sharp as a surgeons knife with it's ability to dissect every attribute of a recording and display it as under an audio microscope. On the audiophile SACD's the details were breathtaking. One particular cut featuring Keith Jarrett was particulary breathtaking. Everything was just so right. And, the live CD of Union Station was as emotional as it gets.

Particulary interesting to me was how this system responded to those earlier low res recordings that I love for the music content. Wonderful is about the only adjective I can come up with. Often times a really revealing system makes such music unlistenable. Not with the Meitner gear. This aspect has proven to this "strictly analog based" guy that the digital realm has arrived. I am impressed. Really, it's embarassing to try and come up with words that tell the magnitude of how impressed I am. This is ground breaking performance if you are willing to pay the price.

I anxiously await the turntable portion of this system to be up and running. I've felt strongly that some vinyl source material is so superior to the digital offerings of the same that the sun, moon and stars will align when the needle hits the groove in this system. After last night I now have doubts that this is the case. For my friends sake I hope that his Teres is up to the challenge since so much music is available on vinyl that will never be offered in any digital format. In that regard alone, the world awaits him.

Folks, these opinions are from a guy that never embraced any digital format. Yes, I've owned a couple of CD players and enjoyed the convenience. A few of the CD's I owned sounded pretty good. In the end though, I parted with my last CDP and sold off my modest selection of media. While never being anti-digital, I have always been a firm believer in the superiority of analog reproduction based on my listening experiences. At this time I'm tempted to say that these two very different medias are equal but will save that bold statement for a time it is proven to me. I cannot give a higher compliment to the Meitner gear than that. It is just sooooo good it's spooky.

Last night may have been the most fun I've ever had listening to music. I'm so very glad for you guys that can afford this type of purchase.

Patrick

Lugnut, Thanks for sharing your experience with the Emm gear. I was wondering if your friend is using the Philips 1000 or the new EMM transport. Also what other cables did you try? I was thinking that if He's using the Philips with the silver cables that it might have been on the bright side as compared to some good copper cables.

Thanks, Frank

Frank,

He is using the modified Philips 1000 but has the new Meitner transport coming soon. I'm certain that Steve wouldn't mind you contacting him directly about exactly which other cables and interconnects we tried. I'd hate to mis-speak about such in this thread. His Audiogon username is Vetterone. You may wish to check out his virtual system too as the room is really something. Regarding the silver cables, I have been very surprised at the lack of any audible edge when using the Ridge Street's. The low end has much more body than with anything else I've listened to. The highs just go on and on without any glare. Even my midfi solid state system responded well to the silvers.

I don't want to speak for Steve but I believe even the Merlins are supposed to sound best with copper but in our auditioning that wasn't the case at all.

We didn't speak much last night because, mainly I guess, I was speechless. Steve had remarked that the harmonica on one of Neil Young's songs from "On The Beach" was a little harsh. I know this material very, very well and assured him that the same edge was apparent with my analog source. I'm sure that the occassional note like that is a studio phenomenon recorded to the media and honestly transferred through the components.

Don't take my comment about my midfi system too much to heart and assume I'm not qualified to make these types of judgments. I consider my system to be very good, just not in the same league with Steve's. I've been in this hobby for over 35 years and use live music as my benchmark for evaluation.

I'm of the understanding that the new transport will probably kick the performance up a notch. Plus, knowing Steve as I do he will likely try other cables and interconnects in an attempt to make the most out of this spectacular system. If the Ridge Street cables are bettered I will post the results, for what that may be worth. It's just my opinion and others may not agree. At this point the differences are very subtle but still very audible. For sure, if a generic CD from a long time ago can sound so good to me then bright isn't happening, IMNSHO.

Again, I'm very glad for all you owners of the EMM labs gear. It's a home run. I can only hope that there is a trickle down effect some day for those of us on a lesser budget. I'm missing out on a lot of newer music by only spinning vinyl.

Hi Frank, I'm the guy that is the lucky owner of the system Lugnut is describing in his post. I have tried so many cables I own a cable burner,lol. Transparent and Harmonic Tech speaker cables were the last two SC's to be used. Both, of course are copper. IMHO, there is No brightness in my system, even with the MSEs, now that the Merlin MXs have their 200 hours of burn in time. I believe I get most of whatever the recording has to offer. If the recording is not spot on...we hear the results. If the recording studio has a problem, we will hear that too. But when the musicians get it right and the engineer(s) don't compress the hell out of the dynamics,well, who needs drugs to get high? I would not have it any other way. Most aspects of the music improve when the MSE cables are inserted into my system. It is very easy to hear the change. It was almost as big as putting the Supratek back into the system instead of using the dcc2's preamp. The Meitner gear delivers so much information that the cables have become even more important than ever. We will be doing a comparison of the dac 6e vs the dcc2 using the Supratek soon. I also have a short list of cables I want to audition. Can't wait!

"Enjoy every sandwich" Warren Zevon

Steve