Ramy,

Been a while since we spoke about Zanden...i have gone for the latest spec Zanden 4-box digital some years ago and have never looked back. Thanks for your advice at that time.

I now also have gone with Burmester 948 second hand and am extremely happy. I see you may still have one in your system somewhere as well...i took that as a very good sign given your exceptionally discerning system. Hope all is well...thanks for your advice and a great thread which has been inspirational.

lloydelee21 March 03, 2015 00:29

Hi Ramy,

Great to see...look forward to reading more about those changes!

lloydelee21 July 22, 2013 21:32

System edited: will add description at a later time

ramy July 22, 2013 19:32

System edited: Made lots of changes with greatly audible improvement

ramy October 15, 2012 20:42

Doug99,
After years of listening to these players it is a close competition between the Reimyo and the Zanden,the esoteric is rely used for SACD only.For the money the Reimyo surpasses eveything.The Zanden DAC is prone to minor technical problems the transport is excellent.I have moved the Zanden to my new bedroom system,where the competing cd source is the Accuphase 800/801 combo.The Zanden is a good match with my horn speakers which are more revealing and more sensitive to source/cables etc.

ramy September 28, 2012 18:22

You've had amazing cd systems.
Which one did you like the best out of the Reimyo cdp-777 CD Player, Zanden 2000p Transport, Zanden 5000 signature DA converter and Esoteric x-01 Limited?

doug99 September 22, 2012 17:08

Wow, it is always such a humbling experience to revisit your ever changing system ramy. Thanks for your candid remarks on the effects of the various high end interconnects, powercords and powerconditioners in your system ... very rare to hear this truth in the audio industry, and also very sad for the people who fall into it believing that higher cost ALWAYS guarantees better sound. The only thing that surprised me was the MBL preamp fatigue in your system, especially since I have heard it drive a pair of Tenor amps/Kharma speakers and the presentation was SMOOTH and NATURAL on a rendition of Carmen-Fantasie by Anne Sophie Mutter, Wiener Philarmoniker conducted by James Levine. I say this because I know, from previous experiences that the Kharma speakers can sound very fatiguing in some systems, but in this particular case they sounded wonderful ... a truly memorable experience that I'm sure you would have savoured as a classical music lover. The source for that system was the MBL top of the line cd player so maybe that's where the synergy came from.

best regards and many thanks again for your impressions

remy

amperidian August 10, 2012 13:03

Hi Doug,
The YBA are great for the midrange and up frequencies above 180Hz,while the Nemos are fantastic for the bass section,ie,frequencies below 180 Hz.

ramy April 30, 2012 17:50

Hi, you got an amazing system.
I had to ask, what amps do you like better?
The YBA Passion 1000 amps or the Electropaniet Nemos?

doug99 February 11, 2012 20:07

System edited: Main changes to the system,are the addition of the Soolos in combination of the new 861V6.Major improvement over the 861V4 in terms of sound quality.The change to the system was the rearrangement of the power amps.The Innersound amps are now powering the rear speakers,while the Electocompanient Nemo are powering the sub section of the German Physics Loreley. Absolutely superb even in a relatively large room the low frequency is feeling the space.Like in New my bedroom system I am now connecting the front speaker outputs of the 861 preamp/processor to the Cello Audio Pallete,and the Cello drives the front speakers.All analogue inputs from all sources are connected to both preamps,ie,the Cello and the Meridian.This provides the flexibility of switching from surround to two channel audio by passing the Meridian861.I just love this configuration.

ramy September 07, 2010 20:02

Hello Ramy,

Just came across your incredible system! I have to say I really enjoyed the following from your system description:

"I have been in the hobby for more than forty years,now that my hearing is declining I finally put together a system I enjoy."

And enjoy it you must! And enjoy it you do...I have no doubt :-)

Best regards,
Sam

c1ferrari January 19, 2010 07:47

Hi Ramy, Thank you very much for your reply. In the past month, I tried Cello Palette (not MIV, multiple input version in your second system) as a preamp, and Cello Audio Suit. My conclusions are that (1)Palette as an preamp does not sound as good as Encore Pre; (2) Suite is much better than Encore and Palette as an amp; (3)the combination of Suite/Palette is THE SUPREMA! I decide to upgrade to Suite and add a Palette in the future.

Cheers!

carl11529 December 07, 2008 14:16

apologize for the delay in response,was preoccupied with the stock market.I find the encore to work well with my audio pallete.You just have to adjust the gain in the encore not to overload the audio pallete.I also have a second system in my bedroom where I have a more recent version of the Audio Pallete which does have four inputs,which makes the encore unnecessary in a system like yours.

ramy December 06, 2008 19:25

Hi Ramy, I wonder how well the Palette work with Encore? I have an Encore(http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vdone&1226124789&view), and ponder acquiring a Palette. The problem is whehter to add an Palette like your system (Encore-Palette) or to trading-in Encore and use Palette as the preamp,till multiple inputs are necessary in the future and add an Suite? To my understanding Palette is designed to pair with Suite. That is the reason for my question.

You have a great system! Have fun!

Carl

carl11529 November 12, 2008 17:13

I envy you, Ramy. You've made it to where I'm killing myself (and wallet) to be.

Craig

cdwallace March 12, 2008 17:58

Ramy,

Your system is the bomb!

I'm certainly at a loss to suggest any improvement!

I have no doubt it simulates a live performance to the max almost regardless of listening location.

What can you do next for an encore?

mapman March 03, 2008 05:19

System edited: It is a sad day but I believe I am done I do not know how to improve on the sound any further.

ramy March 02, 2008 21:46

fernando,I agree with your observation when comparing to the zanden for certain music,However,today I was listening to a schubert trio on DG not deutsch grammaphon,but another german cd brand when played on either the reimyo or the accuphase 800/801 was not listenable harsh and unpleasant ie not musical,but on the zanden combo was perfect.But playing rites of spring on zanden sound is dull reimyo better but again falling behind the accuphase 800/801 sacd sound.Idealy you have a different system for each cd.(not a practicle solution)

ramy December 10, 2007 02:38

BTW - My Reimyo is now singing nicely - it was just needing some burn-in process. I compared it the other night with a Zanden unit - hands down the Reimyo in my setup!

Take care

flg2001 December 08, 2007 17:13

fernando,the reimyo is excellent the accuphase combo is different as it is an sacd player as well.I have not listened enough to redbook recordings using the accuphase to pass judgement if anything they are very close.However for sacd playback the dp800/801 is unique.For once I can realy appreciate the superiority of sacd recording.When I compared sacd reproduction with redbook using the various sonys,the dp-85 and the emm signature combo the reimyo sounded at least as good on redbook if not better,with the 800/801there is no question that sacd is far superior.One observation I would like to make,that atleast when it comes to classical recordings,the variation between different reproductions ie,CDs is much larger than the difference between different playback machines.

ramy December 06, 2007 00:03

Ramy - I sold an Accuphase CDP for the Reimyo - which I still keep and serves me well - what is your impression now witht he new Accuphase combo vs the Reimyo?

Congrats!

Fernando

flg2001 December 03, 2007 01:14

In response to Kops question,yes i have compared the MBL to the Pallete.However the comparison is not valid as I use the Pallete as an equalizer more than a Preamp.But when I use the MBL by itself for pure stereo audio I find the MBL to be more open and more detailed ,however not my taste,fatiguing after a short listening time,I would say the MBL is not musical component at least for classical music reproduction.I suspect that the MBL will not be in my system in the future.While I cannot live without the cello audio pallete.

ramy November 19, 2007 23:37

Well done Ramy, have you tested the new MBL vs Cello Audio Pallette?

kops November 19, 2007 14:16

System edited: Well again I have made a few changes to my system in the ever ending search for music nirvana.I replaced the emm/se dac transport with the latest accuphase entry the 800/801 dac transport and added the DG-38 equalizer.Major improvement over the emm atleast to my taste.Replaced the YBA amps driving the low frequency section of the Loreley with a pair of Innersound Kilowatt monos which out put 2 KW at 4ohms,the impedence of the sub section of the Loreleys.Major major(not a typo)improvement.Added another power conditioner the burmester,some day I will figure the optimum conditioner for my system.The DG-38 equalizer is connected but I have not figured out how to use it at this time.

ramy November 18, 2007 00:46

Ramy, needless to say your system and home is breathtaking!

I noticed you picked up the MBL preamp. Would you mind if you ask how you would characterize the sound? Is it dynamic, fast, slow, warm, neutral, bright, etc? I am looking into the 6010D's little brother, the 5011.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

By the way, where do you live to have such an architecturally amazing home?

tboooe October 06, 2007 21:28