Hi Mjcmt, Thank you for the complement. The all Cello system is much more solid than the Apogee, thus suitable for more types of music. The Apogee excels in treble delicacy and sound stage, and when the magic works the sound is truly incredible. However, I got much more musical satisfaction from the Cello system......
Love your current super high-end "vintage-ish" system. How does this better your first Apogee/ML system? The green frosted glass rack is very stylish and modern...I like it too!
In the past month, I tried Cello Palette (not MIV, multiple input version) as a preamp, and Cello Audio Suit. My conclusions are that (1) Palette as a 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!
Suite has an indescribable magic. Switching the preamp from Encore Pre to Suite enhance the musicality of the whole system immensely.
Thus I decide to upgrade to Suite and add a Palette in the future.