Aotearoa is the M ori name for New Zealand which translates
as the 'land of the long white cloud'. The implication is that it rains
a lot, and hence hifi and home theatre make for great indoor hobbies.
I am overall very happy with the latest system iteration - the system
sounds great at all volumes and different music genres - with a
transparent, but pleasant sound quality.
Here is a brief description of other components strengths and weaknesses.
The Jeff Rowland Corus is detailed, holographic and dynamic. It did take some time (1000+ hours) to run-in though.
The Classe CA2300 amplifier is very transparent to the source with easy
flowing but agile bass. It doesn't quite have the class A sound quality
of my previous over-achieving Cambridge Audio 840W amplifers. But it is
definitely voiced more consistent across bass, mids and treble.
Marantz SA-11S2 SACD/CD Player is well balanced tonally, neutral and
smooth, yet detailed. It is more dynamic and transparent than the
SA14v2, but perhaps a bit more cerebral than the SA14v2 which appeals a
bit more to the emotions.
Marantz SA14v2 SACD/CD player is
musically satisfying with a rich tonal colour underpinned by weighty
bass. The SACD mode not a big improvement on CD as compared to the
SA11s2, where playing SACD is a more obviously a step up in sound
quality. Also has a smidgeon of grain in mids and treble that reduces
when left on continuously for a few days.
The Bowers &
Wilkins 803 Diamond full range floor stand loudspeaker strengths include
a deep agile bass, superb integration of drivers, and a very detailed
diamond tweeter. The tweeter is a bit hot (approx 1dB) relatively to
midrange. It sounds well-balanced at low volume but really opens up with
minimal compression at full-steam. Overall this is my favourite
loudspeaker (as was the previous 803D) in the price range that combines a
musical presentation with timeless industrial design.
Cabling is standardised on Audioquest, including Columbia and Colorado interconnects, and Rocket 88 speaker cables.
I found that room treatment, equipment support, mains conditioning and cabling all make a difference.
The most significant tweak improvement is from a custom plinth I built
for the loudspeakers. This resulted in better sound staging and detail
due to the inherent stability of the 3 spikes versus the standard,
incredibly fiddly 4 spike design.
