darius-lpv wrote:
...another one: "So after all that in Darius's oppinion, his own AVI wins.........
surprise"
just the same sort of surprise that in Lindsay's opinion his own EV won
...
I think I may need to restate exactly what I mean by systems winning bake-offs.
In terms of sound quality per lack of WAF the very clear winner of the EV vs AVI vs ATC bake-off was the AVI system.
On that basis there's no doubt that of the 3 systems the AVI's would be the best solution for most people, including yourself darius.
In terms of how realistic each system sounded with a grand piano, on the day, it was yourself darius that spoke for all 3 of us that summed up our thoughts when you said that the EV system was best at recreating the big box sound of this instrument.
With grand pianos being such an exacting instrument for hi-fi systems to recreate, any system that recreates this best is pretty much the de facto winner - in terms of sound quality.
At no point during the 6 hours of the bake-off did I hear you darius say that the AVI's sounded better than the EV's in any respect - apart from the smoothness of the AVI's.
This then may come down to personal taste. To my ears the smoothness of the AVI's made them sound relatively unrealistic. Live music of the sort being played at that bake-off does not sound smooth. The closest we got to playing a lullaby at that bake-off was Phil Collins In the Air Tonight.
Live music, peaking at volumes of 89 to 95 dbs - the sort of volumes we had at that bake-off - does not generally sound smooth. It sounds solid, attention grabbing.
If someone is the sort of person that wants listening to their hi-fi to be the equivalent of getting home from a hard days work and getting into a warm relaxing bath, then the AVI's will appeal to them more than the EV's.
This AVI midrange smoothness is the same sort of presentation that I get from my Bozak Symphonies. Where the Bozaks score is in their bass quality, which is better than the EV's and the AVI's with sub - and indeed the vast majority of hi-fi systems that have ever been made.
At the bake-off, I remarked more than once that I found the AVI's boring to listen to. I also remarked that the EV's were better at sounding as if the vocalists were there in the room singing to us. As well as the EV's having more drama at the crescendo to In The Air Tonight. As well as the EV's being better at recreating the echoey hall acoustics of the recording venue on the classical piece. So I don't see why there should be any suprise when I subsequently state publicly that the EV's won - in terms of sound quality.
One of the first tracks played at the bake-off was Steve Winwoods Higher Love. That is not smooth music. It's spiky, solid, dynamic, attention grabbing, get the pulse racing music.
At the bake-off, apart from the smoothness, you never identified any sonic area on any tracks where the AVI's sounded better. On top of that there's your assessment of the realism on piano. When combined with the email that you sent me on the day after the bake-off, I am a little bit surprised when you give the impression that you didn't think that the EV's had better overall sound quality. Better overall sound quality as in overall more realistic.
When you bear in mind the £600 cost I paid for the EV system with Creek amplifier, compared to the £1750 cost you paid for your AVI system, combined with the depreciation prospects, I can't explain why you would think that the AVI's won in terms of price and value?
