Thanks Quarknosis. I've understood that the cables are no afterthought and I think I'll be adding to my budget to make sure I can go for SSP and LS6 - can't resist based on the Pollini (piano) quote on nvahifi.co.uk.Quarknosis wrote: ↑Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:38 am Hi Pianist-Envy, welcome to HFS. A pro flute player? One of my favourite instruments to listen to but mainly in a jazz setting.
I would echo the recommendations for the P50. I have a P20 and think it is a bit limited in flexibility (but not sound). If I was starting from scratch knowing what I know now I'd probably go P50SA, A20X, LS6 and SSP mkii. Don't forget Doc does 100% trade in so the A20X and SSP could be upgraded if you felt that it needed to be later.
NVA cables are integral to the sound in my experience and over many years of buying hi-Fi I came to the conclusion that expensive cables didn't justify the expense but with NVA each cable upgrade has just enhanced the enjoyment. The LS1 is good but the 6 is way better. I jumped from the 1 to the 6 so couldn't comment on the stages in between. I have gone from SC to SSC to SSP mki to SSP mkii to TIS and again each step has enhanced my enjoyment but for me it was not until the SSP Mkii that it really started to come together.
P50SA seems to be a good way to go from AP20. I read the thread on the A20x but just wondering whether I should again try to add a bit more budget and go to A40 monos or the A60? Really I'm after a bit more room-filling sound/music, otherwise I would stick with the AP20, which is lovely enough. Am I right in guessing the dual power supply would adding to separation rather than amplitude? Sorry I'm not well-read enough about this yet. I understand the range gets basically progressively 'more NVA' the more you spend - which obviously makes sense - so perhaps I just take another month or two to get the cash together.
I don't know a lot about jazz fluters - have a few Herbie Mann albums and bits and pieces here and there. Used to play in big bands myself but I'm certainly no jazzer. From the world of jazz I'm a big Art Tatum fan. Incredible musician/pianist. If you want to hear some awesome fluting I can highly recommend Susan Milan, who was my prof back in the day. And from a jazz-crossover perspective, you might have heard of Dave Heath? A flutist/composer, he wrote a solo flute piece called 'Coltrane'- You get the gist - his recording of it is spectacular.