The addition of the XR10B by Ray Samuel has raised the bar of my analog front end by more than a small margin. Considering that my prior phono amp was a Sutherland AcousTech Premium with op amp upgrade this is a big deal. The Sutherland is no slouch and sounds organic and wonderful. However, the XR10B takes it to another level. It is extremely dynamic, fast, 3 dimensional, balanced and in a word, "breathtaking"!
To listen to it is to not want to stop.
I have had several decerning listeners over and, no lie, they were left speechless. Recordings they thought they knew were revealed to have more "there" there! They were pinned to my premium listening chair and quickly they went to my collection and ask to hear other albums they thought they knew well so the could actually hear what the artist and engineer were really putting down. It is really almost master tape quality.
So, over the last couple of days I transfered a couple of awesome recordings and will Dropbox them to friends so you to can hear what I am hearing. It will give you a sense of what vinyl done right can actually sound like at its best.
Here are the recordings I will make available.
Bill Berry "For Duke"
James Brown "Gravity"
Tommy Bolin "Private Eyes"
Jerry Garcia Band "Live"
All recordings are 24/96 transfers. I will post the links here by tomorrow.
From my room to yours!
Enjoy!