Tír Na HiFi

I think I know where that other pair of Gold Lions are Si... Residing alongside some of my spare valves after a session some time back.. Will be duly returned so that you're back to your full complement of two sets!

Aha! I actually thought you'd given those back to me...

Georgi, I PMed you.

mcq wrote: ↑Fri Sep 15, 2017 9:31 pm I think the first thing you have to address, Simon, is to find a music replay system that re-ignites your love of music.  On paper, that is a fantastic system that you are selling which many audiophiles would dearly love to own.  However, no matter how well-regarded the system is, if you don't feel the passion of the music when you play a CD, there is something seriously wrong and you are right to re-evaluate things.  I know that you are a musician so it's vitally important that listening to music at home should inspire similar emotions to those that you experience when you perform a piece of music. Try to audition JM Reynaud speakers.  I was very impressed by one of the compact floorstanders at Cloney Audio.  It's a sound that is very musical and very emotional.  If I had room for a second system, the JMR Offrande would be the first speaker I would audition.  The main US dealer for JMR, Amherst Audio, is run by the very knowledgeable Bob Neill and his site is a wealth of information about JMR speakers, about which he is very passionate.  He also sells Crimson amps, a UK brand which is virtually unknown over here, and is very fond of the Resolution Audio Cantata CD player as well.  Whatever you decide, Simon, I would advise you to keep it simple, work to a budget and listen to your heart when you audition a system with your favourite music.  

Paul, I somehow missed this post. Thank you for writing it, and please accept my apologies for not responding sooner.

Your opening sentences hit the nail on the head, my primary goal in all of this is to ensure that I listen to more music and get more enjoyment out of it. The funny thing is that the soon-to-be-sold system is easily the best and most enjoyable I've ever owned, the speakers especially are just so beautiful in every way that I am sad to part with them. I know I'm biased, but I really hope they stay in the country, as I think they might be the only pair in Ireland. However, a bit of distance from the situation has persuaded me that my current circumstances just aren't suited to the "dedicated listening room" approach. Having mentally freed myself of that I'm already listening to more music, albeit on a simpler system, and I'm enjoying my listening tremendously.

Another thing I've realised having taken this step back is that I currently don't have the mental capacity for true audiophilia and the distractions it brings. I've always thought of audio and music to be related but separate hobbies, and I don't have the inclination for both these days. To be honest, the way I see things at the moment "good enough" is good enough, as long as I'm listening and enjoying. Audiophilia will return in due course, but for now I'd prefer to listen casually, as part of the fabric of the day and with family and children on hand, rather than locking myself away to listen in isolation. The secondary systems around the house are actually very good (you'll see them in my sig) so I'm not feeling too cheated. The kitchen area system may get upgraded over time as that's where most of the listening is currently happening, but then again I'm not in a hurry. I actually only remarked last night as we explored some new music (Night Falls by Booka Shade, fwiw!) on Spotify as my wife cooked dinner that the system sounded really excellent. Time to just enjoy it.

The Elipsas are now residing in Cloney's front room, and reminding me once again that the nerd cave really was a compromised space. They sound utterly immense in there.

I was in Cloney's on Saturday and had a very brief listen to the Elipsas: very impressive. Huge deep soundstage, and powerful deep very clean bass. Wow! Very dynamic and musical, though I have the sense that they like a very powerful amp. I must try and hear them again!

I'm glad you got the chance to listen to them, Ciaran, thank you for your comments!

I agree with you about amp requirements, I certainly think they sound better the more clean power you can throw at them. That said, we tried running them with Jadis JA80s at one stage (not exactly flea-powered either, I know) which worked very well too, and was probably Steve's preferred configuration. There are a lot of people out there in internetland using valves with them and who swear by that. I, however, ended up with 400w of Mark Levinson...