Quote:
Originally Posted by
ADD 
I am firmly of the Jimmy Hughes school of auditioning hi fi components. What this means is that I don't believe in "growing into" a sound, "getting used to" a sound, taking a month, week, day or even minute to "learn" a new hi fi system or component. No, I believe that something should sound good and "right"
from the first few seconds you hear it. I believe that if something does not sound good immediately, then it is not good. Furthermore, I believe that if you purchase a component having to "acclimatise" yourself to it, what this really means is that your brain has to recalibrate itself from a default setting to whatever you are listening to. And the more your brain has to work to reconcile the reproduced sound to what you hear at a live concert, then the more ill-matched the component is to your ideal one.
The Rhinelander is one of those components that just sounds "right" by the time the first bar of a symphony has been played.
That's funny, because the Lehmann Black Cube Linear sounded totally wrong at first: sluggish, thin, far away, unengaging. In short, it sounded horrible. It was only after hours of use that it gained speed, immediacy, detailing (voice and instrument seperation), and transparency. But there was still a slight ringing and emphasis in the high frequencies, which also sounded a little grainy. Anyhow, I've had the amp now for months and it sounds fantastic. Either the amp needed to break in or I needed to adjust to the sound (I think the former). Which is to say that I am not of the Jimmy Hughes school of auditioning high fi components. Had I been, I would have returned the amp within the first 30 days and really missed out.
Edited by Heidegger - 4/18/11 at 8:25pm
