henry9731
Member of the Trade: Astral Acoustics
The test is conducted via coaxial input from a Philips Cd624 and is tested via a pair of vintage Ls3/5a speakers.
Note: I will be referring the Cyan 2 and Spring 2 KTE as just “Cyan” and “Spring.”
Excuse me for the lack of descriptive words. I am not a professional reviewer, and English isn't my native language.
TLDR: The Spring 2 KTE poops on the Cyan just as much as how the Cyan poops on the Pegasus
As much as I’m impressed with the Cyan over the Musician Pegasus when it comes to the family battle, the reality is that Spring is still a Spring. Despite coming from the same brand and sharing the same R2R bloodline, the gap between the Cyan and the Spring is rather big.
The two are easily distinguishable through the attack of the signal, the sound's fullness, and the decay.
The Cyan sounds much more raw and direct, as it has a much sharper attack. The bass is also significantly more punchy but somehow lacks the oomph (more on that in the Spring section.) Oddly enough, the Cyan’s sound stage is also more holographic than the Spring; the instrument tends to be more outlined and easier to visualize where it is positioned. Unfortunately, this is all the Cyan has over the Spring.
The Spring sounds much, much, much more delicate and full, especially in the mids, where the vocals sound sweet, full-bodied, and warm. As a 24/7 metal head, the guitar tone on the Spring sounds much more full and smooth, whereas on the Cyan, it just sounds thin, harsh, and noisy. In contrast, the Cyan’s mid-range sounds rather lean and dry.
For the bass, the Spring has much more oomph; I believe this is due to the significantly longer decay, where the “end of a note/resonance” is longer, creating a more rumbling feel; the Cyan doesn’t rumble much.
I'm not sure which frequencies are responsible for achieving this, but the Spring sounds more live-like; it can break past the “I’m listening to speakers” feeling, which is a huge win, especially for speaker users.
At the end of the day, the retail price of the Spring 2 is double that of the Cyan 2, so this is (kind of) an expected result despite being almost a decade older. This also partially shows that the age of audio equipment doesn’t necessarily equal becoming inferior to newer products, even when comparing prices from used to present retail.
