Cross posting from ET
Quick impressions of ET's Raphael
ET's 8-wire, Project8 Plato x Socrates has been perma paired with my VE EXT for a year and for sometime and thought I couldn't improve this pairing. I also had a stash of cables I've order but never opened – all three new ET Virtues and PWA FTS, LOL. Fast forward to today, unboxed the stash, tossed FTS to the side, and unwrapped all ET's Virtues.
Rolled Raph, hit play on N30LE in Hyper + Tube Classic, and was "Oh MY!" Was this the same EXT I was considering parting with?
Raph transformed EXT's signature by lifting mids and shifting it more forward providing more clarity and detail retrieval. Treble sounded more natural, less peaky. Mids and vocals sounded more balanced with EXT's impactful bass. Overall much more holographic and layered. My quick impression extended into a 2hr Aes Dana session followed by another 2hr sesh with RN6 x Raph.
I was evaluating in keeping or letting my EXT go since I've gone FIRry
, but Raph has made making that decision much harder.