Hi guys We the blind demo lasted for over two hours followed by a two hour sighted demo on the preferred system. Thanks to Arif at KJ West One in London who did a great job. We agreed a selection of equipment; my Wadia T3200 transport and Wadia x 64.4 DAC, Quad 99 CDP; Quad 99 and 909 power amps and Unico hybrid valve int amp; Sonus Faber Conertinos and Quad L11 and L12 speakers. I do not know what speaker cable we used but we used Nordolst Red Dawn interconnect between CDP and AMP. I was blindfolded and then Arif played system 1, system 2, system 3 etc and only told me that he was changing to the next system. There was no other information provided or comments from him on what he thought so I could not be influenced in any way. Arif was also instructed to duplicate one of the systems but to call it by a different system number to try to catch me out. The results: a) I would hate to be a sightless person. Arif had to leave the room a few times and not knowing if he was in the room or not and calling out to him and not getting a response gave me a feeling of helplessness - I refused to take the blindfold off! b) The differences were very noticable between the Quad power amplifiers, the Quad 11 and 12 speakers and the Quad CPD and my Wadia. There was less difference between the Quad amps and the Unico and the SFs and the Quad 12s. c) The 11s were just too small. I preferred the Q12s with the 99 over the 11s with the 909 by a long way. The 909 over the 99 had significantly more detail, grunt and a fullness of sound with the L12s though. d) The 12s had too much upper base when placed near the wall but this was reduced by moving from the 909 to the 99. The SF conertinos faired much better close to the wall with both the 99 and 909. There was little to chose between the Conertinos and 12s away from the wall. The Concertinos were more controlled but the midband on the 12s was slightly preferrable, maybe more open, but horses for courses; I was surprised how good both speakers were. e) The difference between by Wadia and the Quad CDP were massive; the Quad stood no chance; there was significantly more detail, naturness, smoothness, grunt, separation of instuments etc. The Quad was a touch more lively, the Wadia having more control. The Quad was difficult to listen to on the David Syvlian Everything and Nothing and David Bowie Live at the BBC. On both the vocals and guitar were unbearably harsh and I was wincing. The Bebel Gilberto and Sinatra/Jobim album were ok and listenable. f) Conclusions - I was impressed with the Quad amps and speakers but the Quad 909 / SF Conertino combo was very strong. I am interested in the Quad 99CDP but have reservations; the downgrade was much more than I thought that it would be and am concerned about the harshness. I have arranged a home demo for next weekend and Arif is confident that he can get rid of the harshness, maybe my Nordolst points will help (they did with my Copland but have no effect with my Wadia). g) more conclusions - did being blind make a difference. The differences were very clear and I do not think that I would have heard different if sighted. Not knowing what I was listening to made me very objective, especially as I did not know whether I was listening to my kit or not. I could not be protective and also whilst I favour SF speakers I might have disliked them in this test. I would recommend the blind approach when you want to upgrade your kit because blind you might prefer it but you really do need more listening at home as well. I will be advertising the Nuvista M3 and SF Amator IIs with matching walnut stands here and in the usual places. Both of the above are mint and I have owned them from new. M3 is three years old with a spare set of valves at £1900 (£3300 new - inc valves) and the Amator II2 are just onder two years old and also £1900 (£3250 new inc stands). I'm still thinking about the Wadia because it is just so good; I have been offered a very acceptable part-ex for it but if the demo next weekend goes well I will sell privately for £1800 if I could conclude this within a few days, otherwise I will part-ex for speed. The M3 and Amator IIs will sell within a few weeks so no worries there. I would appreciate any advice that you guys have on how to reduce the harshness of the Quad CDP. I really want to persevere with the Quad CDP due to its digital inputs (for my Apple Power book) unless you guys know of something similar in one box at the £1000 - £1500 mark. Cheers Dominic
