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Showing results for tags 'Phantom'.
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This is probably going to be the shortest showcase thread ever as the upgrade path from here is fairly limited. I was undecided about posting here as it sort of means a pause in the journey but it was deliberate. Kids are starting high school and time for playing around with hi-fi seems to be getting less and less and want to explore some other hobbies. This was actually my biggest ever single purchase but I replaced a pre amp, amp, speakers and many cables so the end investment was not much different. I listened to only one of these in the showroom and was just gob smacked. I took a punt and bought a pair of Silver Phantoms along with the Dialog controller and the remote. Firstly, aesthetics are very pleasing (at least to me and the wife) which is a first. Secondly, it really simplified my set-up. So I currently have the Tbox into Oppo 105 and out to TV to cover TV, Netflix and CD's/Movies. Oppo is optical out to the Dialog which feeds audio to the speakers. Into one of the Phantoms I have the SBT which is connected to Roon/Tidal. SBT does up to 24/192 beautifully via optical. At first I was a bit skeptical about optical and jitter etc but my understanding is the Phantoms correct most of it internally via DSP anyway. Can also do Tidal/music library direct via the Spark app but it is a bit clunky. The optical inputs just switch automagically. One interesting thing is the Phantoms connect to the Dialog via PLC (power line) if they are on the same power board. Nifty. Otherwise you can go ethernet or wifi. I love the sound. It is just so clean, low distortion with the best bass I have ever had in my room. Even if you are not a bass head, this would convert you. Still needs speaker placement etc as per any other speakers and they do have their own stands which are yet to arrive in Oz. I see no need for a subwoofer unless you have a much bigger room. You can just keep turning them up and they just don't have any break up. They do not have the what I call "shoutiness" that some smaller speakers have and are great for TV etc. I am not a big movie watcher so not sure if it will please all in that area. I am toying with the idea of getting an ADC to connect the turntable but am still a bit unsure about it. The nice thing is I can see they can add features through software updates (recently added Spotify connect) and even the little Dialog box which is just a computer could be swapped out for a new one if it added functionality/features. It is a bit of an adjustment going to a full digital system like this as the "tweakability" is almost nil but they make me smile every time I listen and I am digging into the depths of Tidal/Roon throwing all sorts of music at it and I cannot fault them. They may not be hi-fi for some but I think they would surprise many. One thing for sure is they really are an innovative design that I can see will be copied to some extent, it just makes too much sense. Now I need to update the room decor a bit to match the speakers. It really doesn't end does it? I know photos or it didn't happen. Quick video of the woofers having a party! http://stevec.vidmeup.com/view?q=56ce850795d1a.flv