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Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

Audio Aero Capitole MkII

Hello.
I am delighted with my Capitole. It sounds THIS close to vinyl.
The midrange has natural timbre, no metallic/silvery digital edge, the treble extends into (seemingly) infinity. Bass is good and full but not awesome.
Piano notes take forever to decay into silence.
Even poorly mastered CDs sound very musical.
I believe that the re-clocking plus 1 MHz oversampling plus the output tube do the magic.

I attended a live jazz concert last week. I was very close to the drums and piano and could hear the natural, unamplified sound.
When I arrived at home, I put a jazz piano trio recording. For the first time in my life it was not a letdown.
BTW I have a Linn TT with Benz and Garrott cartridges, which do sound fine on Jazz but never reproduced drums they way I hear them live.
IMO the Capitole is a major step forward in digital tone and musicality.
I have heard Cary, Wadia, ARC CD3, Mark Levinson and Electrocompaniet EMC 2 CDPs. They all sound digital in different ways and have their strong points: the famous Wadia bass, EMC's warmth, ML politeness, Cary's detail and soundstaging, etc.
However, the Capitole's ability to bring forward the musical message and emotion is unsurpassed by the players I have heard.
It's a different ballgame IMO.
Good luck in your search
Carlos


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