Quote:
Originally Posted by two dot
Howie,
I know we are talking the best of the best here, but...
How did the Kondo compare to the Air Tight?
|
Its interesting. The Kondo has more "air" delicacy and a massive soundstage. The sound is extremly pure if you know what I mean.
You can really sense the singer standing there in front of you. There is was nil background noise even with the duo grossos.
Sometimes I got the impression that the bass could be a little bit lacking but with further listening I realised it basically was there, it was just that there was so much more to listen to that the focus had shifted.
I could almost call the sound from most other brands to be boomy and not focused all in a relative way of course.
The Air tight is the first brand I have heard in a long time that really struck me as having the perfect combination of warmth, timbre and involvement. It is darker than the Kondo. There is less air but more intimacy.
It makes you grin like a crazy cat is how I would put it.I hope that makes sense!
At the moment I am torn between the two but the air tight is considerably less expensive with the Two Box Reference 2001 Preamp and the ATM-3 coming to only half the price of the Ongaku on its own. Even with the Reference Stereo 2001 Power amp it is still cheaper than the ongaku!
Both are extremely satisfying but slightly different flavours. The only proviso at the moment is the Ongaku is to my mind not satisfactory (at this price) without a preamp and that means more cash. which would put it out of reach unless I am willing to tolerate (!)the Ongaku for a while.
Unfortunately the Jadis JPS2 + JA60 doesn't hold a flame to these two brands as it stands even though it is the cheapest, though not by much.
