I spent some time today at Stereo Exchange playing around with some super stuff.
First up was the B&W 685, 686 & CM1 fed through a real nice Cayin Audio hybrid amp. The demo space was cavernous and could make a set of headphones practically sound like a pair of floorstanders, so this was not exactly a real word eval, but such is life.
The 686 were a real treat, I'll forgo the flowery metaphors, suffice it to say that they and the CM1 sounded very similar, but I think I actually preferred the 685, or maybe it was the fact that the 686 are like $500+ less than the CM1. The 685, as to be expected, were bigger sounding, and seemed to handle everything I threw at them with ease. Both 600 Series were outstanding, the CM1 were a bit disappointing by comparison.
Into the room behind the velvet rope, where lay the brand new (like it just came in brand new) Mcintosh MA7000 & a pair of Totem Mani-2 Signatures. Interestingly they were using a Mac Mini (computer) hooked up via USB to an external DAC as a source, and it sounded pretty damn good. I wish I had been able to spend more quality time in this room, or had brought my own music for that matter, but what little time I did spend left me wanting more.
I will make it may business to get back in that room very soon.
I'll have to head over there to see the MA7000 in person. I was going to replace my MA6200 with a 63 or 65, but realized that none of these components will fit into my apartment, so I went for something with a smaller chassis.
I noticed recently that they added Totem, so I'll check them out too. I've only heard them at shows, so I'd like to try some of my own music through them...