Folks, let me begin the description of my experience of bhagwan's system, which I had the pleasure of auditioning, by saying that i lost the distinction between analogue and digital completely, once i got past the pleasure of tasting his hospitality. There is widespread acceptance of what is called a "digital" sound, and i have generally understood it to be meaning sound that is a bit too clean, artificially clinical etc. Generally in such systems, a Pink Floyd would sound better than a Bhimsen Joshi.
Vocals are generally difficult to reproduce, as there is a slightly tinny underlying edge to the voice. This generally disappears in a good analogue system, but persists in many high end digital systems. But a start with Gundecha brothers' Dhrupad on the Tidal/DCS/Martin Logan/Cadence combination made me practically blink to believe it was not a live performance.
jls001 has given a detailed description in the beginning of this thread, and there is little that has changed from there. I would only like to add that the Martin Logan sub-woofers (one for each channel) did a great job, by keeping the bass strong but unobtrusive. They are tunable only by positioning changes, and Bhagwan has hit the proverbial sweet spot literally. We had a bit of a debate on whether the valve monoblocks had suppressed the base, but the proof is that when this happens, the music generally sounds harsh. But harsh was a word even the harshest critic would not think of in describing bhagwans set up, regardless of the genre of music heard. We heard several.
Serious money has been spent on this system, but in a very focussed and productive manner. My favourite piece while auditioning gear is Jethro Tulls Mother Goose. There are several instruments and vocalists arrayed in 3D, but discoverable only in a very good system. Some time back, when I auditioned (and ultimately purchased) Accuphase e-450 and Thiel CS2.4, I heard some of the smaller drums for the first time, after several years of listening to this track on my old system. In bhagwans system, the smaller drums were sharply prominent. There is no doubting the resolution capability of the entire set-up, and there are no weak links in the chain.
Bhagwan is also very helpful with his suggestions and tips for improvements, and so is his friend Khusrau, who happened to drop in. When he says all conventions have been broken by him in setting his system up, Bhagwan is not exaggerating. But done very purposefully and successfully.
