Anyone have opinion or experience with this flagship e-stat? If you have one are you using the internal DAC or your own external DAC. How do you think this compares to the Shangri-La-la SR and the HE-1 ? Are you happy with it?
I know @GoldenSound has heard both the Aperio and the HE-1. Unsure about the Shangri-La Jr though.
He has a video of the Aperio up on his own channel actually.
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I’ve heard the Aperio (as well as the rest of the Warwick Acoustics lineup) at length.
Short version is I found it interesting, even compelling, in some regards. The bottom end is uncharacteristically stout for an electrostatic. Beyond that, there wasn’t anything there that you couldn’t get, for much less, and with greater flexibility elsewhere.
Personally I think the pricing is daft, even comical. $10K, yeah sure, $15K maybe. $36K? Not on your Nelly …
Put another way … and just considering “system” setups:
HE1 <> HE90/HEV90 > Aperio > Shangri-La (Sr) <> Bravura > Shangri-La (Jr)
Just my $0.02 … but given having spent time with all of them … I opted for the HE1.
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Thanks, appreciate your thoughts.
No problem.
How you feel about them, for your purposes/preferences, should be what matters though. Especially where you have them on hand and can listen to them, and compare them to whatever else you own.
On the DAC side of things … I tried them with multiple sources but the built-in DAC reminds me very much of the Benchmark DAC3. Personally I’d use something else (I am with the HE1), but it isn’t bad by any means.
I totally agree. It’s really a top shelf system by any measure. IMHO one of the problems/joys of this hobby is something is great until you hear something you like better! Once that happens there is usually no going back. I got spoiled by the performance I got from the Lina Dac and Master clock, powered by the HE 1000 and Susvara combo…….for me its was next level and I truly expected from all i read and the reviews I watched this would be noticeably better and it is not. And as you point “NOT BETTER” for substantially more $$$$$ just can’t work for most people. Again, thanks for your time and comments.
Although I only tried them for a brief time, I actually found that I preferred the Bravura for just listening to music.
While I think the Aperio is superior on a technical level, I found that the Bravura is more relaxed and I would probably choose it for a long listening session.
My favourite combo until then had been the Susvara powered by the Envy but I liked the Bravura more.
Again, that is just with a short listening session, long term my opinion may change.
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