What Other Music Lovers Are Saying
LETTER FROM A FORMER SCEPTIC
I have turned a corner on my rejection of PC-based audio systems. An indication of how far would be the sale of my beloved Marantz SA11 SACD player. The Burwen Bobcat gave me better sound on Redbook and was slightly better than SACD with a little more focus and form to images and sound. It had more of an ethereal sound all the way around. I have not regretted selling the Marantz.
I have just recently received some headphones I had on special order. I plugged them into the Burwen Bobcat and had sound that was spectacular.
While I was listening, I turned on the tubed-output CD player to warm it up. I was looking forward to the heavenly sound that this player provides on headphones. I was listening to a Mapleshade CD, and when I was done, placed it into the CD player. I adjusted the output near to what I thought was close to the Burwen Bobcat and that was CRANKED. At first, the sound was sterile so I gave it a little more volume and when the song's refrain was played, I pulled off the headphones because it was so distressing. It almost hurt. What the hell? I tried it again and gave up. It wasn't worth the pain. Hearing conventional digital after the Burwen Bobcat conjurs up a comparison of how sheer torque and horsepower in a car without a properly tuned chassis set-up is worthless and just plain scary. You can't do anything with it. I like my music loud and I have been able to accomplish that using the Burwen Bobcat without any discomfort at all.
I compared a CD player sync'd to the laptop running the Burwen Bobcat. After hearing the comparison, it leaves a feeling of having been tricked all these years. My friend and I were both shocked.
John Mazur
What Neale said:
"Bobcat is incredible. Mark told me that this would change my listening environment and he was absolutely right. Not just a little better, completely different. Hard to describe. The music sounds alive. I'm totally addicted."