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Short comment - Justin is a brilliant no bull guy and the Analogue Anniversary Puccini + Mark Sota Cesti MB combination sounds exceptional.
Long Comment - Last year, for a change from the Bristol Hi Fi show, I decided to go to the Windsor show. Compared to the excitement and hustle and bustle of the Bristol show, I found the Windsor show to be largely a soulless affair. The Computer Audio room was terrific, probably the best CD resolution sound ever achieved. Feeling a little like I had really wasted my time going to the show, I was literally on my last exhibitor. I stumbled into the Mark Sota room, hmm this sounds good. Paul was playing Cesti MBs off of an Analogue Audio Puccini Anniversary integrated amp - actually it sounded amazing. Believing such quality to be out of my price range, I was a bit shocked when he said the price of the speakers were just over £1K. We played a game and everyone who came in was asked to put a value on the speakers and most said £2.5-3K. The sound stage was deep and the top to bottom dynamics were that of only the finest hi fi. I stayed in the room a little while and actually, the whole experience became more like going into a record shop rather than a hi fi dem, "have you heard this, you want to hear this then...." - ah such nostalgia for the Saturday afternoon gatherings of my youth. No matter what Paul played (we even ventured into MC900 ft Jesus), it all sounded wonderful, the combination of amp and speaker could not be tripped up in anyway. I sort of forgot we were meant to be earnest audiophiles scratching our chins, these babies were simply kicking out wonderful engaging music. I went back 3 times and each time it was the same. I actually preferred the MBs to the B, there is something poetically right about just a single driver. I vowed to buy a pair and went home and played exactly the same music on my system, a system of greater value, well actually the highly regarded speakers are 3x the cost of the MBs. Oh boy, my system music sounded shut in and not wanting to come out an play. I had a whole load of life changing stuff to deal with and it is only recently I thought I need to check those speakers out again. I knew Justin from a few previous transactions (no not the speakers I had) and he had always been a caring dealer who loves music and tells it as it is. I was pleased to see he was a dealer for both Mark Sota and Audio Analogue items. I can tell you now, I am now the proud owner of an Audio Analogue Puccini Anniversary and Mark Sota Cestis MBs and I will also tell you this - it sounds better than it did at the show. The Mark Sotas sounded very good dropped into my previous system, but hung off the Puccini it sounds like a match made in audio heaven - and those red boxes look so sexy :-) My advice is buy the speakers and spend the money saved on more music as these speakers will make you hungry for more music and that is the finest testament I know. Thanks Justin.
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