Can the Calypso cha-cha-cha?
The Calypso performed flawlessly during the two months it directed my system. It awoke from Standby in short order without having to rub the sonic sleep from its eyes before delivering its full musical bounty. It routed sources silently and responded to commands instantaneously. As a piece of audio hardware, you can’t ask for more for $4500—or for twice that, for that matter. It took just a few hours of concentrated listening for me to understand why so many readers have asked me to review Aesthetix’s Saturn series. Not since the VTL TL-7.5 was in my system have I experienced such mesmerizing midband richness unmarred by thickness and congestion. Equally impressive was the Calypso’s quietness. Tube rush? Never heard any. And while I almost pulled the trigger on buying the hypnotic-sounding VTL ‘7.5, in the end I hesitated because its bottom-end extension and control, while appropriately nuanced and well-textured for acoustic bass, were not sufficiently taut and punchy to serve all of m
