Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Agear - I want to give them 2-3 days to settle. But here is a quick impression. If speakers were like electronics then the CU would be on the solid state side and the Isis would be SET tubes with base. Musical, warm, complex and layered. Like drinking your favorite red wine that you know and love instead of trying the hosts super expensive '47 Chateu Expensivo. I don't want to say they lack detail and high end extension, because they don't. But they don't express accuracy overtly; it's subtle. It's refined accuracy. They sound like they use a big soft dome tweeter that's horn loaded. It's like getting hugged by a huge soft cuddly teddy bear.

They are big and they look like an old tube RCA tube TV set. But they don't do anything bad in my room. No nodes activated, a very subtle shout seldom comes out but does show that it has a horn loaded tweeter.

The Tenor are smack dab in between the Isis and the CU. a world class system can easily be built around any of the three. I need to figure out which works best with what I have. I feel, on first impression, that I would need to reconsider my amp/preamp if I went with the Isis.

I hate giving such stark first impressions but the Isis seam easy to read and very obviously built to accomplish a certain task, to sound sweat and intricate, like a fine dessert wine. I can see their size making room setup tough at a show, but the speaker has a sound that clearly grabs people from the hallway and says " come in and sit. Relax and take a break from the insanity of high fi and let me play you some music."

I can say that the more I listen to them, the more I want to listen to more music. But they make me feel just a little bit stoned and a little bit like I have earplugs in my ears.

To be honest, that sounds like my cup of tea. I have a lot of bank friends in Charlotte who like big dollar Cabs from Cali that kick you in the balls. I prefer a more earthy, subtle Bordeaux. Bob says Trenner is something to buy when you are done with hifi. That being said, they will obviously need a few days to sing. I don't necessarily think you would need to alter your electronics. I do like the retro aesthetics (as does my wife).

The real problem with speakers (as one wise and older phile once told me) is you have to live with them for a year or more to really properly evaluate them. The real test is whether you sit and listen or fidget and fiddle. What a hobby.....

09-20-15: Mattnshilp
....but the speaker has a sound that clearly grabs people from the hallway and says " come in and sit. Relax and take a break from the insanity of high fi and let me play you some music."

I can say that the more I listen to them, the more I want to listen to more music. But they make me feel just a little bit stoned....

After almost 50 pages of frenetic, Brownian motion, I think something like this speaker may be precisely what the doctor ordered for ze doctor....

Abe - how do I assign music folders on my Mac to play on the DX??

I have folders with music files and my iTunes folder that I want to assign to the DX so I can play them and I just can't figure out how to do that.

Agear - there is a rolled off top end that makes me feel like I'm missing something. Like I said, it's like I have earplugs in and just can't hear those top registers.

Your statement is interesting about more seasoned, more mature listeners gravitating toward the Isis. With the older person's hearing attenuated in the upper frequencies it makes sense that those listeners would be most drawn to a speaker that is very musical and lacks extension since they won't hear the deficit. It deserves 2-3 days of burn in and way more placement manipulation. But I can easily see it being an end of search speaker for the more seasoned listener.