Anyone have their Audio Aero Capitole MKII yet?

Folks, keep those comments coming. I'm also interested how your opinions change as the player breaks-in.

I guess it's only fair that I share some of my first impressions. Tighter bass than the MK I, but still carries the same weight. The high end is definitely extended giving the player a more open sound than the MK I. And, after running 24/7 since Monday, I still find the high end a little harsh as compared to the MK I. I think it may sound a little bit more clinical than the MK I, which I certainly hope will disappear as it breaks-in. Also running it direct to either a Plinius SA-250 or Quicksilver V4's.

I also like the new drawer cover. I too can't imagine that these guys could bring themselves to ship such a "cheezy" remote with a player of this caliber. It's plastic, push-button without any LCD. The good news is that it actually works. I've been waiting 21 days shy of a year to be able to directly access track 10. Anyone who has owned their MK I for a while knows what I'm talking about (the original remote).

Some other observations. I've noticed that I need to be in the range of "8 blocks" (out of 10 total) worth of volume to equal about 11 o'clock on the MK I. I also noticed a ground loop a soon as I plugged this thing in. The MK I was/is fine. Different amps, interconnects, AC cords, outlets.......still there. Popping when switching out of MUTE which could be associated with the ground loop. Anyone else have comments on these observations?

Many thanks to everyone who's participating in this forum discussion thus far.

The functionality of the remote is way better than the MK1. There is no LED screen just push buttons. I have been playing my MKII since Monday and it is getting better. To me its starting to sound musical like the MKI. With the remote you can adjust phase, balance, volume, selection (digital ins and outs), tracks, etc. I'm having a problem where when I put in a new CD I can push play or selection #1 and it will play that selection. If I push anything else like track 9 it will not play. Now once it starts playing its OK. Anyone else have this strange problem?

. . it IS getting better and better as it burns in. Tonight I listened after approximately 50 hours of continuous play and the bass has already improved substantially. I also thought that out of the box it sounded a little congested at higher volumes and that too is changing. I have noticed that it sounds better if I DO NOT have the volume on the player all the way up and use my preamp at higher gain. I have a Lamm L2 Reference preamp that may be being overloaded when the volume is all the way up. When the player is fully burned in I am going to see if I can eliminate the linestage by going straight out of the Capitole either directly into my amps or using a passive.

If this thing keeps improving, it should be a great player.

Fmpnd: I see you are using your Lamm L2 preamp during the burn-in and may switch to running it direct when its fully burned. Any reason for this? Just clueless and curious...

Bryans, I too have experienced that tracking problem you mentioned where it won't access a specific track on a disc even once the disc has been playing. But it will play the track just fine if the cd is simply playing through the disc. Get this, I too found the problem and stumbled upon the cure. Try cleaning the disc with dawn dishwashing soap and water very, very well. The surface of cd's must not have any foreign substance or, are you ready, "topical treatments" like Auric Illuminator, Walker Vivid, Disc Solution, etc... Once I cleaned these off my cd's, all my discs play perfectly!!! Then just for kicks I reapplied any one of the products and the same tracking thing occured in the exact same spots on the disc! Well I'll be damned. I called the distributor about this too to tell them. Once I re-applied the topical stuff the discs actually sounded worse "on this machine". This is quite contrary to all my previous experience with topical cd products where I much preferred them after application. This player makes the treatments sound bad. That's cool too because treating the discs was always a pain in the rear end.