Grant Fidelity's $3,200 Impression II weds CD player, tube amp and overkill
By Darren Murph 
posted Sep 9th 2009 6:58AM
posted Sep 9th 2009 6:58AM
[Via OhGizmo]
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Looks like a bathroom scale to me
More dollars than sense.
I can strap 50 lbs. worth of tubes onto my laptop and it'll probably sound just as good.
Wow what a terrible idea this late in the CD market. Anyone who buys this thing deserves to be laughed at. Unless they buy it for looks. They could of at least put a storage drive for some MP3's or made it with wifi so you could steam music through it for that price. Plus put a touch full HD screen on it. Just unreal people would buy this crap at such a high price. It's like the stupid $999.00 app on the iPhone that was removed. This should be removed to from sale how dumb.
I FLAC at your mp3.
hmmm....
my credit card is ready to go but i think I'll pass on this one
But they throw in the ugly for free!
hmm, isnt this borderline crapgadget?
50 Pounds? 0_o
I now know what I'm using if there's ever an intruder in my house!
I miss Headhunter - Wish there was a remake of that game was legendary for me at the time.
That and Jet Set Radio were just incredible games for the time. Both deserve remakes of some kind.
Huh?
This thing is looking utterly ridiculous, which is actually a quality most of the high-end hifi thingies share. If you consider paying as much as 15k US-$ for a Drive/DAC combination (Esoteric P70/D70) this is probably on the lower end of the scale.
Looks more like Weed, CD player, tube amp and overkill.
Nah, if weed was involved, it'd be made out of Pringles cans.
Mmm... Pringles...
eeeehhhh no thanks, ill go buy something cheaper, say... home theater? i bet it sounds better
I bet it won't?
This thing is priced good, and will be better then anything else you can put together for $3500. If you look at other similar priced audiophile level gear, this is not that much.
Now the question is, is it worth it? I wouldn't get it, just because I don't like something this integrated. I would get separate transports and amps and what not, but it would be more money then this thing costs.
So if you want to knock it, go for it, but knock it because of its quality/price ratio, NOT just because of its price...because most of the people posting here probably have no clue about higher end audio. If you buy music off of itunes, or some other 'free' source online, this is not for you, and yes, is overkill.
I know! Let's take a tube amp, and combine it with something that vibrates, like a CD player!
That's a fantastic idea for a product with a long life! :D!!!
Probably sounds pretty good, to bad most people don't care about sound quality anymore and only listen to lossy mp3's. I actually don't think many people even sit down and listen to music anymore. This entire generation will grow up not even knowing what lossless or high res audio sounds like.
Yes, but spending this much just isn't worth it, the return is ever more diminishing the more expensive you get.
I share your disdain for people who think pumping lossy formats through cheap earbuds qualifies as critical listening. But spending thousands of dollars on demonstrably useless features, like elaborate massive anti-vibration bases for CD players, is just as stupid. Also, why would I want expensive tubes that could add distortion if not properly designed and maintained? Certain technology becomes obsolete for a reason.
You lost me at "expensive tubes....maintain.....distortion".
Since when are good tubes expensive? Since when is it a lot of maintenance to properly run a tube amplifier? Since when do you get distortion from tube amplifiers?
I can play lossless & error free FLAC rips of my CDs from my small server throughout my house. Try doing that Grant! Oh and my entire setup (not including speakers) cost about what this player costs.
Then you don't have a very good DAC/interconnects/pre-amp/amplifier
DAC = (Logitech Transporter) AKM AK4396 multibit sigma-delta D/A, 120 dB dynamic range, 120 dB SNR (A-weighted), -106 dB THD+N.
Amp = Anthem MCA 20 FR = 20 Hz - 20 kHz (-0.15 db); 5 Hz - 100 kHz (-2 db) THD + N = 0.0015% @ 1 kHz; 0.03% @ 20 kHz (bought used at Audiogon)
Interconnects = homegrown (I studied EE FWIW) I won't pay for pixie dust, snake oil or fancy packaging, I prefer science.
This CD transport cannot deliver bit perfect, none can period.
ARRR, it stole my bracelets!
Male jewelry.
What, no 512MB internal memory?
Kinda looks like a modded xbox.
looks like a pimped out N64
Nah, It looks like an old skool 3DO.
It looks like a futuristic Panasonic 3DO.
The original one with the 4 pillars. The model was FZ1 I think.
I once paid $800 for a CD player back in 1985...(sigh)