ANALYSIS PLUS Power Oval 2

With the preamp the cable threw deeper soundstage than my reference cables (Nordost Valhalla) by changing sonic perspective – for example the grand piano was moved about 2-3 meters farther in the virtual soundstage by rounding a bit sharp transients in Shostakovich´s multi-miked ´First´(Shostakovich, Symphony #1 in F-minor, Op.10, Russian National Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski, Pentatone SACD) that was rendered in a more soothing and silky way. It was just the matter of circumstances and my mood whether I preferred more upfront and apparently sonically more precise Nordost´s presentation or more relaxing and forgiving Analysis Plus´s playback. You may know that Shostakovich composed the 1st Symphony when 19 years old as his university thesis – he used many experiments that, later in his creative life, would be suppressed by Soviet propaganda. Individual fragments of the fourth movement are glued with eruptions of orchestral tuttis that culminate into the final short and pathetic catharsis. It is the piano that flashes through the sonic walls (and Pentatone has succeeded in recording it with crystalline quality) and creates, at least to my ears, unforgettable listening experience. With the Oval Two the piano was perhaps a tad less transparent than through my reference, I liked its full-bodied sound however – this is the parameter that the Nordost has a tendency to make thinner.