On the hard disk, I also come across a recording that a fairly long time ago I used as a CD every now and then for testing:  Les Cargos by L'Orchestre des Contrebasses. The waltz "Beret, Beurre, Cornichons" hasn't lost anything of its fascination—yeah, if my memory doesn't deceive me, it now sounds even more exciting. Not least because of the Strumento n°1, the seven voluminous performing basses act here with an enormous joy of playing and a virtual swinging lightness. But this is not to say that the basses here are lacking pressure or blackness - on the contrary: What excites me with the Audia Flight, is the combination of low-frequency impact and the smooth flowing of the melodies. For pure enjoyment I listen to the radio play for seven double basses: In "Week End a Deauville" they describe the car journey to a seaside resort, and after getting off the car the sounds of the sea: wind, crying seagulls, chugging marine diesels, the tooting of a ship's horn, and even the rattling of the rigs in the wind. The excellent fine detail resolution and the extraordinary transparency of the Strumento n°1 allow a clear view on the tremendous virtuosity of the septet in their creation of sound effects. While I am still intrigued by the squeaking of a big door slowly fading away, and while thinking about the further progress of the story, the initial intense impulses of "Vertigo" suddenly startle me. Oh no, you do not need to fear any further polemic words against too-short track intervals in modern CD recordings—as justified as that would be. The surprisingly cumulated bass energy for me is only a further evidence that the Audia Flight, besides its other enormous abilities, dynamically performs on highest levels.

Lots of speed, openness, and differentiation could theoretically, of course, be a little too much of a good thing. Therefore, I briefly give Van Morrison's "Whatever Happened to PJ Proby?" a listen, which has proven to be a bit critical in the presence range during my testing of the terrific Diapason Astera. With the Strumento n°1 paired to The Poweramp and the Kawero! this now is no longer in question. The quite open-hearted presence range now faces a proper lusciousness in the lower frequencies, as the the Kawero!s very well make clear. No, the Audia Flight performs in an extremely fast, open, and enthusiastic way, but tonally still behaves in a sonorous, pleasant, and minimally warm way within the sound spectrum. It's just marvelous! Even if the preamp goes about it too honestly to be blamed for playing too euphonically, it does not belong to that excessively analytical preamplifier types that make listening to every lower-quality recording a pain. It does reveal the weaknesses of a recording, but it does not spoil the musical enjoyment: This is an extremely successful approach, which rarely is to be found.

Over the last few weeks, I have exclusively been working with the Audia Flight, enjoying music for pure relaxation—without missing the slightest bit. Nevertheless, I should briefly compare it with Einstein's The Preamp, so that you are able to better classify my sound description so far: When playing Patrice Heral's mandatory percussion improvisation recorded in the monastery of Noirlac, the Einstein suggests a somewhat deeper spatial image. The seven basses in "Beret, Beurre, Cornichons" appear to be prancing slightly more fleet-footed over the minimally slender Strumento n°1. The intense beginning of "Vertigo" with the Einstein is at least as exciting as with the Audia Flight. Van Morrison's album Down The Road can be played a bit louder with The Preamp, while grooving more intensely. The positioning of the instruments in the imaginary space and their demarcation against each other, on the other hand, are delivered by the Strumento n°1 with a little more precision. Regrettably, the listening impressions correspond exactly to the general stereotype: The tube preamplifier performs with a few percent more of emotion; its solid state counterpart plays with a bit more of transparency. Here the individual taste has to take over the decision. Both amps differ sonically only in shades, but have in common that they operate on an extremely high level. I really could be happy with either!