First pass: I listen to the REF10 again, having read up on it beforehand, with which pieces of music I had listened to it during the first review. It is like meeting an old friend again. Immediately, this extraordinary sound experience is there again: velvety, transparent and always highly musical. On "Galicia Flamenco" with Gino D' Auri (Flamenco Passion - FIM XRCD) the instruments gain the substance again and seem much more colorful. In the first movement from the "Divertimento K. 136" by Mozart with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields conducted by Neville Marinner (Decca Legacy Volume Four - FIM UHD), the strings again have that fascinating velvety quality. Especially with this recording, the sound of the strings can quickly become quite exhausting in certain system constellations but there is no trace of this with the REF10, despite the subjectively higher intensity of the musical performance.

Second run: I am not at all prepared for what awaits me after the first plug-in to the REF 10 SE120. Let's start with the midrange, which is so important for the overall musical experience. The gain here is sensational with the REF10 SE120. In the track we have just heard, "Galicia Flamenco", the instruments suddenly sound much rounder and become almost tangible. Hard strummed guitar strings no longer just bang, but the finest differences in articulation behind them become audible. In the "Piano Concerto in A Minor" by Edvard Grieg with Radu Lupu as soloist (Grieg: Piano Concerto In A Minor - Radu Lupo/London Symphony Orchestra/André Previn - Decca Legacy Volume One - FIM UHD 89), every piano stroke is now full of micro-dynamics and seems to be virtually sharpened. It is clear at any time whether a key is pressed softly and sensitively or whether in staccato passages the fingers are quickly pushed off the keys. All instruments sound more polished overall, more three-dimensional and thus ultimately somehow more "real". This effect continues in the lows and highs without a break. Thus, in the string sonatas by G.A. Rossini for two violins, cello and contrabass (Rossini: 5 Sonate a Quattro - Salvatore Accardo - LIM UHD 049), the strings always sound velvety and smooth up to the highest pitches as if from one cast over the entire tonal range.

At the same time, there is a striking airiness around the individual instruments in the orchestra. In a piece like "España" by Emmanuel Chabrier (Chabrier: España - London Symphony Orchestra/Ataulfo Argenta - Decca Legacy Volume Two - FIM UHD 90), which lives from the rich and at the same time subtle orchestratio and rhythm, it becomes possible to recognize the smallest musical by-lines, which were quite obviously previously concealed. Because the individual instruments are now much more clearly placed in the orchestra and more precisely staggered in space, the spatial impression is considerably improved. The gain is not so much in the absolute depth, but rather in the perceived reality. There is no doubt in my mind: the REF10 SE120 is superior to the REF10 in all respects. It doesn't even take much effort to hear it, so clear and unambiguous are the differences between the two devices. You will not believe it: I have not switched back to the REF10 once!