“I’ve been listening to the 3.0 upgrade for a week now. From the very first note, I noticed something was different. The upgrade really does something neat with voices which now seem to really jump out at you and give you that the singer is in the room feel. Voices are completely fleshed out. Resolution, especially inner resolution is greatly enhanced. There were songs where I never could make out and understand the words being sung. Not any more. You hear everything with upgrade. I’m re-discovering my musical collection. Dynamics and bass weight is much much better with the upgrade. All these improvements and no drawbacks! You would think that maybe all these enhancements might make the system sound forward or edgy. In fact, its just the opposite. Music is even more relaxed and organic sounding dare I say, like vinyl. You guys did a great job with this upgrade. This is the best digital I’ve heard and well worth the money for the upgrade.”
Eric – California
“First impressions: Soundstage went from being 2D and well centered to being massively 3 dimensional and now with details I’ve never heard before. And its not even warmed up but 30 min…
…And, now that its warmed up, absolutely phenomenal sonics and transparency — really hearing some new details never before. Truly amazing musicality. And the dark matter is, well, much darker — very, very quiet. Absolutely no noise floor. I’m running out of verbs to describe here….”
Sam – New York
“The 3.0 is incredible. immersive sound. multi-layered detail that provides a real-life listening experience. i am looking forward to liberating the sound that to this point has been hidden within my CD collection. Thank you and congratulations.”
Jim – California
“From the very first note, I noticed something was different. The upgrade really does something neat with voices, which now really seem to jump out at you and give you that feeling that the singer is truly in the room. The 3.0’s spatial recreation and musical detail is unbelievable. There were many songs in my older cd collection where I could never make out or understand the words being sung. Not any more. With the 3.0 upgrade you hear everything. Dynamics and bass weight is also greatly enhanced. Bass, now socks you in the chest. With the enhanced spatial recreation, you get imagining and sound staging like never before. Lastly, music is even more relaxed and organic sounding, dare I say, like vinyl.
The 3.0 upgrade still maintains everything you liked about the original Cantata Music center, but the improvements are not subtle. This is one of the best digital players I’ve heard and well worth $3,500 upgrade. If you have a Cantata Music Center, the 3.0 upgrade is a must!”
Scott – Minnesota
“Out of the box and with less than one hour of warm-up I very impressed with the upgrade! Bass is a lot more articulated, noise background is much lower allowing to pick up a lot more micro information: I can clearly hear the pedal/damper coming down on piano cords, harmonics on chords, I can hear the bow changing direction with string instruments. Huge progress with the spatial staging of large groups and orchestra as well. Can’t wait for the unit to go through break-in! Unfortunately I had to go back to work and let it enjoy Bach integral organ’s work 😉 Thanks!”
Nicolas – California
“Right out of the box, the word that came to mind with the sound of the 3.0 was “elegant”. Another description is that the music sounds “complete”, as in nothing missing. And “smooth”, as in no sharp edges. I could go into particulars, but really it can just be described as “beautiful”. It’s done so much for my system. I’m delighted with it.”
Jim – Pennsylvania
“I’ve had ample time with the Cantata 3.0 and have to say I’m amazed. It seems right somehow in a way that other players can’t begin to achieve. At times I’m thinking “organic”. Most of time I’m not thinking at all, I’m simply enjoying what it does. Since it is at the front of the chain it makes everything sound better. It is better in so many ways.”
John – Florida
“Today I got my Cantata back and just finished first 2 hours of listening. The first impression is outstanding. I’m delighted with level of details, open sound and strong bass. I’m surprised what came out of Rehdeko 115 and pretty sure that those speakers never sound so good (not just mine 🙂 ). Great work and big kudos for all of you — especially Jeff. This upgrade is must have for all Cantata 2.0 owners. Worth every penny. Eagerly waiting to pass 100h and hear how good Cantata 3.0 really is.”
Janez – Slovenia
“I thought the Opus 21 was great, then the Cantata was a leap from the Opus, but what I’m hearing with the 3.0 upgrade is a different world.
The Cantata 1.0 And 2.0 were knocked a bit for not extracting all the bass, I can say without any hesitation that that is now not the case. I never thought there was an issue, but now bass is clean deep, and the decay is incredible.
Aside from the bass what I notice is how the 3.0 reaches into the music to extract all detail without sounding overly detailed or harsh. The air around voices, especially male voices is astonishing.
6 weeks later I still am hearing new qualities that make me think it’s the best $3,500 I’ve ever spent on audio.”
David – Minnesota