An Object of Art - The Pathos Endorphin

The Pathos Endorphin CD player is art, both in its design and its prowess in reproducing music.

I had the Endorphin for less than a week in my system, but it was already run-in by Centre Circle Audio, its distributor, and it has also made its round at Big E's place. The Endorphin was so consistent that I found it easy to get a handle on its performance only after a few listening sessions.

Yes, this player is art, it's like an artist who always finds beauty in his/her subject and convey that to the audience. The Pathos Endorphin finds beauty in the music it played, this CD player is a SUPREMELY musical beast. Now, there are two CD players among those that I have heard in my system that I regard as at the forefront of music making, the Pathos Endorphin and the EAR Yoshino Acute. Their commonality? Both of them have tubes in their path, is this saying something?

Anyway, every listening session with the Endorphin was enjoyable, it was non-fatiguing, it made CDs with questionable recording quality sounded acceptable, even good. And it did this with one more positive quality that distinguished it from the Acute - it sounded, for the lack of a better word, neutral. Its sound was balanced, there was no once frequency that stood out, while at the same time every frequency range was conveyed impeccably, much as I wanted to, I could not point out any colouration that it consistently added to the sound.

The Pathos Endorphin made music with a swinging and rollicking quality, it was not like one of those harder charging or harder hitting player, the Endorphin was more cultured and gentler in its temperament. Probably not a rocker's CD player, but like I said before, it is SUPREMELY musical, and jazz, vocals and light classics played right into its hand.

The focus of the Pathos is on the music, it was strong in detail retrieval, soundstaging, dynamics etc., but I do not think those areas would be regarded as the main forte of the Pathos, its forte is in its endeavour in letting you hearing all the music. I honestly never heard separation like what the Endorphin delivered - every line, every music strand was gently teased off from one another. Vocal was separated from the instruments, the instruments was separated from one another, there was no congealing at all. Each line flowed and were weaved into one musical whole at the same time. Your can pay attention to the total picture, or whenever you want, you can zoom into any instrument on the stage and follow it through. This quality was addictive, and I could not remember any other player that I have heard having this quality at this exalted level.

For RM32k, you buy a excellent sound quality and a chunk of audio jewelry. Its design is something that only Italians can achieve - just like their high fashion, it is one that any demanding lady of the house would not object to giving a prominent display. It is also an imposing machine, its took up the entire top shelf of my rack, it is just that its line of design was refined and elegant, so much so that no one will complain or notice its bulk. Pairing it with an amplifier from the same house, the Logos or the TT perhaps, you would have the world's most beautifully sculpted hifi system.

Listening to music on the Endorphin is lovely. I believe its owner may conceivably consider it as the last CD player he/she would ever need.

Pathos is carried by Center Circle Audio, contact Nelson Chia, Ph: 03-77282686