canary audio cd 100 better than bluenote koala?

i auditioned the koala in my stereo system for over a week. during that time i changed the tubes several times.

the result was not much difference in the sound regardless of the set of tubes i used.

i found the cd player presentation to be very un tube like in the classic sense.

i have also heard the canary audio cd player at the CES show, several times, in an all canary audio system.

that cd player doesn't sound like tubes either.

i don't think you gain much by trading one for the other.

Are You Nuts? Don't Trade. The Koala CD is the best period. It's bigger brother the Sibbert is the same exact player sans suspension. I use Sound Fusion vibration control with the preamp on top to weigh down. I use synergistic Phase 1 and for power Master Coupler. I auditioned at Fanfare with
Victor Goldstein and there is no difference between Koala
and Stibbert, trust me. Other Player I have is Sony 777ES
and Benchmark Dac 1. No comparison. I also auditioned Cary
303/300 and CDP-1 Concept series and Wadia 302.

Preamp Cary SLP-98 F1
Amp Cinema 5

I have a CD-100 and I love it. I've owned many other players by Naim, Sony, Opera, etc... and the CD-100 has the best synergy with my current system (Dussun V8i, McCormack DNA-2, Magnepan 1.6QR (Bi-amped). Contrary to what others are saying, it sounds VERY tube like with the right tubes (Siemens) and compares to anything else I've heard below $5K...Its build quality is exceptional also..People that quickly discount other possibilities scare me...if the Koala isn't giving you what you want, by all means seek out a piece that will...

the Canary guts look really clean and spiffy. I'm thinking I may try a unit, to see how it compares to my super cayin 17. Its those beautiful Hovland caps that catch my attention.
Now I only pd $1K for the cayin + new upgrade to the opamps/$200 for 6. So if I can geta used Canary for like $2K, i may go for it. Thats next yr though. Are these units built in california or china?

I'm just curious. Canary units are very attactive and seem to be designed well. Are they really as good as they look. I've heard horror stories about their service and various stories about where they are built. What is the real deal on this company. I'm interested in their digital units, as well as other gear.

I'm a Canary owner. Though the quality of the components are very good, their shady way of doing business and poor customer service would steer me clear of the company.

I've been contacted by their attorney for a dispute between us. Several times I've offered to return all the merchandise I bought for a full refund all within 30 days of receipt of it. They've declined and now their attorney has contacted me.

Although the components may warrant buying them used, I would suggest contemplating at what lenght do you want to experience their way of doing business.

Caveat Emptor.

Regards,
Mark

Persons interested in Canary Audio please send me a private email.

Thank you

Well I'm not sure if i'm willing to give up my Cayin 17's dual/high quality-sealed power supply/ture balanced design/with my new Sovtek NOS tubes/6 new high quality opamps/and may invest another $300 for Hovland caps vs the stock WIMA. ...all for a Canary at 2X's the price, and built like a Tiger tank.

Bartok,
Don't let the Canary's retail price mislead you. As a retailer, I was once offered 4 of them for $3000. Some retail prices are more "legitimate" than others. Draw your own conclusions here.

Lastly, your Cayin will stand toe to toe with the CD-100; it is nothing special as evidenced by the absence of positive comments both here and AA.

Disclaimer: former retailer.

Thanks Audio, I plan to hangon to the Cayin, and Sunday the local tech guru, Ken will see if we can replace the WIMA caps with Hovlands. Space may be a problem
Should be about a $400 job, I'll keep everyone posted.
The new Sovtek tubes Ken sold me brought from Upscale, NOS from the 70's have offered a improvement in resolution. But I'm looking for even more. If i can get another 2-3% better resolution/clarity with the Hovlands, I'll feel its worth it.

>If i can get another 2-3% better resolution/clarity with the Hovlands, I'll feel its worth it.<

And just HOW do you think you will determine this 2-3% improvement? Are you serious? 2-3%?

Oz

1%. How can I tell. Well I replaced the stock tubes with NOS Sovtek's, I heard 2% improvement in cleaner image, sharper/more detailed. Hey 2% is 2%, it was worth it.
The Hovlands should give 1-2% better image. Whats the problem? Is that un-realistic?

the problem is not how to discern small differences but how to quantify the change, without having a method to do it.

i realize that this hobby is subjective, but small differences are often imperceptible.

it is one thing to suggest that you hear a difference, but quite another to quantify that difference.

remember, a difference that makes no difference is no difference. that is, a two percent difference may not matter.

You need to have a finely tuned pair of ears. Some folks are just blessed in that regard. You play the cards your dealt. This audio stuff is easy.

True 1-2% is very difficult to perceive. But i assure you when i changed the stock chinese tubes with the russian NOS Sovtek grey plates 6922's, i noticed a difference, a improvement. Some of you tech guys, being around tubes and stereo's for yrs now, you could tell when the tubes are switched. i use certian reference recordings. i had the top off the cdp, and quickly switched the stock to the Sovtek's with the same recording, and did notice a difference. The other Telefunken tubes i bought used on here, did not work well.
Changed opamps also made a 2% improvement. Thats 2% out of a 100, not much, but a justifiable tweak.
What i'm not keen on are speaker wires and interconnects. there you'll have to make mea believer.
I use Romex commercial wire for speakers.

bartokfan, how do you determine the extent of an improvement ?

if i hear an improvement, i can not quantify it. how do you do it ?

wouldn't it be sufficient to say i hear a small improvement and leave it at that ?

my earlier statement about observed differences implies that some small differences are insignificant and do not matter.

>What i'm not keen on are speaker wires and interconnects. there you'll have to make mea believer<

Now how could I have known that? But I did.......

Oz

Any improvement a listener hears is subjective which in turn makes his/her "quantifiable" amount meaningless to everybody else.

Yes this tiny improvement from spending say $400 on tweaks to the cdp might not be worth it to anyone here but myself. I hear the diff, and my muisc is that much (2-3%) more enjoyable. Its there, its for real.

I bought a can of compressed air at Office Depot and blew out the dust in my amp and preamp. I'd say it made a 2.75% improvement. As always YMMV.

I'm doing the phono preamp today and expect another 2.376% improvement. I'll post the results later.

Well bad news on the phono preamp. I only realized a 1.1% improvement.

My next move is a MinWax polishing of the amp/preamp capacitors and a touch up of the transformers with heat resistant black enamel paint.

I expect 2%-3% overall increase in sonic quality and will report back soon.

Audio let me explain. I know what I say could be as you say meaningless to others. The 1% improvement is justa figure I pulled out of thin air. What that % is, no one can say. But fact is the changed opamps made a difference,. The new Sovtek tubes made a diff. Now to some that money spent was not justified, but to me it certainly was. My classical collection is something important, and I am glad if I can bring the sound up a notch or 2, for a reasonable amount of investment.
I have decided to change the caps, but this will be in november. I'll post the results.

it serves no purpose to quantify perceived changes in sound.

one person's 2 percent is another's "i don't hear any change".

i beleive for ordinary communication it is sufficient to use qualitative terms. the intent is to explain that a change in a component was accompanied by an observable change in the sound of a stereo system.

in terms of magnitude, it may not be necessary to precise.