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dCS Bartok Apex vs McIntosh DA2 - Trouble Hearing the Difference

I am currently playing a new set of Focal Scala Evos with a McIntosh MA9500, fed by a Wiim Pro playing Tidal Direct. This set up uses the McIntosh DA2, which sounds remarkable to my untrained ears. 

I borrowed a dCS Bartok Apex from my local dealer. Given that I can run balanced out (using Transparent Reference Gen 6 cables) to the MA9500, I can switch inputs to compare the DA2 & Wiim vs the Bartok (DAC & Streaming) very quickly. I level matched the best I could.

What I am confused about, though, is just how close the DA2 sounds to the Bartok. The most noticeable difference is how forward and prevalent vocals are with the DA2. They seem anchored to the center image and several feet more forward into the room, whereas in the Bartok they are a bit more recessed, and integrated into the rest of the music. The Bartok soundstage is also wider, but not shockingly so. The sound is definitely smoother or "rounder" with the Bartok as compared to the DA2. 

I admit I am relatively new to critical listening, but I think I expected the difference between the $20K Bartok and the built-in DA2 to be more profound. I'm not anxious to spend the money on the Bartok, but am willing to do if it is a significant step up, which I think it should be. 

So what am I missing? Am I perhaps limited by the MA9500? My dealer doesn't love autoformer-based Mc products, but many do, so I would have thought the MA9500 is sufficiently resolving. Room acoustics are not the best, but certainly not terrible. 

Interested in any thoughts or feedback.

ripordaff

Showing 4 responses by fishagedone

fishagedone
45 posts
 

If you want to be even more surprised, order a Bluesound Node as your streamer. I was running a Wiim Pro into a MA352 and I found the Node was a lot more musical than the Wiim into the Mcintosh. On my Asian Class AB amp, the difference wasn't as drastic and both streamers performed admirable. 

fishagedone
45 posts
 

I have several amps that I play around with. I found that the Mcintosh MA352 is very particular to the source, or the streamer and DAC. For instance, running the wiim pro I almost gave up on the Mcintosh and it sounded as poorly as you described. With the Bluesound Node and an upgraded external DAC, it sounds amazing . It takes time to get the right synergy, but there are amps out there that will be more airy, detailed, holographic, better transient response; but at same time there will be a trade off in richness, warmth, rounded notes - and those hyperdetailed amps can be a little screechy at times on violins, with harsher treble causing hearing damage and ear ringing. The Mcintosh is an amazing amp and I will always keep one in rotation, right now the Ma352 is my primary amp for violin concertos and orchestral music. Don’t get me wrong I love hyperdetailed , holographic, fast amps, and addicted to that sound too, but I think it’s really a trade off and side moves after a certain spend.  Keep in mind, the amp is only a percentage of the sound signature, you can still make major adjustments with the source , DACs, cables, and of course speakers. So it's kind of hard to paint with a broad brush, everyone's system is different and can be made and tuned in ways that could be very specific to what you're looking for. 

fishagedone
45 posts
 

Also, I must sat Mcintosh is a wonderful company to deal with. Actual employees who care will pick up the phone and give you straight answers in my experience. I am concerned about Dcs and their threat of suing a young YouTuber for giving a negative review - it shows a lot about what kind of company they are to even entertain doing something so incredibly asinine 

fishagedone
45 posts
 

I just added a SMSL SU-X to my ma352 today. It was only 1k and measures better than most other DACs so I said why not, if it’s a dud I didn’t risk too much money relatively speaking. Well, using the Node as a streamer, I got amazing performance out of it, and I say the sound quality increased at least over 20 percent than using the Node alone. I am running SF Olympica 2 speakers.

Also, I’m running XLR audio cables from Amazon, they made a significant improvement also. These no-name, cheap Chinese audio companies are seriously holding their own. This SMSL SU-X sounds better than a 4k Wandla set up , and the SU-X even has a tube mode. Using tube mode, with my integrated tube amp, and SF speakers, I am in total audio bliss now. So satisfied. Thank you SMSL for not ripping us off and giving us world class performance!

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