EAD Theater Master Sig. or Casablanca II


HELP!!!! Putting together 7.1 HT have purchased JMLabs Utopias:Mezzo's,center, mini's and sides. REL Stadium III and a Richard Gray Line Cond. 7 monoblocks and a Pioneer Pro710 for now. Really struggling with choice of processor and DVD/CD Transport. I'm running out of $$$$ fast but can't stop. I need to find the right processor and transport. Can anyone help ?
blob7
I have seen The CasablancaII in action. With the new DavidII as your transport. Forget About It.
I own the Sim Attraction (basically, an EAD Sig w upgraded dacs/analog section- they make the digital board for the Sim unit). Very full, smooth sound, yet with excellent resolution as well. If you get the EAD Sig processor, make sure you use a good speaker cable. I went from an Audioquest brand (Forrest??) to Cardas Golden Hex 5C, and MUCH fuller sound- vocals more lifelike with a stronger presence.

I should add that I chose this OVER the Casablanca, which would have matched my Theta Dreadnaught amp perfectly, so I guess that tells you something about the sound... Also, the Sim Attraction runs true balanced outs to all 6 channels!! (5 + sub), which I believe the EAD ddoes not even do. Problem is, the Sim Attraction HT processor doesn't seem to have as wide a marketing focus and maybe not as many dealers as EAD- too bad... Good luck with your decision!

Sutts
Sounds like the EAD is winning out over the Casablanca II, especially considering the price gap, and last I heard there was a 5 to 6 week wait for the Theta. Allthough that says something by itself. But I havn't seen any EAD's falling off the shelves. Availability and $$$ play a big role too. Is there a good (awesome) DVD/CD transport that would match up to one or the other better?
Blob7, check out the Camelot Roundtable. I bought mine used but audioadvisor has them if you want to see one. Also try www.camelot-tech.com, follow the links in there and check out where it smoked a bunch a really nice top-grade players in the big on-line shootout. I understand the EAD is also close and runs a very similar, if not the same chipset as the Camelot. Either one should perform well for you.