Whitecamaross, Interesting journey and amp/preamp combination. Thanks for sharing. The ARC Ref 6 is a great preamp but the question is how long will it stay in your system. Mixing the sweetness of the Ref 6 with the powerful 536's should be a great combination and look forward to your report. I have been living with Ref. 6 for the last year and know the virtues of the preamp. It combines the sweetness of tubes but with the detailing of solid state. Let me know what you think of it. Great that you have an understanding wife who allows you to explore some great components. I am jealous. We live vicariously through you.
My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
So I have been in a long journey looking to find the best amplifiers for my martin logan montis. As you know, the match between an amplifier and speakers has to be a good "marriage" and needs to be blend exquisitely. Right now, I think I might have found the best sounding amplifier for martin logan. I have gone through approximately 34-36 amplifiers in the past 12 months. Some of these are:
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
Showing 24 responses by jonaiken
Whitecamaross, Few days late on responding to your revelation on the ARC Ref. 10. I am a current owner and lover of the Ref. 10, recently upgraded from the Ref. 6 which is also a fine preamp and easily bested the Ref 5SE where I started my ARC preamp journey. The Ref 10 has been the most transformative component in my hi-end journey with a twist, more on that later. The Ref 10’s changes to my system includes providing greater transparency, more inner detailing, accurate 3 dimensional specifity, timbral accuracy, superb bass definition and dynamics, and most importantly brings music to life. Its impact can be heard and experienced at low levels and at ear piercing levels - I can’t get enough of the sound. The twist, I recently took my Ref. 10 to another level by changing out the stock Sovtek 6H30PI and Sovtek 6550WE with the Reflector 6H30P-DR’s and Winged C SED 6550C’s. Both tubes hard to find but worthwhile if you can find them. The change in tubes is comparable to going from Ref 5SE to a Ref 10 or even more. The only negative is the cost (4k) to upgrade the tubes and their limited availability. In your journey, you have provided us with some great insight with not only the amplifiers you have auditioned but also with your speakers and preamp trials. I have owned and listened to some of the items you have reported on. My amplifier journey included McIntosh, Prima Luna, ARC Components Ref. 75 to GS150 and currently the Ref 250SE with the tube upgrades as described above. BTW the Ref 150SE is more musical than the GS150 which is suppose to be the same amp minus the modern facade of the GS150. I opted for the greater power of the Ref 250SE to drive my speakers and it has rewarded me with unbelievable sound paired with Ref 10 preamp. I also owned the ML Renaissance 15A’s for a short stint and agree with you on their sound and your trial with the 13A’s - I was equally disappointed. Thanks again for your insight and continue to keep us intrigued on your discoveries. |
Whitecamaross, I totally agree with you on the 15a’s vs the 13a’s. The 15a’s are an awesome speaker and played wonderful music in my home. I regretted selling them but to appease my wife who thought they were too big for our living room, triggered me to sell them to a buddy who loves them. Having 15a withdrawal I had my dealer let me try the 13a’s for a weekend. The 13a’s were a major disappointment. Everything I loved about the 15a’s were never reproduced in the 13a’s. Even my wife commented “those (13a’s) don’t sound as good as what you had”. The Neoliths are a beast of speaker and are a major step up from the 15a’s, I only wished I had the room to accommodate them. Good luck in whatever you decide. |
I will have to say my preamplifier, the Audio Research Reference 10, is the heart of my system and communicates the soul of the music which keeps me engaged for hours at a time. This is from a man who has upgraded over five times in the last five years to include multiple amplifiers, preamplifiers, digital and analog sources and speaker (next) upgrades. When I upgraded from the ARC Ref 5SE to the ARC Ref 6 it was a wow and my recent upgrade to the Ref 10 was a double wow especially after upgrading the stock Sovtek tubes to the Reflector 6H30P-DR’s and Winged C SED 6550C’s. I will say playing music directly from my dCS Vivaldi 2.0 DAC into my ARC 250SE monoblocks is very good listening experience but going through the Ref 10 is a better, more engaging, musical, goosebump and hair raising experience. Good luck Whitecamaross with your new ML 13a’s.....I hope the 2nd time around is a better experience......The Ref 10 will definitely help this time around. Enjoy |
@grey9hound - “So you spent like $2k on 6H30P-DR? Grey9hound, I wish I spent 2k - the 6H30-DRs are $299 each from “The Tube Store” and you need 10 of them. The sound of the DR’s with the Winged C’s transformed my Ref 10’s drastically over the Ref 10’s with the stock tubes. On another note, I borrowed two weeks ago my dealers Reference 160M monoblocks after a manufacturers event, where ARC’s Dave Gordon told me the 160M’s were better sounding them my Ref. 250SE’s. After an intense listening session with 8 other audiophiles we all concluded the 250SE’s were significantly better then the 160M’s. Now my 250SE’s do have two Winged C 6550C’s and one 6H30P-DR in the input stage - hmmmm. |
Jafox, I concur with you and agree with WC going through the Ref 10. As an owner of the ARC Ref 10 and a dCS Vivaldi 2.0 DAC, going through the Ref. 10 is magical, and improves what comes out of the DAC taking me into the recording studio or live performance. The Ref 10’s ability to through a wide and deep soundstage draws you into the music and why Ref. 10 owners maintain them in our systems. |
@grey9hound - If you were to use Purist Audio Dominus Interconnect from Lampi without the Ref 10....bet that you get what you are missing Grey9hound - Conversely, if you put that same interconnect between the Ref 10 to the amps and the Lampi to the Ref 10, the combination would be superior then if the cable is only between the Lampi and Amplifiers. The Ref 10 is an awesome line stage |
@techno_dude - Ref10 is an audio dinosaur 🦕.. Old story in a new world were less is more.techno_dude - in a recent home audition of the highly regarded New ARC Reference 160M Monoblocks compared to my Ancient Industrial looking ARC Ref. 250SE Monoblocks, a group of audiophiles listened for hours comparing the two amps. A week prior to this session I was told by Audio Research’s Dave Gordon “the Ref 160Ms were better sounding than the Ref 250SE’s.” At the end of the session The eight of us unanimously liked the Ref 250SE over the Ref 160M. It wasn’t close, the 250SE’s were more transparent with greater detail and dimensionality, ballsier (dynamic), with excellent tonal shadings and timbral accuracy. The overall sound was more palatable and took you to the hall. There was a sophistication to the sound of the 250SE’s the 160Ms could not match. I truly wanted the Ref 160M because of their modern see through metered front glass but their sound left me wanting more. The 160M are very good and can be compared to the latest Mercedes E-Class while the Ref 250SE are a 2015 Mercedes S-Class with the AMG package ( Rolled 6H30P-DR and Winged C SED 6550C tubes) and provided greater performance. Newer is not necessarily better. |
whitecamaross - welcome to my world, I have all Odin power cords and cables minus a V2 USB cable and realized the same fact or experience when I installed my first Odin power cord replacing Shunyata’s top of the line power cord. Odin power cords are the best bag for your buck in the Odin cable hierarchy, next the signal or digital cables and the least are the speaker cables. I was going to recommend weeks ago for you to change your Shunyata PC on your Ref. 10, glad you did. Enjoy |
WC, I am not surprised the dCS Vivaldi 2.0 DAC did not outshine the Lampizator DAC directly to the amps. As an owner of a partial dCS Vivaldi stack I never liked the sound going directly to my amps and get better sound going through my preamp. I do agree the MQA capability of the dCS DAC is insane and gives my vinyl setup a run for the money. I am familiar with all of your cables and use a Nordost Valhalla V2 USB cable (upgraded from WW Platinum 7) which allows for a bigger soundstage and greater detail. I don’t have a problem with image height but I am going from a Vivaldi DAC to their Vivaldi 2.0 Upsampler, which takes the sound to another level. Love your journey and can relate to many of your changes or auditions, i.e. My audition of the ARC M160 led me to the same conclusion...they don’t have the juice to drive my speakers and left me wanting more. Keep the assessments coming, enjoying the journey. |
WCC, I am glad you got to hear the virtues of the Alexia I’s. They truly are great speakers. As good as they are, the Alexia II’s are a noticeable improvement over the I’s. The challenge is you will have to put out more cheddar for the II’s since they are current. But a worthy investment, unless you can find a pair of ALEXX’s for a great price - which are a major step up. Decisions, Decisions |
@whitecamaross - I look forward to hearing the results of your shootout between dCS’ Vivaldi DAC, which I own, and the Esoteric K1 DAC. I am currently running the Innuos Statement via Nordost‘s V2 USB cable through the dCS Vivaldi Upsampler/DAC combo, which produces superb sound. @psynder149 - the Innuos Statement provides a significant improvement over the Innuos ZENith MkII SE, providing greater detail and dynamics, with a larger and more 3-dimensional soundstage, with superb timbral accuracy. Musicians space and complex passages are better defined which allows one to follow them clearly. The sound is very palatable. |
WC, I am surprised you compared the Boulder Preamp to the dCS DAC as a preamp. Seems like comparing apples to oranges with the dCS coming up short against an excellent preamp like the new Boulder......but maybe not after reading your notes. I am a dCS stack owner and know the strengths and minuses of the stack especially the DAC and Upsampler. Using the DAC as a preamp is not one of it’s strong points for me. The dCS stack or partial system with the DAC, clock and upsampler gives you it’s best sound. The DAC by itself is formidable but will fall short of what the best preamps have to offer. I have used the Wireworld Platinum 7, FTA and my favorite Nordost V2 USB’s with the dCS Vivaldi DAC. I can relate to what you heard with the FTA and why the WW was a better match. If you can get a Nordost V2 USB to try between the DAC and Aurender it will be interesting session. Love your journey and thanks for sharing with us. |
WC, I heard the biggest difference when the Upsampler was added but dCS’ National Sales Manager John Quick would tell you the clock is the most critical component in the stack to eliminate timing errors and jitter. Eliminating timing errors and jitter does improve the sound and will remove the digital edge you are currently hearing that is causing listener fatigue. The Upsampler expands the great sound you are currently hearing from the Vivaldi DAC to give you greater detail and transparency, bigger and more 3-Dimensional soundstage and more insight into the performance. I bought my DAC and Clock together and then added the Upsampler. Adding the Upsampler will also give you the ability to stream Tidal, Spotify, Quboz, etc. - although I don’t find their streamer to be as good as what I get from my Innuos Statement. Tough call |
WC - I see you came to the same conclusion on the dCS Upsampler vs the clock that I did. The improvement with the Upsampler is huge. BTW I had my WC moment this weekend and auditioned the D’Agostino M400 Monoblocks in my system and was blown away. They took my system to new heights and made me realize it is time to move away from my ARC 250SE’s. The M400’s are the real deal. |