Femto 93?? For about 25% of that price you can get a MUCH Better Femto 33 Clock (Lower is better)....he doesn't need the Dac. The lowest ANY MSB Clock goes is Femto 33 and that's for like 80K MSRP.
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!
20,890 responses
That’s correct, their Femto 33 is not available with Premier It is available on one model up and higher: http://www.msbtechnology.com/dacs/reference-pricing/ |
@whitecamaross Vivaldi streaming: I had to refresh my knowledge on this. I was referring to the dCS Mosiac app that was introduced earlier this year. Couldn’t find exact info on it for the Vivaldi stack, but if I remember right, I was told that the software installs in the upsampler. The only reason I previously mentioned it was if you have that it will potentially save you the cost of a streamer, PC, and interconnect. I am just becoming familiar with dCS at this point as my dealer just took on the line. Both the Bartok and Rossini have the Mosiac app and so you save on a streamer. I have not yet had the chance to demo the Mosiac app against a standalone streamer but I'd like to. |
kren0006, WC has made preference statements in both camps of sound. Sometimes he likes neutrality/clarity, other times it is sweetness/musicality. I really didn't know what he meant when he said at first that the Esoteric blows away the Vivaldi. Now that he clarified that he meant the superiority refers to the Esoteric's sweetness/musicality, it is more informative of his findings. |
V, You’re once again engaging in wishful recharacterization to bend WC’s descriptions to fit the fanciful narrative you’d like to see. One problem. WC hasn’t said the things you claim he has. He has gently admonished you now twice in the last page. Please stop, and let WC’s assessments speak for themselves without adding your euphonic overlays, thereby sabotaging WC’s descriptive clarity. |
ok so last night we did the 2nd shootout between DCS Vivaldi and Esoteric Grandioso K1 using the W20 Aurender music server. Here is what i gathered: - Vivaldi has more resolution - Vivaldi seems to have a tad more bass while remaining tight and controlled - when cranking up the system to loud levels, the vivaldi makes me cringe a little during certain songs which does not seem to affect me when using the Esoteric - The esoteric sounds more "rounded" on the highs yielding less fatigue at just about any volume level - Soundstage size and depth is about the same on both - i found the esoteric a tad more musical with less of the DCS "in your face " presentation if i were to describe the DCS, i’d say " high resolution" and for the Esoteric K1 " very musical" Of course, and as expected, we had several people here that had different opinions. Some said that the esoteric and dcs were not really far apart while others said the DCS was far better than the Esoteric based on what they heard here. Anyhow, we did an "in between" shootout of the DCS vs Boulder 2010 as a preamp, but we used a very expensive powercord on the DCS (i forget the brand, but this cable retails for $20,000 and it weights about 45 lbs) and here are the comments from people: - DCS has more immediacy, coherence, and organic feeling than using the boulder 2010 (please remember we were using a $20,000 power cord on the DCS for this exercise) - Boulder 2010 has a much bigger soundstage with more depth, height, perhaps even more control on the low frequencies - Boulder 2010 is "inflating" the soundstage which makes it less coherent than the DCS which taints the presentation - One person responded to the comment above about the boulder 2010 "inflating the sound" by saying to the person above: " no disrespect to your opinion with the "inflating comment" but you really need to get out more often and go to live events. Live events, especially those that are in actual arenas, auditoriums or venues HAVE a big sound so the boulder is trying to recreate this effect by expanding the soundstage rather than keeping everything more confined which is what the DCS is doing plus the boulder has more dynamics which the DCS could not match. The boulder is trying to remove the walls here and trying to "take you there". So after everything was said and done, i stayed listening some more on my own and noticed that the DCS for some reason "bites" my ears a little when playing at relatively loud volumes so i decided to dig in my cable bin and found a Wireworld Starlight 7 USB which is way cheaper than the FTA USB cable we used and as soon as i did that the slight edginess i was getting was totally gone. Of course, some other good qualities of the presentation were diminished as well, but this gave me food for thought which is that i might want to revisit the Wireworld USB Platinum 7 (or the the new Platinum 8 USB that will release next month) and see if this actually is what i have been needing to do on the DCS? This machine (or perhaps my entire rig) is quite transparent. i was actually surprised at the massive change the system had by just swapping from the FTA USB and going to the Wireworld Starlight 7 USB. AS I HAD STATED BEFORE, i am going to keep playing with the DCS and probably begin to try all sorts of USB cables. Yes, i will also use these with the Esoteric and do my own personal shootouts. After living with both for a few days or weeks and actually having enough "seat time" with both and taking some other financial things into consideration, i will make a determination as to which unit will be the one i want to keep and which one i will sell. i can't keep both here so one will need to go at some point. Until that day comes, i will keep playing and having fun and on to the next ! |
WC, now that have the w20 music server you need to use it through a audiophile switch like Aqvox and a few others I cant seem to think of. The switch needs to be as close has possible to the w20. The w20 should not be running off your household ethernet, the switch should be powered by a LPS and both the switch & LPS need to be on a proper shelf and if you have any extra stillpoints put them under the LPS. This will isolate everything and you will be surprised by the improvement in sq this makes. |
Fair enough’ when you do get a server you should still set it up properly like I described and a server will elevate your system. Im surprised we don’t see you on Whatsbestforum,Audioaficionado or ComputerAudiophile sites contributing they have alot a great threads on Wilson, Pass, Boulder, Aurender and server/streaming. Has always great following your journey. |
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 There are many many posts on the Internet that the AES output from any of the Aurender music servers to many if not most of the elite DACs out there is the best sounding digital connection - by far! I own the Aurender N10 and dCS Rossini and have experimented with many outputs and cables and it is absolutely true in my system. Nothing is even close. This was also true with several Esoteric SACD/CD/Transport/DAC’s that I have owned. In fact, all I read about lately is how inferior a USB connection is for many DACs and Music Servers. You might be missing out on something important in your evaluation. I have also found that the quality of the AES cable is critical - I’m guessing that this is no surprise to many either. |
I am in talks to possibly bring the upsampler back here and see where this takes me. It pains me accept this but my mind has begun to contemplate the possibility of selling my boulder 2010 which by the way , boulder has told me it is THE ONLY black boulder 2010 that they ever built which cost a 25% upcharge and 4 months of extra work on the metal plus silicone treatment the chassis has to not allow it to change color overtime. Ugh. I am mentally trying to block that idea. I’m really really trying not to sell it. Best solid state preamp I’ve owned by miles. One last thing, I'm either really crazy or still a little hung over but I am starting to feel like the dcs has made a drastic change over the last 24 hours in terms of sound and I gotta believe the cheap Wireworld USB is not capable of making it sound so good as it has been today. I'm attributing it to the amount of playback time I've thrown at it since Thursday. |
@whitecamaross Might I suggest some top of the line Purist Audio Design cables. At the level you are at , you would want the Anniversary Line or at least Dominus. Eric Love is a Purist Audio Dealer and will give you a very good price. Purist Audio cables at the Dominus and Anniversary Line are the best cables that i have ever heard. I think adding just ICs or Speaker cables or USB can make a huge difference. I think you need just one Purist Audio Dominus or Anniversary somewhere in the chain. I completely regret ever selling my Dominus REV C interconnect cables. Again,for me they were the best that I have ever heard . email Eric for quote at audiosurroundings@yahoo.com Eric Love 770-695-1312 Or you can call him for a quote He is close to you , i think . http://www.audiosurroundings.com/catalog.php/Ericlove/pg5992 Looks like he is in Boca Raton with an Atlanta area code for his cell # Tell him Dennis Palmer (me) recommended him. |
WC, By now you’ve listened to a variety of equipment with a variety of cables. Are you able to draw any general conclusions as to the relative importance, in terms of their relative ability to positively (or negatively) affect sound quality, of the three categories of power cables, speaker cables, and interconnects? I know everyone has an opinion on this as to how the three rank 1-3 in terms of importance, and if you ask 100 people you might get about 33 each saying a different of the three is most important. I’m just wondering if you’ve formed such an opinion by this point? Not asking about specific brands necessarily, just moreso your general guidance as to the question of: If I want most sound improvement, start with ____ cables; next _____, and finally ______, based on your results. Thanks! |
Up next: As you know I am in tweaking mode so I will be doing a shootout of the new Wireworld starlight 8 USB vs platinum 7. I am probably going to be going all out and do a shootout of the nordost odin 1 vs Odin 2 powercord on the dac in the next few weeks. Will the Odin 2 live up to the hype ? Stay tuned |
Cardas clear audio and dcs seems to be a match. I am liking a lot what I’m hearing. Someone said for me to try clear audio beyond xlr. Hmmm. Anyhow, I feel as if the cardas clear audio has added musicality to the dcs' somewhat analytical presentation. It made it more relaxed while still unfolding all the resolution it has. Indeed , this is starting to become very interesting and a lot of fun. |
Suddenly, what ?!! So all that preamp is king praise was just bs... Oh dear. It seems your friends are more influential....than the soundstage inflation preamp song we normally read. Are you sure you have enough huge bass slam going direct ?... Maybe your ears and preferences are shifting..... to...... Viber’s land.... Oh dear, this is huge. |
You don’t seem to allow me to try with my own equipment what I want to do huh ? I said it above that I’m going to be tweaking. Was I not clear when I said I want to sit with the DCS dac and play with cables, etc and see what it does ? This is exactly what I am doing and will be doing. Not sure where I wrote that it is better than boulder 2010 ?? I don’t see where i implied that ? All I have noticed is that it has turned around from where it started. Does this mean it is a better preamp ? I’ve been playing with the dac as a preamp since Sunday and I switched to the boulder today. There’s a great deal of clarity that the dac captures along with a tremendous amount of resolution. It is outstanding at low to moderate volume levels but I still get my ears to fatigue. I can’t explain tbe effect that it has on me even with cardas xlr which aren’t exactly bright cables. Could it be the "too much of a good thing " effect? I have made it sound better and better for sure but I still can’t capture the same level of musicality of the boulder. Soundstage is bigger with the boulder along with more forceful imaging. It is as if with the dac you have a fingernail that you clipped and is still sharp enough to scratch you but when you add the boulder , it is as if you are filing the sharp edges of this nail to smooth it out. The class a design of the boulder passes all the resolution but it rounds off the edges when it needs to. This allows for extended listening sessions because you don’t feel as if your ears get tired. You still get resolution and slam. When I use the dac as a preamp and let’s say a dynamic passage starts , I reach for the remote in order to turn it down a little and then turn it up again when the song mellows out , but this isn’t what I do with the boulder. It is all about preferences with this gear. If your speakers are warm then you are better off with the dac directly into the amps. If you value resolution between your speakers and don't care for a large sound but rather just a normal size soundfield with a ton of detail then use the dac. But if you value a massive soundstage, control, rounded edges , muscularity, and the feeling that you are "there" as well as your speakers disappearing then go with the boulder. |
Purist Audio Design Anniversary or Dominus cables = Musicality and absolutely ZERO FATIGUE.. If you want a truly high end musical and fleshed out cable..
I would be willing to bet you will LOVE them . Why do you limit yourself to only what your dealer carries ? Nordost = Highly detailed almost bleached out (in some systems) but can be fatiguing because of this . |
it cut me off before i could finish my edit . Nordost Odin is silver plated copper It can be worse (fatiguing) than an all Silver cable like your Wireworld cables are. They are fine at low to moderate listening levels , but you cannot crank them up without ripping your ears off.either silver or silver plated copper Please try some Purist Audio design Anniversary or Dominus Interconnect or speaker cables . Purist Anniversary or Dominus at low to moderate levels are Great ,but at high volume concert levels they are freaking awesome...ZERO FATIGUE. I would be willing to bet that you will LOVE them . |
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@thyname; I have decided to de-list my M-900U; I was being foolish and hasty; Fact is, I've taken my system through numerous changes over months and I am now chilling on the hardware flip/flops; I recognized that I was in the trap of just listening for differences in playback, which is not about the music; I was becoming a slave to the swaps; this happened to me before years ago and the only way for me to break out of the sonic change addiction, is to totally unplug from the quest; aka, time away from the chair and into more healthy pursuits like family time and exercise; Happy Holidays to everyone; |
I have been saying this to many people already: if you move out of the luxman 900u, make sure you have AT LEAST another 10k on top to buy an amp that edges it out. From all the amps I’ve owned , it is still the best amp under 15k. You’d need to be looking at amps that start at 25k in order to slowly begin to improve on the luxman. Again , unless you’re ready to spend that money then don't bother. |
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Right now the only USB cables I've used are Wireworld starlight 7, starlight 8 , Platinum 7, FTA (FULL TIME AUDIO) They all present things differently. At times I find the Wireworld spot on with certain music and then a little rolled off with other music. The FTA is more detailed but if your front end is already detailed then it might not be a good match. I am still contemplating buying nordost Odin 2 PC but I am also thinking of getting the upsampler for the Vivaldi. I also haven't forgotten about the music server. I'm not rushing right now so I need to slowly decide what I need to do next. Hell, theres already a proposition that a involves my focal scala evo for another big speaker (won't mention it yet since it's just a conversation at this point ) |
