Kops and karelfd
I am the first person who list dCS Puccini in virtual systems section of Audiogon back in 2008 May. I pitted against Meridian 808.2 i(loan), Accuphase Dp-78(my own) and dCS old 4 piece stack. I have connected all cd players to one preamp together(Boulder 810). For test purposes I have used Nordost Odin, Valhalla, Stealth Indra interconnects and all the powercords I have in my own collection.(Nordost Valhalla, Acrolink Mexcel 7n-pc7100, Shunyata Anaconda, Python, Taipan, Elrod Eps-2 Sig, and DIY Oyaide Tunami with various Oyaide-furutech plugs.
First night, old dCS full stack was eliminated, second night Meridian, then only Accuphase and Puccini left for 1 week period. I have connected Nordost Odin to Puccini to hear what could be done with very best interconnect. After, I switched back to old Valhalla to puccini, Odin to Accuphase. I observed how Valhalla was sounding incorrect compared to Odin. Was Odin very best I have ever heard? Yes! Should I buy Odin and keep Accuphase? No!
Right decision is to buy dCS Puccini and replace Valhalla and find the correct powercord for final voicing.
Afterwords, dCS Puccini became very popular CDP amongst others. I can't name how many magazines tested and gave decoration. I have seen fellow Audiogoners who rated puccini one of the best onebox cdp here at the Audiogon.
I have heard from you that some particular german magazines raved about puccini. It doesn't sound something special to me! I know many systems here in Audiogon outclass many wellknown reviewers own setups! I rate fellow audiogoners own comments more valuable than audio press overall. |
Agree with you on both accounts, Kops. What makes Stereo, Stereoplay and Audio so appealing to the main crowd, however, is in the end exactly their Achilles heel: they perform A/B-tests (the others never do) and they have introduced an absolute scoring table. Many people only look at that score and have no further thoughts on system synergy, their listening room, etc. Although these magazines themselves warn its a very bad idea just to take all the components with the highest score and throw them together, they are caught in their own scheme, they must automatically declare one or a few references on the basis of highest score (btw, something that is often disregarded by readers: this is the reference of the components they tested, of course, it doesnt go beyond that and they dont claim that).
Back to Einstein. In the 5/2007 issue of Image hifi there is actually a review of The Source by Roland Kraft, another seasoned reviewer who knows what he is talking about imho. This contains a very interesting observation: Sonically, (The Source) plays at a level where the only meaningful discussion should be restricted to whether the gear downstream can cope at all with the quality of a front-end such as this. Here, various players are not and do not need to be pitched against each other. That particular review of The Source ends with the statement: A stroke of genius! |
Image Hifi and Hifi Reords are way better magazines than mass market Stereo and Stereoplay....
Both of them raved about Puccini and are very serious to do so! |
Mert, I will not start a debate about who has reached what level for how many years. I did notice you brushed aside a product merely because it had a good review in a German magazine. (Btw have you seen the rave reviews on the dCS Puccini in HiFi & Records and image hifi, are these to be ignored as well by someone on the quest for a prime player?)
I myself am not a dedicated follower of any particular magazine for that matter, be it in German, English, French, Dutch or any other language I can read. I do use and compare them as a basis for selecting and I know which reviewer is serious enough at least to sit down and listen, Matthias Boede is one of them. Then again, I chose one of my own sacred beast, the Tidal Contriva, before any review (at least not to my knowledge) was ever published on that speaker, and until today no Tidal product has ever been reviewed by any German magazine.
Clavil, sorry about this uncalled for intermezzo, this should really be about Einstein The Source. Let's all go and listen! |
I am not unfamiliar to Accuphase, I replaced Accuphase Dp-78 by dCS Puccini one year ago. Even before I had Accuphase DP-67 and replaced by Musical Fidelity KW-DM 25.
Further, I have lived in Germany almost 5 years and started to collect equipment there in 1993. I remember as today I used to go to HD Hauptbahnhof for to get english audio magazines.(what hi-fi, hi-fi news and records, stereophile)
If my memory is correct, beyond them, Image Hi-fi was a bit better in paper and picture quality!
Being honestly, not just german press, english speaking audio media have weaknesses in testing and analyzing the particular equipment.
I used read stereophile tests but not seriously since 2006. However, I read J.A's lab reports carefuly in order to pick a few important points about the equipment.
I think you will understand this after having reached a particular level in Hi-End Audio. |
LP, HiFi & Records, Image hifi, Stereo, Stereoplay, Audio, Hoererlebnis,
Fairaudio,.. are you seriously stating they are all the same????? (I take it for
granted you read all of those)
If it's the Thing About Accuphase the three magazines with the widest
distribution have that disturbs you, agree it can become tedious. The other
holy cow being KEF. Then again, I'm sure a number of Accuphase owners will
agee wholeheartedly with those "many good points".
Rest assured Einstein is up there with the very, very best. |
Mathias Böde's reviews can be found in english through Accuphase web site. Those of you who interested in reliability of german press must have a look.
For me it is funy how he writes so many good points about all the Accuphase gear he tests. This is why I got negative impression about german press. |
I don't get out to shows and the like, but I've no doubt that the Einstein, Nagra and other top tier digital sources are likely very satisfying. As you have heard some of the current dCS gear, you may want to give the Scarlatti line a good listen. It certainly brings great enjoyment to my own listening. Hard to imagine that there is much better out there.
There will always be sarcastics and cynics, even in forums devoted to our appreciation of great music and the means by which it is reproduced... |
The Germans always make great stuff - just look at the shamwow. |
why?
Mathias Böde from Stereo seems to have quite a good pair of ears ... |
Clavil
germans make me always smile!
I don't consider their audio press reliable, just ignore what they say about... |
