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Old Vs New ..... Transport and dac.

Hi All,
I've been putting together a Vintage system based around a pair if Altec Lansing 604 duplex speakers in their big cabinets 620a , and a pair of Leak pre and power amps from the 50's / 60's.... Now, I was going to go for a turntable front end, but then I got to thinking I might put a decent digital front end together for a change. Ive been buying 50c second hand cd's lately like they are going out of fashion (which they are I suppose) Any way I was thinking of getting the latest shanling CD transport ET3 and a Denafripps mid range Dac. Like the Pontus or te one up from there. I thought that woudld be a decent attempt. BUT THEN... A local Transport and dac came up for sale for around the same money (3k) .... A Reimyo CDT - 777 Transport & Reimyo 999EX Limited Edition DAC. The Transport is running flawlessly and the dac was updted to this spec backi n 2018 by Kuichi San at Combak Harmonix in 2017 I thnk.

I lusted after then back when they came out, I love the form factor, the fact it's a SOTA classic transport and dac etc and the Tonal focus of Japanese design in audio( I know this is a horrible generalisation, but you know what I mean).

Soooooo. My question is do you think that the Japanese pair with their engineering / design and of course sound quality , would stand up to the more modern Chinese pairing. I'm more excited about the Reimyo Transport and Dac, than the Shanling and Denafripps. 

My main front ends have all been Vinyl in the past so this is something new for me. I enjoy a focus on Tone and overall performance in my systems, rather than the spotlighting and the search for the ultimate detail.

Anyway, I'd appreciate your thoughts on the above... Thanks for your advice and Help.  

 

borg7x9

Showing 2 responses by lou_setriodes

lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes
716 posts
 

@borg7x9 

So much of our hobby, practically all of it, is subjective, purchases can be purely emotional, and the process experiential.  You’ll be taking a 7 hour road trip, with hopefully nice scenery along the way (experiential part) to listen to and buy something you lusted after for some time (emotional part) that will fit nicely and aesthetically with your classic Leak gear (subjective part).  Sounds like a winning combination all the way around.  
 

If I can suggest something to enhance the day even more.  On the way back, go for a nice long hike somewhere along the way, download the All Trails App if you don’t already have it.  That way you won’t get tired on the long ride back.


Several years ago, I was selling a top of the line Laser Disc unit with a bunch of laser discs for a friend.  I ended up having to transport it 4 hours away.  I was close by an audio friend who I never met before, so I connected with him afterwards and we traded some audio gifts.  On the way back, I took a different route and ended up taking a beautiful hike in Central PA that I would have never gone to if I hadn’t done this road trip.  
 

Keep us posted and let us know how the road trip went.

Lou

lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes
716 posts
 

@borg7x9 

Thats amazing!  Hopefully, in the future you will always look back on acquiring this  new gear as an awesome adventure.  
 

I remember about 12.5 years ago, I was soon to be getting separated and was selling my whole system.  It was the dead of winter, on a freezing cold day, when a young man dressed like royalty, wearing a 3 piece suit with the old school charm of a pocket watch hanging from his vest and French cuffs carrying 2 violin cases came down my walkway and knocked on my door.  He explained that he was a in the Orchestra and also a violin teacher and that he simply could not leave his prized violins in the car or they would be ruined and the 2 of them were worth about $8K.  
 

He ended up buying my entire stereo system and even the large audio stand as well. A custom Conn organ amp model to run 6bG6’s in PP Triode, Yamaha preamp, Rega Planar 3, Nakamichi BX125, and Linn Nexus speakers with stands.  He then honored us with a private concert for about an hour in our living room.  
 

About a month later, I received a nice hand written letter from him written by a calligrapher with the envelope sealed with wax, like it was from the 18th century.  I really needed to sell the whole system too but what a total experience it had been!   Have a feeling you may be in store for something equally as memorable.

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