John,
Thanks for your note! The other reason I'm not yet moving in the Enchanter direction is the acquisition of the Ayon Audio CD-2. It's a 6H30-based tube player and might not be as good a fit as the Enchanter was on the Cary 303/300, which I used exclusively through the solid state output stage. I could be wrong. The Enchanter is one heck of a power cord.
I'm a little puzzled by some of the sonic characteristics of the CD-2, so perhaps I should wait to see where I finally come down on the unit. I think whatever characteristic the CD-2 is going to ultimately display will tell me whether to stick with what I have or nudge me toward either the Enchanter or try the Valhalla. The player has sounded very different based on speaker placement. It may have needed some burn in time as well, but it's hard to tell, for reasons too detailed to explain here.
To compound the issue, I have not been able to listen to my reference interconnects (the Silkworms you put me on to - thanks!) because an XLR jack on the Ayon was damaged in shipping to me. I just purchased a set of GG Raptures to try as well, but despite generous cooking by Gary the cable probably isn't burned in enough to form opinions there, either.
The Ayon is going back for repair, so I have a few weeks to gather thoughts before listening to the Raptures and Silkworms and playing with speaker positioning some more. I'm looking forward to many, many hours of experimentation in late March and April. :-D
Best,
Howard
Thanks for your note! The other reason I'm not yet moving in the Enchanter direction is the acquisition of the Ayon Audio CD-2. It's a 6H30-based tube player and might not be as good a fit as the Enchanter was on the Cary 303/300, which I used exclusively through the solid state output stage. I could be wrong. The Enchanter is one heck of a power cord.
I'm a little puzzled by some of the sonic characteristics of the CD-2, so perhaps I should wait to see where I finally come down on the unit. I think whatever characteristic the CD-2 is going to ultimately display will tell me whether to stick with what I have or nudge me toward either the Enchanter or try the Valhalla. The player has sounded very different based on speaker placement. It may have needed some burn in time as well, but it's hard to tell, for reasons too detailed to explain here.
To compound the issue, I have not been able to listen to my reference interconnects (the Silkworms you put me on to - thanks!) because an XLR jack on the Ayon was damaged in shipping to me. I just purchased a set of GG Raptures to try as well, but despite generous cooking by Gary the cable probably isn't burned in enough to form opinions there, either.
The Ayon is going back for repair, so I have a few weeks to gather thoughts before listening to the Raptures and Silkworms and playing with speaker positioning some more. I'm looking forward to many, many hours of experimentation in late March and April. :-D
Best,
Howard