2. digital
  3. 1207358579

"Old" vs. "new" digital equipment

Some recent posts about how far digital has come have got me thinking. I have a Theta DS Pro Gen III dac fed by a CEC TL5100Z as a transport. (The rest of the system is ARC LS2B Mk II into ARC VT-100 Mk II into Vandy 3a Sigs and 2WQ sub.)

I wonder what improvements I might hear if I were to go to a newer dac or newer cdp. In my current system, I hear grain when I listen to massed strings, some congestion on orchestral peaks, but otherwise most generally like what I hear.

Would newer digital stuff mitigate or eliminate these issues?

If I were to upgrade, where might I head next?

More generally, can anyone characterize the differences between my "old" Theta and newer digital equipment?

TIA.

David
bikecommuter

Showing 2 responses by psacanli

psacanli
535 posts
 
I'll say it again-"without exceptional power conditioning & isolation of your digital souces AC" you simply have not heard 'anywhere near' the potential of CD playback.
WADIA 581 provides "twin 'fully balanced' sheilded toroidal transformers that are electrically, mechanically and accoustically isolated from the other components"...
Bigtee, not to argue, I continue to find that enhanced digital playback makes "most" of my CD's more enjoyable, revealing more of the artists 'art' and depth of sensitivity-and I'm feel we have not reached the playback potential of digital sound yet. Just reviewed the April/May TAS and found interesting items in digital playback. I too preferred the sound quality of SACD.Cheers
psacanli
535 posts
 
Bigtee.
I believe you will find a 'dramatic' reduction in 'stridency' with some additional significant AC power isolation for your digital. A simple experiment may be to just try an MIT Shotgun AC2 power cord for digital. If you like it try comparing results by changing it to your preamp.
I hope it's informative & enjoyable. pete
More to discover