Hi Aewhistory,
I'm the one that started this thread. The Theta III is without a doubt a type one sounding DAC. Very dynamic and detailed with a bold spacial presentation. I always found Theta's DACs to be somewhat analytical sounding without some of the natural timbres that our very important to me to relax into the music. |
Sorry, to anyone reading this thread, I forgot to mention that all statements regarding the sonic signature of these DACS is based only on redbook cds. Its the only format I listen to or care about. Thanks. |
One more piece of information that might be helpful to know would be all the DACS were audtioned using the following transports: Mark Levinson 31.5, Cec TL-0, or the Ensemble Dirondo. Thanks. |
Great question Steve, I'll be brief but hopefully informative. The CEC TL-0 added great smoothness/liqidity/warmth to any DAC that it was linked to. However, it's PRAT/bottom end was not as good as either the Levinson or the Ensemble transports. The Levinson 31.5 added great details/speed/clarity and an excellent bottom end, was not as warm/organic as the CEC transport. The Ensemble Dirondo was almost in the middle sonicly, great details/speed/extension top-bottom with a nice sense of ease/smoothness, but not as lush/romantic as the CEC transport. The transports themselves could fit into the sonic categories that I used to group the overall "flavor" of the DACS I was comparing.The Levinson 31.5 would go into bracket#1,the CEC TL-0 would go into bracket#2, and the Ensemble Dirondo would be a "middle path" between #1 and #2. All are wonderful transports, remember the TL-0 is no longer in production, the 31.5 I believe is just now again being produced and the Ensemble is the current reference and in production. Hope this helps. |
Audioezra, thank you for your kind words regarding my post. Next,Henryhk, your statement is totally about synergy in a well put together system that would shine sonicly. Thats why its so silly to call any DAC the "BEST" in the world because it leaves out the important factor of system matching to get the correct synergy. Lastly, Gliderguider, I audtioned a fully broken in Audio Note 4 which I believe is an older model than yours, along with that your wonderful DAC is a step higher in the Audio Note line. As I stated in my post, I did not confuse a lack of what you call artifacts in the high end means a lack of details or extension. However, in my system, The Audio Note DAC had wonderful warmth/musicality in the midrange but did not have the top/bottom extension of the other DACS that I audtioned. As you stated it just might have been lack of system synergy in my rig or your model Audio Note retains the virtues of the older and less expensive DAC but adds the extension on both ends. |
Henryhk, sorry if I misunderstood your statement/question, however I think we are saying the same thing just using different semantics. My opinion would be is that if you have a warm, layed back sounding speaker, such as a Sonus Faber, a DAC from category #2 would be to much of a "good thing" and would not lead to good synergy. However, your Kharmas, which are great speakers, I believe would be a great match with category #2 solid state DACS such as the Reimyo or Accustic Arts were you would still get great dynamics and top/bottom extension but would add more warmth and musicality to your system. I don't think I have to tell you that your Meitner front end is world class stuff, but it would be very interesting, on redbook, what you would think if you audtioned one of these other DACS in your system and see if a different "flavor" would be more to your personnal taste or better synergy with your overall gear. If SACD is important to you then the above information would be irrelevant because the DACS I'm talking about are only redback. One final note you might find interesting. I have a good friend who also has Kharma speakers and he chooses to use a CEC TL-0 belt transport on redbook instead of his Meitner transport to feed his Meitner DAC to add more warmth and liquidity to his system. He likes that combo much more then the straight Meitner setup and only uses the Meitner transport to play SACD. |
Exlibris, my friend's system is powered by Lamm pre and mono block tube amps and he uses both a CEC TL-0 and the Meitner CDSD transport to drive his DAC. He likes the sound of redbook cd better on the CEC transport then the Meitner transport. I just replaced my digital cable (Artistic Audio vacuum reference) with the new Stealth Varidig Sextet reference which brought my system to a new level of sonic resolution. I posted a review with more details if you are interested and want more information. Finally, when I read a post like Oneobgyn, I have sad feelings, not about his educated opinion regarding his own gear, but the "absurd" position that there is one BEST anything in high end audio. There are many wonderful pieces with different flavors, along with personnal taste and system synergy, therefore there is in no absolute BEST. This type of statement, "there really is none better", just leads to elitism and ego jocking in our fun hobby. It's fun/pleasurable to share what we hear with other audiophiles who then decide what they find the most pleasing by using their own ear's. |
Sgr, I used to have a ML31.5,360s,and DCS purcell in my system for about four and a half years. I was extremely satisfied, especially when I added the Purcell and upsampled to 24/96, through the ML360s DAC. However, in my opinion, because digital gear is a relatively new technology and therefore might change faster then other older more established technology, I began my attempt to do home auditions of the most highly regarded reference DACS as I could possibly do to scratch my curiosity itch. That lead to posting this thread to share my experiences and ideas of how to group the different DACS sonic characteristics into the two different groups. I would say, with my gear, that your ML digital front end would be closer to the type #1 sonics and you would find that some of the newer DACS would offer more detail, air around players, a somewhat bigger sound stage. I found these improvements along with one more very important factor, sorry this is stated somewhat subjectively, that my ML gear sounded somewhat "dry/flatter/not as musical" as the more current DACS. My experience was that by adding the DCS Purcell to my ML gear brought it closer to this musicality/liquidity I'm trying to describe. So, I would suggest you might audition a DCS Purcell upsampler, your 360s will process 24/96, and see if you like the difference before you go to trying some of the newer DACS. Your wonderful ML31.5 is just a great transport, so even if you would choose a new DAC, in my opinion, there would be no reason to replace it with anything that is current. A final note/suggestion would be to try the new Stealth Sextet digital reference cable, I posted a review you nmight take a look at, that is just terrific and also could help your ML gear blossom much more. The DCS Purcell you could pick up used for around $1200.00/$1800.00, the Stealth Sextet retails for $2400.00, and you would have to use a pair!, if you audition the DCS Purcell, but I think you might be shocked/thrilled with the results of your experiment. It's alot of coin, around $5500.00, but I know you can audition the Stealth cables for 30 days, with a full refund minus shipping, along with hopefully trying the DCS Purcell before you purchase it. Let me know what you think and I hope this was helpful. |
Hi, Branimir, thanks for sharing your experience with your Weiss/Jason digital front end, sounds like its another world class reference and I would love to hear it one day. To answer your question, my Accustic Arts DAC1 MK3 is the normal version, not the balanced one. I did not audition both of them in my system, however an audiophile buddy did and did not believe their was a significant difference sonicly between the two versions. Do you think you might be interested in auditioning the Stealth Sextet cable between your Weiss/Jason pieces? It really is a very special cable and quite different then anything else I have ever heard in my system. It might be a great match with your gear. It would be hard for me to believe it would not sound great with any digital gear, but their is always personnal taste/synergy to take into account, but I believe the Sextet sets a new reference standard for digital cables. |
Exlibris, does this mean that you have given up your quest to audition non-upsampling DACS for right now? That you finally decided that it would not be fair to change your Meitner Dac without first hearing how it would perform with its matching transport? Either way the Meitner gear is one of the best type #1 front ends around. Will you still use your Sextet balanced cable or do you think you will use the optical cable on redbook? |
Branimir, I don't know if you read a review I posted about week ago on the Stealth Sextet digital cable, but it will give alot more details regarding what cables I compared it to and why its my new reference. It's hard to put into words why the Sextet is not just an improvement, in my opinion, compared to other great cables, but offers a qualitative shift towards musicalty/liquidity, without loss of speed/details/dynamics, in a very natural way. I still think most audiophiles would say it sounds like "analog" in its ease and organic presentation. I was talking to someone about this cable and they shared that a very dedicated audiophile, who happens to live in Europe, had gone the extra mile and had literally auditioned every highly regarded digital cable available today, regardless of cost, and had come to the same conclusion, its a qualitative shift towards the illusion of real music, not just doing things better then other cables. This cable was the owner/designer of Stealth attempt to replicate the sound of his highly acclaimed Indra interconnect in the digital domain. That I can't comment on since I never had one in my system, but the Sextet in its own right is a very special cable indeed. I would find it very interesting, if its in your budget, if you auditioned it with your gear and share what you think. Stealth has a thirty day audition policy, with full refund minus shipping. |
Sgr, before I finally replaced my ML360s, I had added the DCS Purcell which significantly raised the performance of the 360s in all the right ways {more air around players,bigger/deeper sound stage,more details,more clarity,deeper/better bass} and kept that front end for another two years. The 360s will only handle 24/96 upsampling, so DSD is not possible with this DAC. So, my opinion would be: 1) If you can audition a DSC Purcell, see if you can find a older model without the firewire for DSD, it should be less expensive and have no effect on the sonics, see if it gives you a great sonic bang for the buck, if not, then audition some of the newer DACS discussed in the thread. 2) Your ML 31.5 is still one of the best transports in the world, I would see no reason to change it regardless if you go to a different DAC in your system. 3) My personnal taste is towards type #2 DACS that still offer great details,speed,dynamics along with warmth/liquidity/musicality, thats why I finally chose the Accustic Arts DAC1 MK3 for my system. I never claimed that its the "BEST" in the world, even though I think its quite terrific and a great bargain at its price. 4) I'm sure your quite curious to hear some of these other DACS in your system, but first I would run the experiment with the Purcell to really get all the possible potential out of your 360s, you will also have fun experimenting with the four digital filters that the Purcell offers you to tailor the sound to your personnal taste ( mine was always filter 4 by the way), then go on to audition other DACS if your not really satisfied. |
Branimir, I'm glad he got the new generation player, as I said its supposed to be a wonderful sounding player and we both know its wonderfully built. I have no experience with the Accustic Arts power cord you are using, I run Harmonix studio masters on my digital pieces, so that I can't be helpful with. The break-in time, in my experience, is that it starts to sound very good after about 150 to 200 hours, but really opens up and shines after 300 hours of use. I did not experience it going through stages of it sounding worse before it got better, just an on-going improvement towards its ultimate sonics/performance. Please do let us know what your conclusions are after the break-in period. |
First, thanks to all you GON members for participating on this thread/topic in such an interesting, friendly, and informative way. I wish more threads would have the good "cheer" and "egolessness" of this on-going discussion and information sharing. Now, on to my question, regardless of what dac or transport I have auditioned in my system they all sounded significantly better when using a power conditioner and different power cords. My present gear, after experimenting with different pieces, is the Ensemble Duo Isolink and Harmonix Studio Master power cords for my digital front end. I would appreciate if you guys would share what your experiences have been regarding this area of digital front ends. Thanks in advance. |
I thought that all the participants on this thread would find the following information both interesting/informative. On Audio Federation's website, hi Neli and Mike, they have posted on the BLOG section their impressions/evauluations of the new Audio Aero Prestige CDP to the Meitner digital pieces. It seems so far that to their ears', to use the categories we have been using on this thread, the Meitner is a #1 flavor and the Audio Aero Prestige is a #2 flavor. They do a great job of explaining the differences between them and do not state one is superior to the other, but offer different virtues and prespectives. Back to the idea that no one piece is the "BEST" but many great sounding digital front ends that might appeal to one's personnal taste more and someone's less. As far as I know, Neli's and Mike's wonderfully written comments/impressions are the first regarding the Audio Aero Prestige player and adds to our knowledge base both the specifics of this player, along with how it sounds in context with a well known reference, the Meitner gear. Thanks Guys. |
Exlibris, I did not compare in my system the Accustic Arts Drive 1 with my Ensemble Dirondo transport. However, the individual I purchased my Accustic Arts DAC-1 MK3 from had both transports to audition the AA DAC-1 MK3 with and found no sonic advantage/differences between the two transports. Since, I already had the Ensemble transport as my reference in my system, I saw no reason, based on the trust in my friend's opinion, to audition it. It's a real compliment to these dealer, since he could have tried to "sell" me on better synergy or sonic improvement using the Accustic Arts transport instead of the Ensemble transport, but was honest in sharing that there was no reason to make the change. I know that both transports are extremely well built and sound great, however the Ensemble costs almost $3000.00 more then the Accustic Arts. Historically, I have had in my system some highly regarded transports, such as the CEC TL-1, ML-31.5, and found the Ensemble to offer me better sonics then those transports. As I advised one GON member, if you can get a Ensemble transport discounted to around $4500.00 or less I would go for it, if not, I would be very happy to have the Accustic Arts transport which sonicly competes with the best, but costs less and is extremely well built. |
Branimir, do you have any information regarding the sonics of the new CEC TL-0x or the TL-2 compared to the first generation TL-0 and TL-1? Also, do you believe the build quality is on the same level compared to the older pieces? I thought I read somewhere that CEC now has its pieces built/assembled in China, not Japan, if true, would this effect the level of build quality. The older stuff was beautifully manufactured. Thanks in advance if you can provide any information on this topic. |
Thanks, Branimir for the helpful information. Regarding the sound of the Meitner teamed with a CEC transport, only on redbook of course, I have a friend who uses a TL-0 with his Meitner DAC because he believes it offers a more "musical" presentation then with his Meitner transport. I have heard both in his system and also prefer this pairing on redbook compared to an all Meitner frontend. Historically, in my system I found the CEC TL-1 to offer beautful "liquidity/smoothness" but was somewhat lacking in details and the bass was not as dynamic/quick as I wanted it to be. The CEC was replaced by a ML31.5 which was still smooth but more detailed with much better bottom end. Branimir, do you have any experience with the Ensemble transport, that I use currently in my system, if so how does it compare to some of the other great transports you have listened to? I'll thank you in advance. |
Branimir, I see that you left a nice comment on my review of the Stealth digital Sextet cable. Without raving about it like a madman, its one of the most significant improvements I have ever heard regarding bringing a digital front end towards the warmth/liquidity/naturalness of analog reproduction in my system. So, I'm wondering if you had a chance to audition one yet, and if so what did you think? It seems that regardless of what digital pieces its used with it, it offers this wonderful quality without any apparent shortcomings or downside. There are many excellent digital cables, however I believe the Sextet offers something different and special to digital front ends. |
Branimir, I hope very much your friend enjoys his Accustic Arts CDP. Not to throw a "monkey wrench" into his auditioning process, but did he get the first generation CDP or the updated model? The new model is supposed to be a great improvement over the original. The bit ratio was changed from 24/96 to 24/192. The DAC1-MK3 is a different animal sonicly, so I can't make a prediction concerning his CDP, so let us know what you guys hear. |
Branimir, I believe that some companies do take their time for research/development to improve the pieces already in their lineup or come out with new statement gear, however many believe to stay competitive in the market they must come out with new gear at the CES gatherings every year. My hunch is that for redbook nothing going to be "earth-shattering", but refinements and increments in the overall sonic signature towards the warmth/liquidity of analog reproduction. That said, it will get better, so more toys to have fun listening to in the future! I agree that the players you mentioned are quite good and very competitive at that price break. I have a friend who has the Ayre CX7e and loves it. These days, audiophiles really have many fine digital gear to select from at different price ranges to match their personnal taste, budget, and their system. |
In the latest edition of hi>fi+, they did two very well written and informative reviews of the Ayre-5xe 2 channel and the DCS P8i SACD players. I look at all reviews with a very skeptical eye, but these offered a detailed prespective of the sonics of these digital pieces. The Ayre review was pretty much thumbs up, the DCS was more of a mixed bag. So, my question is not if anyone has read these reviews, but have any of you GON members had the pleasure to audition either one of these new entries in the digital race for acclaimed status. My only interest is their performance on redbook, not SACD. |
Hi, to both Branimir and Exlibris, I agree with your conclusion regarding using the CDSD transport to really see if you will get the sound you are seeking out of your Meitner DAC. My friend who uses the CEC TL-0, prefers this on redbook, had to send his TL-0 to be re-calibrated by Meitner so that his DAC would lock on to the CEC TL-0. I also found it interesting, Exlibris, that you also run Acoustic Zen Absolute wire in your system, I do too, and think its wonderful wire. Do you use both the IC's and speaker wire? If not, what else do you use in your system? Branimir, I just got my new, BOUND FOR SOUND, newsletter, its written by Martin G. DeWulf who's based in Kewanee, Illinois. Mr. DeWulf did a review on the Weiss Medea DAC, not the Jason transport, and came to some very bizarre conclusions about its voiceing and performance that I think you would get a kick out of. His newsletter is one of the rags I read for shear "entertainment/pleasure" not useful information, I don't take any of the reviewers seriously, but thought if you get a copy of his newsletter it would tickle your funny bone regarding the Medea DAC. |
Exlibris, I will be very interested in what your opinion will be regarding the Accustic Arts D1 transport/Accustic Art DAC1mk3 sonics in general and how it compares to your Meitner gear. Would you also be willing to share what the rest of your system gear is (wires,digital cable,pre-amp,amps,speakers) so I can have an overall perspective of how the Accustic Arts pieces match up in your overall system. As you know, my digital front end is composed of an Ensemble transport and the Accustic Arts DAC1mk3, which I finally settled on after auditioning many other DACS in my system. I found the Meitner gear to be a great #1 flavor and the Accustic Arts a great #2 flavor to my ear's. So, I'll just wait for what your ear's tell you in your experience. Have a nice Thanksgiving holiday. |
Exlibris, I have listened to the EMM DCC2 with a CEC TL-O transport compared to my present digital front end of an Accustic Arts DAC1 MK3 with an Ensemble Dirondo transport. Since, I only care about redbook, my remarks are only describing what I heard on that format. I found both of them quite detailed, great soundstaging with "air" around the players, with great extension both on the top/bottom. I found that the AA MK3/Ensemble was more a type #2 with somewhat more "warmth/liquidity" then then the EMM/CEC duo. They both sounded great, but my personnal taste leaned towards the AA MK3/Ensemble, so that's what I have in my system, and it gives me great pleasure. Neither is surperior to the other, just slightly different in their sonic signatures. Historically, I have had a CEC TL-1 transport and found it offered a wonderful smoothness and ease, but lost detail, extension, and prat compared with other transports in my system. I would also add that since I put in my system the Stealth Sextet digital cable, my total digital front end sonics was taken to a pretty dramatic higher level. So, I would recommend trying this cable regardless of what dac/transport you use. |
Exlibris, you requested some of Mr. Martin DeWulf's comments regarding the Weiss Medea DAC, so here they are: 1)The Medea did not have the drive and presence that I found in the Benchmark DAC 1. 2) The Medea can get loud, but never got raucous and wild. For a lack of a better term, it never completely let its hair down and boogied. 3) In terms of dynamic contrasts and audible energy, the Medea came off as ever so restrained. 4) It would not surprise me one bit if the Medea was voiced using horn loudspeakers... it still appears to me that the negatives I hear in this unit appear to negatively mirror some of those things I personally don't like about the sound of horns. Well, everybody has a right to their opinion including Mr. DeWulf, but alittle strange, wouldn't you say? As far as I can tell he used his reference transport, Camelot Round table along with Camelot Dragon digital signal processor to drive the Medea and his reference DAC in what he calls his "Big Rig" is the MSB Platinum DAC. I have heard the Benchmark DAC 1 and it offers very good performance at its $1000.00 price point, however I like the Bel Canto DAC II much better sonicly at $1200.00, but my ear's told me it came nowhere close to the performance and sonics of such DACS as Ensemble, Meitner, Accustic Arts, Reimyo, etc. I have not had the pleasure to listen to the Medea/Jason combo, but I believe that Branimir would have a few things to offer about how Mr. DeWulf described the sound of this digital front end. I think it will be hard for him to believe that good old Martin was listening to the Medea/Jason at all! |
I have read/heard many postive things regarding the Audiomat reference DAC and the Dodson DA-218 DAC, but have never heard them myself. So, my question is, do any of you Gon members own either of these DACS or have had the opportunity to listen to them, and what is your opinion regarding their sonic performance? Thanks to all willing to share. |
Branimir, thanks for sharing your final opinion on the Accustic Arts CDP, and I'm glad that your friend is very happy with his new digital player. I do not remember if you have had the chance to listen to The Accustic Arts DACIMK3, but as you stated, it is a qualitative different DAC with a 32/384 sampling rate. I knew the player would be quite good, but did not expect it to perform on the same level as the DAC. I'm a little confused with your statement regarding the price of the Accustic Arts CDP, I thought it retailed for $6000.00, if I'm wrong please correct me, therefore the price of the new ARC CD7 would be not just a $1000.00 difference, but would be $3000.00. I will admit my ignorance regarding the ARC CD7, but you make it sound like it might be a very special piece. Have you heard it already, or are you waiting to audition one? I will thank you in advance for what ever information you will share. |
Branimir, my compliments to you in two ways: 1) That you are affluent enough to own two world class systems. 2) That you are a "golden eared" audiophile with very good taste. If the system you described is the second system in your home, would you be nice enough to share details about the gear in your first system. The only question I would like to ask you, is, did you buy the ARC CD7 outright, or do you have an audition period before the final purchase? I have never bought a piece of gear without a long enough home audition to insure it was right for me in my system. Thats why I'm curious about your situation, it seems like you have purchased it, and now well see what it will sound like as it breaks in, which I would find concerning, unless I'm mistaken and you are going through the audition process and will make the final decision. Hope, this is not to personal of a question, just curious, thats all. |
Exlibris, based on reading a past post you put on another thread regarding the Acoustic Zen Absolute IC's and speaker wire I was aware that you had replaced your Cardas wires with Mr. Robert Lee's new reference. Would you be willing to share what your experience has been with them in your system? I too, have them in my system and find them to have a great blend of details, clarity, extension, but still have what I call a "liquidity/musicality" at the same time. I have not yet discovered and major short-comings sonicly that would concern me. So, I would love to hear what you think, no one else, in my network of audiophile friends has them in their system. I'll thank you in advance. |
Branimir, you posting your systems have stimulated my curiosity in a few directions concerning the different sonic signatures of your two wonderful systems. So, here are my questions: 1) What are the similarities/differences in the overall sonic's of each system? 2) Do you find that certain types of music do better or are more enjoyable on one system or the other? 3) What would you consider are the major strengths of each system? 4) If you had to decide to live with only one or the other system which one would you chose and why? 5) Do you find that your own inner mood/being sometimes leads you to one system or the other? I'm fascinated with what your answers will be, must of us music lovers do not have two world class systems in our homes to chose from. Secondly, I'm assuming they offer a qualitively different musical experience, not which is right or wrong, but different, so personnal taste overlaps with the experience of each system. I'll thank you in advance for your response. It should be very interesting, indeed! |
Exlibris, your experience so far is very similiar to what I heard, but I would describe it as being "closed in" before the DAC blossomed into giving its best performance. I used to use the Acoustic Zen cable and found it to be smooth and warm, but not giving great details or "air" around the players in a smaller sound stage. Its a good cable at its price range, but could some what get in the way of the performance of the AA gear. When I got my AA DAC I had a fully broke in transport and digital cable (Ensemble,Artistic Arts) which might have lead to a more positive experience in the first 40 hours, less fog as you would say, then your getting right now. Well, thanks for getting back on whats going on right now, and I expect that what you hear well be much more pleasing as time goes on with your home audition. The Acoustic Zen cable is good enough to let you know, after the needed burn in, if the sonics of the AA will float your sonic boat. |
Branimir, as always thanks for sharing your experiences with us fellow GON members. Regarding your ranking of the digital gear in your dealers system, two qustions: 1) Do you think you will change your Jason/Medea front end to the Esoteric reference gear now that you believe it's a better #1 sonic presentation? 2) What did you think of the sonics of the Pass LabsX-350.5 amp? I know the demo was not in your system, but am curious what you think, regarding this amp, because I use the 350.5 in my system. I'll thank you in advance for your reply. |
Branimir, the Pass Labs XA series adds even more "warmth/easyness" to the overall sonic signature of the .5 amps. If you like what must people would describe as a tube like quality, then the XA amps would be very pleasant sounding to your ears. Because, the XA amps do not double down into lower impedence loads, they did not work as well in my system as the 350.5, which does double down into lower impedence, when driving my MG-20Rs. My hunch is that audiophiles that love tube-SET's or an amp like the Dartzel would really enjoy a pair of XA amps. As far as I know the single chassis XA-60 has not been released yet by Pass, unless you know something I don't. For my budget and my ear's the 350.5 is a wonderful sounding amp in my system and replaced a highly regarded Edge NL-10. Great dynamics/clarity/extension with a "warmth/liquidity" normally associated with tube amps. |
Exlibris, my experience with the AA DAC was it sounded pretty good after around 30 to 40 hours, but really opened up and significantly changed right around 250 to 300 hours of playing time. I never noticed it sounding worse before it got better, just a steady improvement untill it fully burned in. I'm still very interested what your opinion of this gear will be, respecting your ear's/experience with digital front ends, so I know you will share what conculsions you finally come to in your audition process. What, digital cable are you going to use during your audition? I have raved about the significant difference the Stealth Sextet made in my system, along with my experience that any cables I have used, including the Sextet, brought the performance of my digital gear to a higher level with BNC connections. I don't know if in your system if you use single-ended or balanced wires, so the above information regarding the BNC's might not be useful, if you use balanced wires. |
Exlibris, I auditioned the Reimyo DAP-777 when my reference was still the Ensemble Hi-DAC and found it quite musical with relatively good details, but lacked the extension on the top and bottom, precise placement of players in the soundstage, and prat of the Ensemble DAC. That's when I next auditioned the Accustic Arts DAC1-MK3 and found it had the virtues of my Ensemble piece plus a more "analog/organic" quality in its over all sonic signature. So, my hunch would be if you don't end up liking the AA gear, the Reimyo might not be the flavor you would be looking for. It's definitively a type #2 DAC without the dynamics/extension of the Accustic Arts DAC in my opinion. Did you get the Stealth Sextet cable yet? How's the AA gear sounding to your ear's now? |
Exlibris, was thinking about how your auditioning process is goning regarding the Acoustic Arts gear. Last night a friend wanted me to bring over my AA DAC/Stealth Sextet cable to try in his system (Electrocompaniet ECI integrated amp, Electrocompaniet EMC UP CDP, Acoustic Zen wires, and MG-1.6's). We used the EMC UP 1 as the transport with the AA DAC, and we both agreed it sounded wonderful with this gear. The EMC CDP is still a very good sounding player, but my friend agreed it was not in the same league sonicly as the AA DAC. So, it's performance was very similiar in this system as it was in mine. True, we both use planar speakers, but very different electronics, so it somewhat rules out just some type of special synergy in my system regarding the sonics of the AA DAC. I'm still very curious about what's happening in your system, so let us know what's going on, as I'm sure you will. |
Exlibis, because of the experience so far in your audition of the Acoustic Arts gear, it motivated me to run the following experiment this afternoon. I have a Acoustic Zen E=Mc2 with BNC connections that I used to use about three years ago with a different digital front end. So, I took out the Stealth Sextet and replaced with my old AZ cable and let it burn-in for a couple of hours before I sat down to listen. I immediately noticed the following: 1) A great loss of clarity and transparency. 2) A shrinking of the overall soundstage and severe loss of air around the players in the soundstage. 3) The overall sound signature was warm/smooth but a definite loss of details and dynamics. The Acoustic Arts gear not only sounded like a #2 with the AZ cable, but was pushed far to the pleasant/warm side of this flavor, but lost the "aliveness" that the pieces also have in their sonic signature when used with the right digital cable. When I went back to the Sextet, the balance between "musicality/liquidity" and clarity,details and dynamics returned to my system. So, I hope, since you went through the effort to set up your audition of the AA front end, that you will be able to get the right digital cable before you complete the process. My hunch now is, since I ran my little experiment, is that what you find lacking or unpleasant to a great degree is the limitation of the Acoustic Zen cable more so then the AA pieces. |
Just had a discussion with a fellow audiophile regarding his experience with the MBL1611E DAC, don't know what transport he was using, and he thought it was outstanding and one of the best DACS he has heard. I have never had the pleasure of listening to MBL gear in my own system, heard their speakers in show setups, so I was wondering if any of you GON members have? If so, could any one comment on the performance of the MBL DAC and what # sonic flavor it has to offer |
Exlibris, I find your hunch regarding the possibility that you might end up with a tubed DAC very intriguing. When I tried a couple in my system ( very high level Audio Note and Zanden) that they had a very nice midrange, a type #2 flavor, but lacked extension on both the top and bottom, not very good PRAT, and finally not detailed enough for my personnal taste. So, if you like very much your Meitner gear, and so far have not been that impressed with the AA combo, still want to hear your final judgement with the Sextet cable, I would be surprized if you would like the overall sonics of some of the highly regarded tube non-upsampling DACS. The reason I mainly replaced my Ensemble DAC was to get some more of that "analog quality" without losing clarity, precise images with air around the players, and deep extended bass and did not find that with the above mentioned tube DACS, but did with the Accustic Arts DAC in my system. A final thought, with your tube pre-amp the AA gear might be to much of a good thing, going to far into a type#2 flavor, imagine what might happen with a tube DAC pushing your system's overall sonic signature way to right in this category! |
Exlibris, anything new to report regarding the sonics of the Accustic Arts gear at the present time. I'm assuming you have not yet gotten the Stealth Sextet balanced cable , but am curious if the pieces are changing the longer you break them in and if, still using the Acoustic Zen cable, you are finding them more pleasing or not? When do you expect to get the Sextet from Stealth? Hope its not a long wait for you. |
I forgot to put this on my last post because of brain freeze, but I thought that Exlibris, might find it interesting that at the last Rocky Mountain Audio Show many people thought one of the best sounding systems was the one put together by Brian Ackerman of Artistic Audio. It used both Einstein pre and power amps along with a small pair of Acapella speakers and the digital front end was Accustic Arts with the Stealth Sextet cable. If you go to Audio Federation's website they have a picture posted with their opinion regarding the virtues of the system. So, this pre-amp might be what you are looking for to upgrade your system. |
Exlibris, because the way you hear/describe the sonics of different gear in your system, I mean't that as a compliment, I will be shocked if you are not shocked what will happen when you put the Stealth Sextet in your system. I was quite content with my digital front end when using the Artistic Arts Vacuum reference digital cable, but my entire system went to another level with the Sextet. Please, if it turns out you think I'm totally magnifying out of proportion what this cable does or you think I must have "magical hearing dust"in my ear's regarding the Sextet, please be brutally honest in your feedback and bring me back to my senses. That's how much better I think the AA gear will sound in your system with the Sextet. Not just a quantitative improvement but a qualitative shift towards the sound of real music. Or, I'm just full of you know what and exaggerating sky high slight differences, so I'm very interested what your experience will be. |
Exlibris, sorry to hear that it just, "was not in the cards" to get the cable in time before having to return the Accustic Arts gear. I was looking forward to what your opinion was going to be regarding the combination in your system, but as you said maybe it will happen sometime in January. When I was going through an extensive audition process of pre-amps, it included four Solid State and three Tube units, the Wyetech Labs Opal linestage was one of them. I thought this mauve, or is it purple, well built linestage was one of the three best that I heard. I finally selected a Placette dual mono active linestage for my system. I would be interested in what your opinion is regarding the sonics of the Opal, I found it quite dynamic, detailed, transparent and not "tubby" sounding at all. It also produced a large open soundstage with very good layering of the players. What is the rest of the gear in your friend's system? I will thank you in advance for your response. |
Exlibris, the other pre-amp that I thought was another great sounding unit was the Chapter Audio linestage. It to offered all the virtues we are looking for, dynamics/clarity/dynamics/natural timbres, along with a very smooth and warm sounding overall sonic signature. I just found, in my system, that the Placette offered a more "natural/easy" sense that was more like real music for me. It is extremely detailed with a terrific soundstage with the most accurate high end I have ever heard, but never sounds etched/aggressive in its presentation. Could I have easily lived with the other two pre-amps, yes, I just liked the Placette better in a few ways that are important factors for me. I did not by it because of cost considerations, but do believe its one of the great bargains of the high-end audio world, at its price of $4500.00. It replaced my ML-32, that cost me almost $10000.00 more, but could not compare with the sonics of the Placette. |
Branimir, have you seen the latest issue of the Absolute Sound? It has a feature article on your Krell Evolution gear by Anthony H. Cordesman. I thought you might find it interesting to compare your experience with these pieces, I know you think they are terrific, and Codesman's take on them. I take all reviewers with a grain of salt, however I find Cordesman to have the most sane and objective opinions compared to most other reviewers in the high end written press. He thinks the Krell pieces are outstanding in many ways, with no real downside, except possibly cost. But, and this I way I respect him, he does not cop-out saying they are one of the best, but explains with great intelligence that their is no one "BEST". |
Branimir, I found Robert Harley's piece on the new digital formats to be short, well written, and finally,regrettable. The HD DVD and Blu-ray CD are really aimed at the home theatre market and even if they would offer better sonics then standard redbook, the music I listen to will not be released on these formats anyways. That's way SACD was basicly irrevelant for me from the very beginning, even if it offered superior sonics, and that is a big if to begin with, my collection of standard redbook CD's is over 40000 albums. My taste is mainly jazz from the 50's and early 60's and this massive catalog of music would never be released on the SACD format, that's way I only really care about the best in redbook format and not the other formats. My hunch is the battle between HD DVD/Blu-ray is going to be another long drawn out debacle with music lovers not really being considered part of the mix, but movies/home theatre being the target that they are aiming for. |
Exlibris, thanks for the "WOW" for now. I'll find it very interesting what it will do with your Meitner gear and how you will describe your "take" on what it does sonicly in your system. As you know, I'm quite a fan of this cable and thought it was one of the most important changes that I did this last year to bring my whole system to another level of musical pleasure. Let us know your final opinion in the next couple of days. |
Exlibris, I just got through reading your extremely well written review of the Sextet. I'm relieved that you came to the same conclusions regarding the sonic beauty of this cable as I did and that I was not exaggerating/magnifying totally out of proportion what it does to the over all sonic signature of system. So, with your system sounding the way it does now with the Sextet and your Meitner front end, do you think you will still audition the Accustic Arts pieces or other DACS or did you get all of what you were looking for, so your search is over for now? Either way, with your gear I'm sure it sounds wonderful. |
Exlibris, my experience was that it was immediately superior to my old reference cable right from the moment I put it in my system. If it did improve, and I'm sure it did, it was a subtle change towards total brake in without steep/dramatic stops or starts in the process. As I always do, I went back to my other reference cable after about four or five days and confirmed that the Sextet cable really is something special. So, if your enthralled now you have nothing to be concerned about regarding how the cable will sound when totally broken in. When you have fully digested what your hearing with the Sextet in your system, please collect your thoughts and share what you hear/experience now compared to your other digital cable. I did my best to explain what I heard when I wrote my review for the Gon, but would love to hear how you would put into words what this cable does sonically. I'm sure your having fun listening to music this weekend, just think some individuals still don't think cables make a difference, ya right! |
