I've just sent mine to the Audience people to be modified.
Shall report here in due course, when I have it back and its broken in. |
Hello Kubla,
I'm opting for a complete mod of the analog stage, would actually have prefered an all tube stage, like RcPrince has reported about, but could not hunt up the man in question .
(cannot think of his name right now). The reasons why were twofold, one obvious, the other one more subtle. I found it lacked in dynamics, compared to other top CD combos I had the occasion to try out and more subtle, I found the resolving power regarding subtle time related cues, you know, those splitseconds when the bow of say a violin hits the string and the tone forms and swells from what is first a minute, somewhat scratchy discord, well, I found that somewhat lacking. That is with rb CD's.
If you want to know about the mods they do, go have a look. Their website is at www.audience-av.com
Cheers |
My stance too Jonathan! I'm still waiting, according to Audience I should have had the unit already, but then on the other hand I am glad, that they will only ship after they have rigorously put everything to the test. Well, after that, a 400 hours burn in....sigh
Happy Listening, |
Rcprince, thanks for your kind offer. I actually did try to contact you, but obviously my mail didn't get through and Mes, we must compare notes, once we have the units back.
Regards to all, |
I know about this suggestibility thing. I am too long in this game not to have fallen into this trap and hence tried to learn a few lessons from it. I think I can (almost)trust my ears. I've made very careful notes about the music listened to with the 777 in its original state after about 350 hours of being broken in. I think I have a sufficient number of parameters to listen to, when it comes back. Just to put your minds a bit at ease: I've spent a large sum of money to have my Goldmund table and arm modified, so that, amongst other things, I can change VTA from the listening positionand finally get the bass rendering, soundstage, silence etc.etc.. the way I wanted it. After having spent the equivalent of about 1500 bucks, I gave it all back for redesign, because the sound seemed somewhat pinched and the voicing of the table had shifted up in emphasis. (bearing and the tip of the plinth were of a material (special ceramic) which was not suitable. I WANTED it to sound better, because it had cost me lots and would cost me more, if not satisfied, but those damned ears, with their absolute pitch ( a curse, not a blessing by the way ) just would not be cheated. Still, you can never be sure of course. Our capacity for selfdeslusion is not to be underestimated. At any rate, I'll try to be careful. By the way I just had a mail from Richard and got the same news as Mes did. So I'll have to settle down for a long wait. Cheers to all! |
Mes, have you got your unit back already? |
Hello Mark, just struck on your post. Too busy recently to log on . Hope you're burning in your unit by now. I am in the wait-mode and very curious. Regards, |
Mark, thanks for your clear cut words. Forget about the vocab and the ears, just tell us what you hear. You are experienced enough to be trustworthy. At least that's what I think. I myself haven't contacted Audience yet. I think I'll give them about six weeks until I'll start probing a bit. Eager to hear your next report and yes, what is that gear you are talking about, which seems to sound so good? Regards, |
No, haven't heard of anyone else, Kubla. Mailed them yesterday for a progess report about mine.
Cheers, |
Kubla, yesterday they told me three weeks or so, which translated probably means five and yes I'm not particularly exited, I just rediscovered my stash of old "shady dawgs" and living presences and I am having (a) field day(s)...and nights.
Samcard, Rcprince has said it all, though my experience so far has been only with the unaltered 777. It has a nice soundspace with SACD and big orchestral works are indeed better than with redbook cds, but so far, even as far as ultimate dynamics are concerned, nothing comes close to my modified Goldmund/Jadis/Jadis/and Spectral/Spectral/electrostats combination. But then stators generally are not the last word in overall dynamics, though as far as speed and risetimes are concerend, they will beat the living hell out of practically anything else. ( The Jadis 200 preamp together with the Jadis 500 monoblocks, which are not as resolving as the wonderful Jadis 80 monos alas, give you dynamics from say pp to fff, which you must experience to believe. The 80 to my mind/ear will go from ppp to about ff) Try the shaded dog with the Viennese Walzes with Reiner and his Chicago Symphony. Especially the last cut on side two.
Regards |
Rcprince, no I did not spring for the one which was offered here. I bought one locally. Just could not resist. I found your latest post very helpful, because that will be an essential paramter to listen for, once I have my unit back: the harshness at fff+ levels with SACD playback. By the way, what turntable/arm/pickup combination are you using?
Cheers, |
RC, I doubt that I will ever tire of that one! That Koetsu together with your Jadis gear must be heaven! Have you ever tried the Jadis Pre-Pre...I don't recall its proper designation, right now, not being at home. Its a two chassis job with a very hefty separate power supply and using four ECC83s ( two per channel) ( I use Telefunken NOS) for signal amplification. In comparison with the IO, it does not layer the soundstage as well, and the resolving power of the IO is overall a tad better, but as far as dynamics are concerned... and of course the Jadis magic, euphonic as it may be...and I don't care.....for pure musical enjoyment, the Aesthetix is left switched off. |
Mes, greetings to you and sorry to hear about your plight. Well, may your system rise again, like the phoenix from its proverbial ashes. From the exchanges we had, I KNOW that you liked the modded 777 very much and I think your post is excellent in setting things straight. I should have my unit back within the next ten days or so and I'll report here, as promised. Hope you will stay on with us here at Audiogon and good luck for the near and more distant future, with sufficient "pecunia" to spare and to get things rolling again! |
Thanks Jtinn---yes pecunia---you can never have enough of it, can you. Your post has made me even more impatient for the unit, besides I don't care what is "best". As long as it comes close or betters my vinyl front end, I'll be happy. The stock unit certainly did not, neiter my greenbook CD setup, with upsampler and all. How long do you expect the thing to break in? 300 to 400 hours?
Cheers, |
Hi, Jtinn, sorry to come back to you so late..... Richard did give two aproximate dates, however couldn't deliver. I'd been forewarned, so I didn't mind and these days, since Sept. 11th, well, there are more important, vital things to occupy my mind.
Cheers |
Well, yesterday was the great day. It was a long wait of about four months, but it certainly was worth it. Right out of the box and unbroken in, my preliminary findings are:
SACD play:
1. Dynamics of quite a new order, punch galore.
2. The grain in the highs and upper mids is gone.
3. Bass seems deeper, cleaner, faster
4. Midrange is more open
5. Soundstage deeper, wider.
6. you can listen deeper into the musical presentation, and with more minute detail revealed. Certainly more PRAT.
Redbook CD:
Quick comparison with ML 30.6/31.5/Purcell upsampler combo:
SONY/Audience mod: Soundpresentation more forward, closer, more direct, (first row instead of about 6th ) more roughshot for the time being, less refined and dissolved, however a tad more dynamic-punchy, highs still a bit etchy. But don't forget, the unit is just out of the box. I may be in for quite a surprise after about 400 hours or so. The unit is on repeat now, breaking it in. Cheers, |
Mike, quite a bit, not counting shipping from Europe to the US and back about 2900 bucks! But it seems to be worth it. If you look at their webside, which shows all that they have done with this mod, it does not seem a rip-off, but fairly reasonable. (audience-av.com) |
Rcprince, you make a few excellent points. Its a bit early to tell still, but my experience seems to point into the same way as you suggest. Haven't listened to classical music yet, but with the Jazz stuff I listened to, I felt I could get easily drawn into the music, which is always a good sign. I marvel at the dynamics, which seem to better those of vinyl, but I hate the hiss, (mind you, you have that on some of the old Mercury LPs as well, but I hate that there too) which my ELS's and plasma tweeters reveal mercilessly. This is disturbing, especially at pppp levels, which the unit itself seems to disolve very well. |
Jonathan, Robert at Audience actually told me, it would in time be better than the Levinson stuff. Well, I'm sceptical, but we'll see. Its broken in for about 70 hours now and I noticed a great leap forward in transparence , dynamics and general musicality on SACD after about 60 hours. Tried a classical, big orchestral piece, found it far better in every respect to any big orchestral Redbook stuff I'd ever heard, simply because it was closer to the real thing, than any CD I'd ever heard. VERY different from vinyl, which my ears are accustomed to. Need to listen more and do more breaking in , before I can report at depth. |
RCprince, its too early for me to tell, to give you a really well considered answer, but last night a disk refused to play in SACD mode but did in CD and I was quite flabberghasted how good it sounded. In a quick "test", my Purcell, ML rig sounded polite and laid back and somewhat darkish in comparison to the punchy freshness of the Audience/Sony. That was quite a shock. But it was late and then one of my tubes in the 200 went sour, so that was the end of it. Regards, |
