To Fpeel: Here's a cheap idea for you to experiment with-will cost you less than $10. Buy some large zip lock freezer bags and some sand. Fill the bags up with sand and put them on your transport, dac, pre and amplifier(s) (unless they already weigh a ton anyway-I'm dealing with budget equipment here). I think you'll notice some interesting improvements-I've got that Diana Krall cd as well and like "Hit that jive, Jack" as far as listening for the other guys in the band singing, separation of voices etc. If you like what you hear with the sand, I'd also highly recommend vibrapods-they are cheap and very effective. Good isolation is key to getting maximum performance out of your equipment, whether it's good budget gear or super high end. It may actually appear to sound "less dynamic" but in many cases, I agree with the above posts that the supposed dynamics is really distortion that you're hearing.
Why does it sound less dynamic?
It has been a great puzzle to me. I have upgraded my whole chain from a SFL-2 with a PA-7 STASIS amp from Nakamichi connected to some PBJs, three Racing cones connected to a pair of Gershman X-1s, and SW-1 companion woofers and some old japanese digital front end (CHEAP*) and switched the power cord to Synergistic Master Couplers and the set up sounded explosively dynamic etc . . . .and since then, I switched to Sonic Frontiers Power 2, and added the BEL CANTO DAC-1, to my Panasonic DVD player, which was wired with Synergistic Research Alpha Sterlings and the whole set up sounds worser than before. The soundstage is less dynamic, the inmediacy is gone and overall, I feel a lot less excited by the results. I would say that somehow the digital sound sounds a little more artificial and annoying than before. What is wrong? Is the amp slow sounding? Is the digital front end bad? What caused this problems? I need help with this connondrum