Resolution Audio Opus 21 VS Consonance Droplet

Tickfight/Tvad, Grant was right, I was joking, hence the wink ;-). I've 'chatted' quite a bit with Grant over the years, and I know he is no shill. I just attempted a bit of humour seeing the same reco twice tonight from Grant, but it was just in fun. No ill will intended.

I've recommended certain items more than once myself. :-)

As for the question, between these two players, for dynamics, large orchestra, etc, I'd say the Droplet would give Tickfight more of what he's looking for. The RA Opus 21 is a very nice, smooth liquid sounding player, but can sound rather polite and refined. Not exactly dynamic, the Opus 21 is more recommended for vocals and small jazz quartets, IMHO.

Since I see Tickfight already has the Droplet in his system, I'm inclined to ask what he thinks he's missing.
Tickfight, what about the Droplet leaves you yearning for more? Not dynamic enough?
You have to be careful what you wish for, because there are always trade-offs. You may find a more dynamic unit, only to discover later that it's more grainy in the high's.

I'll agree with Howard (Boa2) here, you won't find anything that will be an improvement for ~ $2K. You may take a step sideways, but I don't think you can do much better than the Droplet for under $2K. I also concur that trying silver cables or power cords may add the dynamics that you seek.

Cheers,

John

Have you considered a tube preamp? A friend and fellow Audiogon member swore by the Resolution Audio Opus 21 straight into his amps, but was missing dynamics like you. He solved this problem with a tube preamp and has never turned back. You could maybe demo one in your system just for experiment sake.
Enjoy!

Tickfight, I assume that you have already done this but in case you haven't take a moment and read the reviews that were done on 6moons by its owner. He reviewed the Consonance Droplet and the latest 'linear' Consonance 120. The interesting part of the review was his discussion of the differences between these two units, that being the way each presented the initial wave form but with different decay. The Droplet having a longer decay and the Consonance Linear having a shorter decay. Both are tubed units so its probably not just because one has tubes. Also, be sure to read between the lines. He is not always direct but he does give clues about possible drawbacks in equipment he reviews.

I mention this only because I think excessive decay is a big contributor to a lack of "openness and space" in all audio electronics. The problem IMHO becomes when the decay is shortened too much and the product takes on an unnatural brightness. Just something to thing about when evaluating your other electronics.

FWIW, from my own recent experience using modest equipment, I would vote for eliminating a pre-amp (if your system allows) in favor of finding an appropriate amp for a CDP which can drive an amp direct.