Have You Heard the Northstar CD Combo?


WOW! I just bought a Northstar Transport and the Extremo DAC. I can't believe how good this sounds. It blows away my Sony scd-1 in stock mode, and even betters it with the mods that I had in the Sony. I never thought I could get this excited about a piece of digital equipment. I also love the size. Very small compared the the scd-1 beast. That thing almost broke my back! It is still not the equal of my analog system, but I can go from listening to LP's to CD's and not feel the need shut the digital off and fire up the TT right away.
slowhand
Clio09 wtre:

Steve - are you still doing North Star mods, but just not on the Extremo DAC?

Yes, I'm still modding the Northstar 192.

steve N.
Recently I've been using the Stealth M5000 on the transport and Stealth Dream Digital on the DAC. Previously I have also tried these combinations:

1. Acoustic Revive Power Max II power cords on both units
simultaneously.
2. PAD Dominus on the DAC and and Virtual Dynamics Nite II
on the transport.
3. Virtual Dynamics Master on the DAC and Nite II on the
transport.
4. Virtual Dynamics Master on the DAC and Oyaide Tunami GPX
on the transport.

I've pretty much settled on the Stealth but when I get the transport back I'm going to give the Acoustic Revive PCs another listen and maybe try an Acoustic Revive and Stealth combo.
hey,all you North Star owners,i'd like to know a few things about this combo.
1.
How good is the CD-reading ability of this transport?Any of you had any problems with older CDs or CD-Rs or CD-RWs?
2.
On Extremo DAC, and model 192 DAC, can you switch the input source on the front panel?Let's say you have 2 or 3 transports connected to different inputs.Can you switch between them at a press of a button (on a front panel)?
3.
How big is the difference between these 2 DACs?Sonically speaking, is model 192 60% or 90% of Extremo's performance?Of course,when connected to North Star transport.
Thanks for you answers.
I'm seling an Audient Technology I2S that I no longer use real cheap if anyone's interested. Clark Johnson raved about it in a past Positive Feedback mag.
I have never had my Northstar skip or fail to read any CD that I have thrown at it including CD-R and CD-RW over the years that I have owned the unit with about average of 10 hours play per week