the-chauffeur
Active member
Hey folks.
Having recently acquired a pair of Ascent's, I'm looking for some advice/guidance/thoughts on my next audio system 'moves'. My system as it stands is heavily Musical Fidelity biased - X-Ray CD, A3.24 DAC, Nu-Vista pre, X-A200 mono powers, Nu-Vista interconnects/speaker cables with a REL Strata II sub. And very nice it sounds, too, particularly now that I've put a couple of 7ft tall bass traps into the listening room and treated some of the walls.
Trouble is, the guy I bought the Ascent's from had them running off a full valve system - pre- and monoblocs (although for the life of me I can't remember the manufacturers of his kit). Anyway, when he was demo-ing the speakers for me, I couldn't help but notice just how 'liquid' the sound was; it was neither overly analytical, nor laid back . . . but instead, amazingly musical. It made my MF stuff sound dry by comparison, and that bit more 2D than I'd realised.
Having been out of the market for a few years, the upgrade bug has kinda bitten again, and I've started wondering where to go next. Toughest decision so far is just where to start - well, that and just what sort of budget I can afford. Looking at the new kit on the market (particularly CD/SACD players with valve output stages/valve DACs), my own thoughts on what to do next are not exactly linear - in fact, they're kinda all over the place.
One thing I will be doing is changing the subwoofer (no decisions yet, but something more musical), so that can be left out of the equation right now. And although I've got an LP12 knocking around, for the sake of simplicity I'm restricting myself to concentrating on a digital front end (for now, he says). But I think I'm faced with several options at this point...
- start 'small' by changing either the source, the DAC or both. I'm quite taken with the idea of a CD/SACD player with valve output stage - like the Shanling, for instance - but at the same time I'm conscious that an offboard DAC gives greater flexibility in the long term (and of course MF do the Tri-Vista DAC). And I've no idea what the future holds for CD/SACD; or
- change the power amps for something valve, an idea I like a whole lot, but involves significantly more variables. For a start, I'm still not entirely sure what sort of valve power am I looking for to drive the Ascent's. Another issue is the availability of prospective choices for demo (the UK isn't exactly awash with valve dealers). But a couple of things I've seen recently caught my eye; firstly, a Radford STA35 stereo valve amp. Very attractive and very musical - granted it's not a monobloc, but it could be partnered with another and used to bi-amp at a later date. Secondly, an MF Nu-Vista - yes, recurring theme, sorry - pre- and 300 power set up. (I know I've already got the pre-, but the seller isn't prepared to split because the set has matching serial numbers).
Or do I take an even more adventurous approach and go in a completely different direction?
Your wisdom (and humour) would be greatly appreciated.
Neil
Having recently acquired a pair of Ascent's, I'm looking for some advice/guidance/thoughts on my next audio system 'moves'. My system as it stands is heavily Musical Fidelity biased - X-Ray CD, A3.24 DAC, Nu-Vista pre, X-A200 mono powers, Nu-Vista interconnects/speaker cables with a REL Strata II sub. And very nice it sounds, too, particularly now that I've put a couple of 7ft tall bass traps into the listening room and treated some of the walls.
Trouble is, the guy I bought the Ascent's from had them running off a full valve system - pre- and monoblocs (although for the life of me I can't remember the manufacturers of his kit). Anyway, when he was demo-ing the speakers for me, I couldn't help but notice just how 'liquid' the sound was; it was neither overly analytical, nor laid back . . . but instead, amazingly musical. It made my MF stuff sound dry by comparison, and that bit more 2D than I'd realised.
Having been out of the market for a few years, the upgrade bug has kinda bitten again, and I've started wondering where to go next. Toughest decision so far is just where to start - well, that and just what sort of budget I can afford. Looking at the new kit on the market (particularly CD/SACD players with valve output stages/valve DACs), my own thoughts on what to do next are not exactly linear - in fact, they're kinda all over the place.
One thing I will be doing is changing the subwoofer (no decisions yet, but something more musical), so that can be left out of the equation right now. And although I've got an LP12 knocking around, for the sake of simplicity I'm restricting myself to concentrating on a digital front end (for now, he says). But I think I'm faced with several options at this point...
- start 'small' by changing either the source, the DAC or both. I'm quite taken with the idea of a CD/SACD player with valve output stage - like the Shanling, for instance - but at the same time I'm conscious that an offboard DAC gives greater flexibility in the long term (and of course MF do the Tri-Vista DAC). And I've no idea what the future holds for CD/SACD; or
- change the power amps for something valve, an idea I like a whole lot, but involves significantly more variables. For a start, I'm still not entirely sure what sort of valve power am I looking for to drive the Ascent's. Another issue is the availability of prospective choices for demo (the UK isn't exactly awash with valve dealers). But a couple of things I've seen recently caught my eye; firstly, a Radford STA35 stereo valve amp. Very attractive and very musical - granted it's not a monobloc, but it could be partnered with another and used to bi-amp at a later date. Secondly, an MF Nu-Vista - yes, recurring theme, sorry - pre- and 300 power set up. (I know I've already got the pre-, but the seller isn't prepared to split because the set has matching serial numbers).
Or do I take an even more adventurous approach and go in a completely different direction?
Your wisdom (and humour) would be greatly appreciated.
Neil