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taylode

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Now that all of my equipment is here and I’ve had an opportunity to listen to it, albeit in 2 channel only, I thought I’d share the experience. What I’m listening to is ML Ascent I’s being driven by McIntosh MC207 amp, MX119 pre/pro, and a Denon 3910.

My first surprise was when I went to unpack the amp and realized that it was brand new and not the store demo, which was a pleasant surprise. :D My second surprise was how awful the system sounded. :( It was late when I got everything working and my daughter gave me an Aerosmith CD and wow it sounded awful. It was bright, harsh, and not what I was expecting and my first thoughts were oh my god did I just make a huge mistake! Then the next day I listened to Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue SACD and it sounded pretty good, not great but pretty good. I then listened to U2 and it was just okay and then I listened to Diana Krall and it was pretty good. The Jazz was still a bit bright but certainly better than the Rock. Now last night things started sounding pretty good. I listened to an old Renaissance CD and the Best of Berlin both of which sounded quite nice.

It appears that my amp is beginning to break-in losing some of that initial harshness. Some of it could also be my cables since they didn’t send me enough interconnects to do comparative testing. They only sent me two RCA’s of each manufacture and I needed at a minimum 4 – two for the source and two to connect the pre/pro to the amp. As a result, I’m currently running a mix of Wire World and Audio Analysis not what I would consider as optimal. Therefore, because I’m not the most patient person, I’m getting pressure get this stuff installed, and the good things I’ve heard about Audioquest I opted to buy their King Cobra interconnects and their Circular Array CV-8 speaker wires. Hopefully they’ll sound great and I can get everything installed and be able to give a real review.

The improvements I’ve heard just with time leave me encouraged and I do like looking at those blue meters! :D

More to follow!
 
Congrats!!

taylode said:
Now that all of my equipment is here and I’ve had an opportunity to listen to it, albeit in 2 channel only, I thought I’d share the experience. What I’m listening to is ML Ascent I’s being driven by McIntosh MC207 amp, MX119 pre/pro, and a Denon 3910.
Congratulations on your new toys! 2-channels only and you have a 2-channel McIntosh at your fingertips? Why not play with your system a little to see how far you can push the performance envelop? Here's a thought: Bi-amping your Ascent i's by using 4 channels of your amplifier and see whether it makes a difference for your set-up. At least you're able to "burn-in" 4 channels at a time instead of only 2 :)

Spike
 
Pictures

You're going to post some pictures for us to see, right??? :rolleyes:

Give it a few days of playing. It seemed like it took my system a couple of weeks to really sound good. Then my "NEW" C2200 pre came in and I started all over. I used a demo from my dealer for almost a month that was totally broken in. Keep us updated too! :D
 
MarkNewbie said:
You're going to post some pictures for us to see, right??? :rolleyes:

Give it a few days of playing. It seemed like it took my system a couple of weeks to really sound good. Then my "NEW" C2200 pre came in and I started all over. I used a demo from my dealer for almost a month that was totally broken in. Keep us updated too! :D

Sure I'll post a picture. It's currently pretty ugly but what the heck. I'll also post a picture when it's complete, popcorn maching and all!
 
taylode said:
Sure I'll post a picture. It's currently pretty ugly but what the heck. I'll also post a picture when it's complete, popcorn maching and all!

No hurry. You notice that I don't have one up yet. I am waiting on my Arcici to get here before I do any posting of my system so I understand you're wanting it to look right. :D
 
Congratulations!

You might try to use a CD with break in signal tracks to speed up the process. Seen some out there. Here in Germany they sell one compiled by the Stereo magazine. Surely you can find something similar in the USA. With new equipment I usually let it play continuously at very moderate level over 2-3 nights. Just make sure you close the windows & doors ;). Or try the Densen DeMagic disc.
 

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