I'm Vexed..., I'm Incredibly Vexed...

[Robin]

Audio Research Refrence 3...

edwinr,

The Audio Research Refrence 3 is impressive, most impressive - tubed preamp. I will try to audition this beauty and others when I am closer to having saved-up enough. Wonderful recommendation edwinr...

 

[jjqiv]

Robin -

Just to further confuse the issue: Some (many) phono preamps do not have the grunt to drive a power amp through a passive line stage. If you ever decide to do vinyl (a very good idea in my opinion) you'll not get a useable phono signal through a pass-through switching device. Consult all specifications very carefully if you decide to go this route. There are many true line stages (that amplify) that really do no harm to the purity of the signal. Audition first if you can. This could be a very big decision for you.

I use a Placette Passive Preamp with my Modded EAR 834P phonostage. In fact, you can get 834P's that include an attenuator. Not equal to the quality of the Placette though.

 

[conrad]

Check these out

Hi,

You really should checkout the Consonance Droplet, Consonance Reference 2.3 (2.2 is old model already but 2.3 is not globally sold yet) and also YBA Passion 600 CD Player.

YBA is probably as "LP" or "turntable" as a CD player can get.

Regards,

CONRAD

 

[Robin]

Capacitance of Cables...

Robin -

I just looked up the amp on the McIntosh website. They quote in order to drive the amp to full power you need 1.2 volts single-ended (RCA connectors) or 2.5 volts balanced (XLR connectors). That means that your non-passive device (cd player, tuner, etc.) would have to output that many volts in order to drive the amp to full power. If your source devices do not have that much power, you would need an active preamplifier or line-stage. I would use short, low capacitance cables if you go with the passive line-stage.

aliveatfive,

Your above post really got me thinking of low capacitance in any future cables I select. Short runs of cables, as the voltage can dimmenish in longer lenghts (depending on the quality of cable of course) as well. In my researching to this very point, I found a wonderful article detailing, what you are saying.



http://www.ultimateavmag.com/features/605cable/



I'd like to know what you think as well as folks here, of this point of view regarding capacitance in cable?

 

[Robin]

Hi,

You really should checkout the Consonance Droplet, Consonance Reference 2.3 (2.2 is old model already but 2.3 is not globally sold yet) and also YBA Passion 600 CD Player.

YBA is probably as "LP" or "turntable" as a CD player can get.

Regards,

CONRAD

conrad,

Welcome to the ML Club!
I had never heard of the Droplet 2.3 version or the YBA Passion 600 CD player. I will difinitely check them out.

Thank you for the great recommendation.

 

[Robin]

Capacitance - Metals used in Cable...

aliveatfive,

Their has been some rigorous testing of the quality of metals as well as different types of metals used in cables to improve capacitance i. e., Gold Silver and Copper. Check this out from Dual Connect Precious Metal Cables:



http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/dualconnect/dualconnect.html



It is a fascinating subject capacitance in cables...

 

[Robin]

Glass-Coated Amorphous Wire...

aliveatfive,

I found the lastest cable - wire techological innovation to be quite fascinating check it out:



http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/interconnects/interconnects.html




Apparently, glassocaoted amorphous wire is 1/3 the thickness of a blonde human hair, and it can carry the most superb musical signal. The only company (that I know of) that manufactures a product using this technology is the Stealth Indra - the core platinum + molybdenum + gold alloy wire is only 20 microns thick but they say it has the best sound of any cable in the world today. It only cost $5,800 for a 1M pair of IC's.

 

[aliveatfive]

Robin -

There has always been a debate on the virtues of having long runs of interconnect versus having long runs of speaker cable. Of course much of this is related to how close you can position your amp and preamp to your speakers. I've always tried to limit the connections between my amp and preamp to about a meter of IC cable. My speakercables (currently AQ Mont Blanc) are about 10 feet long. I do not notice any problems using this legnth of cable. I'm still in the process of evaluating my ARC REF110, and when I do, I'll post the results. All I can say is "so many variables!"

 

[Robin]

Still Vexed... Incredibly Vexed...

I am currently leaning towards:

1). Marantz SA-7S1 CD/SACD source.
2). Cary Audio SLP 05 Preamp
3). Two Pass Labs XA-160 ~ Class-A Mono-blocks

But I am actually very curious about the Lindermann 820 CD/SACD source. Could it drive tubed amplifiers adequitly? Has anyone here ever actually heard a Lindermann 820 player? No dealers in No. California I'm afraid...

 

[Beat_Dominator]

If you saw my new Digital player, I'm now a Marantz SACD fan

Have you seen that there are a few dCS p8i players on audiogon right now? Volume control and everything!

 

[Robin]

DCS P8i Player vs. Marantz SA-7S1 Player....

If you saw my new Digital player, I'm now a Marantz SACD fan

Have you seen that there are a few dCS p8i players on audiogon right now? Volume control and everything!

BD,

Yes, I have and the DCS P8i is difinately still on my short list as well.

Although the current reviews of the Marantz SA-7S1 player are really incredibly great. Especially, one of the reviews inparticular. It caught my eye as it was from a audiophile, who has accually owned a Accuphase 78 as well as a DCS P8i and now owns the new Marantz SA-7S1 CD/SACD player. He states unequivially that the Marantz SA-7S1 is by far the very best sounding CD/SACD player he has ever owned. And goes into great detail explaining just why... I'll try to find that review and post it here. He was on one of the other audio forums... It was an excellent, long and detailed review. It was so good I actually printed it out. I'll look again and see if I can find it, again. :cheers:

 

[Beat_Dominator]

Ooooh sounds awesome!

 

[Jeff Zaret]

I guess my player is chop liver huh?

Jeff

 

[slowGEEZR]

I am currently leaning towards:

1). Marantz SA-7S1 CD/SACD source.
2). Cary Audio SLP 05 Preamp
3). Two Pass Labs XA-160 ~ Class-A Mono-blocks

But I am actually very curious about the Lindermann 820 CD/SACD source. Could it drive tubed amplifiers adequitly? Has anyone here ever actually heard a Lindermann 820 player? No dealers in No. California I'm afraid...

Robin, I'm also going through the decision process on a good CD/SACD source. Have you considered the Lexicon RT-20? It's the one I'm leaning towards, as every review I've read says the sound quality is about as good as the reviewer has heard. As another benefit, it also does DVD-audio, DVD-video and other formats. - Steve

 

[HopelessDFilms]

Krell SACD

Robin-

I browsed through this thread, not sure if this has already been posted, but I have personally spent a handful of hours auditioning the Krell SACD player with the Krell 401xi amp on a set of Vantages, and needless to say it sounds AMAZING!!! CRISP CLEAR AND WARM! The clarity of the sound out of this system is simply amazing..... I'm sure that when you put it through your anthem the sound will only become even better!

It fits into your pricing criteria, as it retails at 4000$, although with a lil bit of haggling i'm sure you could get a nice chunk taken off of it. They are simple and easy to find for demoing, as most tweeters carry it and will have it set up in a separate sound room. Remember to bring your favorite SACD! And also feel free to reposition those speakers to create the optimal positioning and soundstage, as most of the people at those stores are not as discerning of listeners as we at MLC are...

Hope you find something good soon....I wish I had the dough for all this gear, but there will always be that want for MORE MORE MORE!!!! I am contemplating on two options currently, upgrading receiver to HDMI so I can use the PS3 as SACD player, or buying the oppo 981 upconverting dvd player with analog outs and hooking that up to the receiver. It comes down to, how much do I want to spend right now? And in the long run am I better off? I have an upconver dvd player already, so I would really only be getting it for sacd....who knows..only time will tell.

Hope the tips help.:cheers:

 

[HopelessDFilms]

forgot to add

Robin-

Here is some technical mumbo jumbo, don't know if it means anything to ya, I have trouble keeping up with some of the terminology and relevance to how it affects the sound, but here it is anyways...


http://www.stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/1203krell/index5.html

 

[Jeff Zaret]

....................and this is my player


Jeff

 

[Beat_Dominator]

Jeff is lying, I have seen no proof of this

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Oh I see how it is......................................

dissed by one of my brethern

 

[Robin]

As Promised ~ Audioasylum's ~ Philly B.'s "Hi-Rez Highway" ~ Marantz SA-7S1 Review...

Ooooh sounds awesome!

BD,

Well, it was at the Audioasylum forum, Philly B.'s review of the Marantz SA-7S1 CD/SACD player. Philly B. does refer to DCS gear. Philly B.'s did own a DCS P8i CD/SACD player, which he reviewed as well.
I found his Marantz SA-7S1 review very illuminating here it is:



http://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/vt.pl?f=hirez&m=232238




Philly B. has owned and reviewed half dozen CD/SACD players over the past six years like: The Accuphase 77, Esoteric X-03, McIntosh MCD201, Sony SCD 1, Cary 306, and DCS P8i... Philly B. even auditioned a $20K - Linn CD12, which sounded the best with Redbook until he heard the Marantz SA-7S1... now that's high praise.