I'll 2nd Grannyring's recommendations. A good friend of mine had his Signature upgraded to the Eclipse version and he uses the Star Sound Apprentice with very noticeable improvement. Duelund CAST or Jupiter Copper foil are exceptional sounding capacitors. Excellent upgrade for far less than 3K dollars.
Charles, |
Hi Jim,
I've heard the Apprentice with all of my components and my friends's
Romulus but no other Aesthetic product. I feel that the results would be the same, very worthwhile. The various Apprentice models differ in the height of the brass Audio points. I believe that you would be very impressed with the Apprentice in your system.
Charles, |
Sorry audiopoints.com.
I have to get rid of the annoying auto spell on my tablet.
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Hi,
They can be ordered directly from their web site audiopoints.come
Charles, |
Bill,
That's one of the occasional odd phenomenonsince of this site.
People ask a question or seek advice. When they get informed responses, the OP has seemingly disappeared.
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Hello John,
That's true and I wasn't specifically referring to this thread. However there have been threads started by people that generate considerable activity and information and the original poster doesn't respond. I was just making a general observation based on previous site behavior.
Charles, |
You simply use the flat brass disc between the component bottom and the brass point. Each disc has a center hole to accommodate the brass point. |
Lula,
The quality of the transport is indeed a major factor as you discovered. I believe that the transport is at "least" as important as the DAC. The PS Audio PWT referenced above is superb sounding and also very cost effective when purchased used. |
Sorry meant to write consensus. |
Taters,
Finding a used Romulus and upgraded as suggested by Grannyring is smart and very cost effective. Saying that player is better sounding than another is as always purely subjective and system dependent Germanboxers had the Luxman player and he loved it. He replaced it with a Lampizator Big 7 DAC which he felt was an improvement. Someone else may choose the Romulus or the Luxman over the Lampizator. On and on it goes in this hobby.I assume that they all can be an excellent choice in a given system. |
Hi Bill,
I don't feel you statement is ridiculous by any measure, however it is subjective by its very nature. No question
You find the Luxman player is better than any others you have had in your system. How can I dispute that? However at the end of the day it's just one man's opinion. That's why I mentioned Germanboxers, he had the same Luxman but sold it when he found something he felt was better.
This is normal audiophile behavior, people move on to something else and there's always differing impressions on any and all components. Obviously a person can declare something "the best they've heard", it just is an individual assessment rather than an universal declaration. I'd say that as much as you prefer the Luxman, someone else would prefer the Romulus over the Luxman. There is never unanimous concensesus with audio components.
Charles, |
Al,
Thanks for the tip.
Charles, |
One observation I've had with High End is there isn't a linear relationship with cost and performance. Some expensive products sounds sublime and some are decidedly underwhelming. The first step is to know your goal and what type of sound you really desire. This is what causes the many variables we encounter. What sounds better,a Kondo SET or a Soulution 700 series amplifier? See what I mean, no right answer, just depends on an individual's taste. .
Charles, |
Tomic601,
I'm very familiar with the Romulus Signature and the Eclipse version with the Stealth capacitors. The Eclipse is a clear sonic upgrade. The Yamamoto can't compete with the Romulus in terms of flexibility and format options, as it's strictly Red Book exclusively. In terms of sound quality and natural musicality and engagement, Grannyring is on the mark. The Eclipse and the Yamamoto DAC provide superb Red Book playback. Both products are noticeably improved when placed on an Apprentice platform based on my listening sessions. I heard both with the PS Audio PWT which is better than the Romulus internal transport. Full disclosure, the Yamamoto is mine and has Duelund CAST output capacitors and a Synergistic Research fuse in place.
Charles, |
I'll also state that the Romulus Eclipse and Yamamoto placed in well configured systems are very competitive with high quality turntables in regard to musical involvement and organic character. Some analog setups are in fact analytical in presentation and actually less involving and satisfying than these two digital sources. My point is that both of them do justice to the music.
Charles, |
Off topic for a moment, The Seattle Seahawks are making a game of this. I have to admire their heart. Gap is down to 10 points. |
Tomic601,
There are two Yamamoto DACs, mine and Grannyring's are solid state(YDA-01a) and there's also a tube version(YDA-01b). Both were reviewed and compared in a 6 Moons comprehensive writeup. |
Generally speaking I'm much more partial to tubes than transistors, however there are exceptions sometimes. I was initially going to buy the tubed Yamamoto. The Distributor ((also a tube guy) heard both versions and surprisingly the overall sound was very similar. The subsequent 6 Moons review comparing them confirmed that close overlap (though not identical ) both are organic, dynamic and exceptionally musically engaging.
No surprise really when you consider that the designer is noted for his SET amplifiers. He built the DAC on same prinçiples, avoid negative feedback and use simple circuit philosophy which he believes leads to a natural sound character. Knowing this mindset ànd the Distributor and reviewer ilistening impressions plus the SS version is 500.00 less than the tube DAC. I felt comfortable with choosing the SS DAC. It is an excellent match with my DHT tubed components, naturalness is its innate character.
Charles, |
The PWT is essentially unchanged, any vintage is fine.
Charles, |
