Accustic Arts actually came out with a SE (special edition) version of the Accustic Arts Reference DAC. According to what I heard from my dealer, the improvements are changing the quality of the PCB boards used and supplying better tubes than those made in China tubes provided with the standard edition. If you want to really max out the performance of the AA Tube Ref DAC, please do try out its matching partner the AA Ref Transport, IMHO it should more matching than the MBL transport. Also recently I upgraded my transport power cord to top of the line Acrolink 9100 power cord (this is higher than the 7100 reviewed here that impressed the reviewer so much that he and his friends bought a couple) and I must say that this power cord really made the music even more involving than before, so you may want to check out the Acrolink 9100 power cord on your transport too
CD has laid back and uninvolving sound
Hi folks, yesterday I listened again to vinyl. I conducted also a comparison between vinyl and CD. The most peculiar thing with CD is that the sound seems to be more laid back, distant and uninvolving. With vinyl the sound has more bloom, is less laid back and has more PRaT. To me this laid back and distant sonic character of CD is the most significant finding and bothers me quite a lot. How can I improve this? Btw, my digital front end: MBL 1621 transport + Accustic Arts Tube DAC. Would Wadia DAC (the old Wadia 9 or another classic Wadia) be better in rendering a more upfront and engaging sound (more PRaT)?
Chris
Chris