Levinson 39 vs Bricasti M1

I bought from George Meyer AV in LA.  They’re an authorized Levinson repair shop.  It was just recently completely refurbished.  I would not be surprised if they had a spare Philips laser or two.

George, thanks for all the great info.  I’m going try running direct tomorrow.  I like the 39 so much I want to get a 360S.

Marty

George-  went direct today.  ML39 to Rowland Model 1.  It was interesting.  On one level the transparency was amazing.  But maybe too much so for me.  I’ll have to listen some more.  But since I stillI play vinyl it’s kind of a hassle to rewire.

But the most impressive thing was changing the Levinson to Rowland chain to XLR.  I know the manufacturers recommend that but since I was running RCA, I thought oh well.  Maybe down the road.

Then I reminded myself (I have a project studio) that I have tons of XLR cables.  So I threw Mogami gold cables in...  Wow is an understatement.  Not only did they sound better than my Nordost Frey or Organic (by Argento) the imaging snapped more into focus and there was quite a bit more detail.  All for less than 200 bucks.

ill probably try some expensive XLR but let me tell you, I don’t need to look elsewhere.

I will go back and listen more thoughtfully.  In truth, I only spent about an hour,

Interesting, your comment on XLR.  I read that both the 39 and Model 1 have a true balanced signal path.  Alls I know is that it sounds better.

P.S.  I’ve been exclusively listening through tubes for past 25 years.  This high end Solid State thing is new to me.  And I dig it.  

Hey George.  You are too far in the tech weeds for me to keep up.  I don’t doubt the technical aspects of what you’re saying.  I’m just reporting what I’ve heard.

But I like coming along for  the tech deep dive.  Know anything about the Sonic Frontiers SF-D2?  I have a mk.1 and mk.2.  Both busted.  I’ve heard the chips are near unobtainium.  

A couple of days ago I wanted to compare digital cables from my ML 39 (as transport) to the Bricasti.  First up, the Crystal Clear Audio XLR (don’t know which model but about $500 10 years ago.  Great cable.

Next was an old Tara Labs RSC Master Gen. 2.  Ok.  B-.

Nordost Silver Shadow.  Good but not nearly as good as the Crystal Clear.  

Then I remembered I had a Signal Cable RCA Silver Res.  For laughs, I tried.  Best of the bunch.  10 times less than the other cables.  

Ain’t audio fun!

P. S.  I’ve had a Nordost Valhalla in before.  It was nice but not $2,000 nice.