Actually @whitecamaross needs to create a system first
click on the “Create System” link here
https://systems.audiogon.com
click on the “Create System” link here
https://systems.audiogon.com
My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
Actually @whitecamaross needs to create a system first click on the “Create System” link here https://systems.audiogon.com |
Pair of M400s at Echo for $33k could suit you well http://echohifi.com/details/12315/Dan-D'Agostino_Momentum-M400 |
@fsmithjack -- Verdier are certainly very nice tables but they are far from easy to set up if you are not experienced in the black art of TT setup -- especially with the stand alone motor and thread arrangement. As you can tell from the photos they need a good amount of room and the simple act of setting up/tying the thread and getting it to run correctly will take some work - will the seller set this up for you? Also if that is the specific table you are considering the Wand+ arm installed on it, while an excellent value for the cost, is not up to the quality of the table and you will no doubt be looking for something different soon (I owned this arm in the past and liked it, but like the Verdier it is itself a bit tweaky and will take some experience to get all it is capable of) Finally you should be aware that there have been fake Verdier's (http://www.jcverdier.com/ADSL/platineV.html) -- no reason to believe that the photos show such (in fact from the photos it all seems kosher) but you should get provenance and all paperwork. The next article in the link above is I believe a review of exactly the table you are considering so well worth a close read |
@fsmithjack The combination of the Schick 12 on the Verdier would be a classic, especially with a copacetic cartridge such as a Miyajima however this will sound absolutely nothing like your digital setup. Do you already own several thousand LPs or have an interest in material that is only available on vinyl? Do you also have the real estate for a table like the Verdier, it demands a decent isolation stand, and of course you’ll need a correspondingly strong phono stage (think $5k and up say)? The road to vinyl nirvana is long and difficult 😏 I guess what I’m saying is that I’m at a loss to understand why you are going down this route instead of continuing to invest in the digital path you already prefer. If you check my system you can see that I have a pretty decent vinyl and corresponding digital setup and while I prefer the sound of the former I’d be more than happy with my DCS system if I didn’t own a thousand LPs and have an interest in mono classical and first pressing Islands. please feel free to DM me to continue this conversation as I’m not sure the “amp of the day” crowd really want us messing up their thread |
Where do you set the volume on your Ref10? Unity gain is around 60, if you are above that then you are tapping into the 12dB of gain (balanced) provided. Frankly how quickly you get to the desired volume setting is irrelevant as it’s a function of the design of the volume control, what you want to avoid is running the pre in the top 25% of its volume control range (ie above 8o or so of the 110 step range) You do of course also know that you can adjust the input sensitivity of the Ref 10 so you will get to your desired volume output at a different part of the volume control (the input gain offset function) |
@viber6 euphonic = pleasing to the ear in audio criticism the term euphonic is generally applied to components that impart a pleasant and attractive coloration - think tube preamps for example What you describe sounds like the complete opposite of euphonic 😉 now personally i find ARC tube amps to be very euphonic, giving a pleasing and attractive sound but ultimately adding coloration that once you become aware of it is very annoying ... but that’s just my opinion |
Re building a sound room. While it can be done cheaply the types of techniques proposed by companies like ASC and used by Robert Harley in the room he described in the Absolute Sound are incredibly labor intensive. This translates to big $ if you’re paying someone else, or a lot of work for you if you DIY (like Harley did). My room is ASC iso wall based and I had to use a firm versed in passive home green building techniques because no one else would touch it, needless to say it cost a lot more than $20k. Anyway the AS article you were pointed to is a good read and very on point on what to expect. |
Actually the dCS also allows for “a change to the flavor of the sound” by changing the filters and/or the Ring DAC mapping algorithm. Please do experiment with these before drawing a definitive conclusion. Also an upgraded power cord, and ideally better footers, will also pay major dividends. My system description contains a pretty extensive discussion of how to tune a dCS system. |
@whitecamaross For my room I built double super heavy weight doors each isolated via the ASC door seal kit and sound still leaks out of the room. The only real solution is another room and another set of doors (by which I mean having another full room with closed doors between your sound room and the rest of the house) sorry. |
Re dCS Vivaldi -- as the owner of a (now 5 box with a 10Mhz clock) Vivaldi stack I would never give up on a CD transport source - I personally don't do any streaming but the real strength to me of a Vivaldi stack is what it pulls out of CDs. There's a magic in the good old CD that a well tuned dCS stack can create that for me (with a multi thousand disc CD collection) is something I'd never want to give up. So yes the Vivaldi DAC is good of course but if you're buying into the dCS eco system then do so in the expectation that you're getting in whole hog --- and also be prepared to lay out almost the same $$ again in supporting interconnects and footers (see my system description for discussion on this topic) |
How much time will you spend to optimise filter selection on each DAC? I’d suspect changing a filter will be more dramatic than changing between DACs. And of course without optimized power cords, footers and interconnects you are hearing a fraction of what either DAC can offer. Such is the folly of “shoot outs” - it takes many months of living with a component to gets its true measure. |
For those interested in how and why a preamp may best the dCS Vivaldi direct (which is certainly my experience) I refer you to this thread https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/running-dcs-vivladi-direct and now on to the real comparison ... |