How do the Modded Denon's compare with the Modded Resolution Opus 21's? |
Thanks Mrtennis. Are you saying you didn't care for the Audio Research CD3 MKII?
Have you ever heard or auditioned the Resolution Opus 21?
Short list:
Cary 306/200 (Can't afford the 306SACD)
Cary 303/300
Audio Research CD3 MKII
BAT VK-D5 0r VK-D5SE
Resolution Opus 21
Rega Saturn
Dare I consider the new Shanling CD-T1500 or Raysonic CD128
Other players I might consider are:
McCormack UDP-1
Musical Fidelity A5
Ayre Cx-7e
All thoughts on these,and comparisons to the BlueNote Koala are appreciated. |
Is the PrimaLuna Prologue 8 available and shipping yet? Have you heard it? Also, have you seen the new Shanling CD-T1500? I don't think it's shipping yet, but it appeared at CES. If looks could kill, I'd be dead. Looks sweet! And they went to 6922 tubes, so you can tube roll!
http://www.shanling.com/English/CD-T1500.htm |
I'd love to hear from those who have compared the Stibbert with the Bluenote Koala? I've read all the reviews I could find from searching and many seem to think the Koala is quite close sounding to the Stibbert. Others think the Stibbert bests the Koala by a longshot. Hmmm.
As far as the Resolution Opus 21 goes, I would LOVE to hear one. I am encouraged by the thread about the GNSC Mods to the Opus 21. That is quite compelling. |
foodfeak - What mods did you have done to your Koala? And what tubes are you using?
I agree that my system may not be as deep or wide as some. The comment about the Koala being forward was based on hearing it on two other exceptional systems that were quite detailed, deep and wide. The Koala was faster and more immediate sounding, although extremely musical and detailed with exceptional lows/mids/highs.
The other systems I heard the Koala on were: BAT VK31SE/BATVK150 amp/Imperium Speakers/Cardas Cabling/BAT VK-D5 CD Player for comparison
The other system consisted of Manley 250 Monoblocks,Hovland HP100 Preamp/Revel Gem Speakers/Dual Rel Storm Subs, Nordost cables/Isotek Power Conditioner. The comparitive CD Player was a Lector CDT-7. Very nice, musical sounding player.
The Interesting thing was that before we compared, we played the Bluenote on The Manley/Hovland System and the owner said he thought the Bluenote sounded like his Lector. It was very musical. But in comparison, the Lector resolved more detail, had better air and harmonics on acoustic guitar were much more natural and present. |
The Stibbert does look tempting. It competes in some very highly regarded company. I too would love to hear from those who have compared the Stibbert to the Koala. Or to anything else for that matter? |
What is "TT?" Having a brain fade. Not sure what you mean? |
I cannot describe my Koala as irritating at all. It is quite musical. Maybe my hearing doesn't pick up on those frquencies like some. I've had a few audiophile friends listen to my system and we compared the Koala with a Shanling, Rega Apollo, Arcam CD92 (with the Arcam DCS Ring Dac) and we all prefered the Koala. It was only when I compared the Koala with an Audio Research CD3 MKII, Lector CDT.7 and BAT VKD5 that I noticed how the soundstage depth, width and detail retrieval can become sweeter and more well defined (BAT,AR CD 3 and Lector were all varying degrees more musical and natural). But without those $5K and up players to compare to, I still prefer the Koala.
I have also rolled some Sovtek 6922's in place of the EH6922's and prefer them. I will try some NOS Amperex or Siemens-Halske 6922's to see what improvements they may add. |
Does the Rega Saturn even compete in the arena we are discussing? There were a lot of posts about it in 2006, but I haven't seen much more since then. |
I'm about to pull the trigger on a BAT VK-D5 with Amperex tubes. Other alternatives are the McCormack UDP-1 which I've read good things about, or a used Audio Research CD3 MKII. Can anyone give me opinions on these, perhaps compared to the Bluenote CD players? Koala or Stibbert? Or even Lector CDT.7? |
Why not buy the BAT VK-D5 in the meantime and enjoy it. Then once the Prima Luna Prlogue 8 is available, I'll have a nice opportunity to compare. I pulled the trigger on the BAT VK-D5. It has Amperex tubes in it already which is nice. It will be an interesting comparison to the BlueNote Koala. Both are good, but different in their presentations. I believe I am going to prefer the BAT based on a previous listening in direct A-B comparison. |
Ok ..so I bought the BAT VK-D5 and it is coming with Amperex 7308 tubes. I will do a comparison in a couple days when it arrives and I'll post my review in comparison to the BlueNote Koala. |
Your comment is interesting thinking the Koala will be more musical and entertaining. I've compared it directly to the BAT VK-D5 (6922 version) in a BAT VK300 system. I thought the BAT CDP was way more musical than the Bluenote. The BAT revealed a deeper soundstage, the bass was tighter, lower, with better detail and harmonic content. The Bluenote was rather 'solid state' sounding by comparison. It was more up front, forward and more focused in ways that were not as holographic as I like. I am hoping for the same results in my own living room. I'll be sure to post a review in A-B Comparison to the Bluenote.
FYI - I also bought some Herbie Tube dampers! I've read great reports that they tighten things up in a very musical way. |
That may be true for the Stibbert. I hear GREAT things about it. Depending on system, speaker placement, room acoustics, I'll bet it's nothing short of amazing. But the Koala is not the Stibbert. It's half the cost or greater of a price difference. All I can tell you is my experience.
I did some comparing tonight using the Koala on a different amp, and the sound was much less forward and was more natural. I was wrongfully attributing the forward sounds to the Koala, and in fact, it was the Integrated amp I was using that made things sound smaller, more one dimensional and somewhat compressed.
I also noticed that using Balanced interconnects on the Koala made a marked improvement.
Gary |
Bob, I agree about the balanced outputs. I tried both the single ended RCA's and the balanced using Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II IC's. I had both Balanced and RCA versions of that cable. The Balanced really does sound better. Had I tried that before buying the BAT VK-D5, I might have chosen to keep the Koala. :-) It's a pretty close contest. I simply find the BAT VK-D5 to be more musically coherent connected to the BAT VK300x (6922 Version) I am benefitting from same brand synergy most likely. I'm sure they voice their gear using their own components. Bottom line, I am very happy. Gary |
Gotta tell ya, the BAT gear kicks!!! I am hearing details in the music that I never noticed before. The Vk300x integrated and BAT VK-D5 (6922)CD player are incredible together. and the Balanced interconnects also afford an even quieter, cleaner background. I am in heaven! The sad part is, there is always something out there that is better. But for now, I am incredibly happy and content. I tried a variety of music on the new system and it all sounds more involving and engaging. I LOVE this hobby! |
