I've been having technical difficulties posting but have finally been able to post additional information of this topic on the new thread "Interconnects Roller Coaster Ride" posted 04/06/2013. |
My experience, at least in my system, has always been that vinyl is significanly more envolving then digital. As long as you can listen through the clicks and modest groove noise (difficult for some), more organic, greater dynamics, much bigger sound stage. Digital definitely wins though in the "clean" sound department. Since I upgraded my preamp though, the digital has improved a lot and though I still far prefer the vinyl, digital is very enjoybable as well. By the way, vinyl on a record in great condition, is incredible but a lot of the music I enjoy the most is on my older records. |
What you describe cannot possibly be due to the wiring of the interconnects, but it might be due to dirty contacts at either end. Try cleaning your RCAs, both male and female with any good contact cleaner. Or you may have a loose tube socket in the Cary. Both channels? (You realize the 2009 portion of this thread is long dead and the OP probably is not aware of your post.)
Stringreen, He wrote "at about 550 hours..." |
Are the Morrow's still new? ...breaking in? |
Gmsasso asks the question, "...because of the addition of the Cary tube preamp and Morrow interconnects, it still doesn't sound right a lot of the time.
I'm wondering if it might be the Morrow cables? I purchased a pair of their MA-1 interconnects, burned them in 24/7 for 500 hours. At present, I'm at about 550 hours. Each night I now listened to my system for about three hours. For two straight nights, the sound is gorgeous with the Morrows. Then the third night things sound bad. This pattern has repeated itself twice now. My assumption was that once the interconnects have been fully burned in, they will stabilize and will always sound good. Has anyone experienced this continued roller coster ride in good-to-poor sound from the Morrows? |
You might just want to try something different sounding to synergize with your system before dropping big bucks on a player.
If you have the money and want to, the best I've heard is the DCS Puccini.
Or maybe try using a tube DAC with your Cambridge as the transport. That can add some tube flavoring just to the digital and take the digital edge off if that is all that is bothering you.
I can vouch for the mhdt Paradisea. The mhdt Havana is said to be even better. Both come in under $1000. |
Hi Jb:
I noticed a difference immediately when I put the Cary tube preamp in the chain. I love the analog sound I've got right now but not digital. I'm wondering if there is any way to make it sound "real". There are all these reviews in Audiophile and Stereophile regarding very high priced CD players that suggest digital can sound good. I'm just wondering if that is true, and if so, what the price point in for involved, muscial digital. |
I just spent a morning of audio comparison with an audiophile friend. It was a VERY eclectic system.
Sources:
Denon 300f auto Turntable/preamp in one..($350 List)
Linn Ikemi CD
Panasonic RP-82 DVD
PreAmp
Meridian MC12 set to analog 2-CH
Amplifiers
Krell 3250
Manley Neo Classic 300Bs
Speakers
Sonus Farber Amati
Our day was mostly a direct Vinyl to CD or DVD comparison. We really focused on A vs B, and discussed the differences. To no ones surprise, we found the Vinyl to be more realistic, better overall tonality/musicality. Instruments and voices all were more believable than their digital counterparts.
The real revelation was putting the tube amplifiers into the chain, and what it did for the sound stage. I put on a copy of Billy Joel Piano Man, and dropped the needle. We were instantly transformed into this small club, where Billy Joel was playing a piano, singing a song, and most involving was the harmonica. It was JAW Dropping Stuff. OMG kinda stuff. We had listened to other CD and Vinyl on the Manleys, and were impressed, but not to the WOW factor until we played this track on his Greatest Hits record.
We later put the Krell back in the chain, and played Piano Man again. After a few seconds, we started talking about something - then went back to listening. It was nice, but uninvolved.
Back on track with the original post: Analog REALLY sounds best when coupled with Tube Amplification. A broad brushed view certainly, but I have toyed with a number of different combinations, and without question, this generalization rings true more often than proven wrong.
SO - Give some tube amps a shot in your system!
Jeff |
Thanks guys:
Advice regarding the Adcoms is something I have been thinking buy hoped that the Cary tube preamp would sort that out a bit. I'm not sure what DIYumas is or how to construct them. I looked at other tweak sites,even googled them. Do you construct four of them? Copper cap?
Looked for a goole image, but none there. |
Gm,
I really doubt its the Cambridge player, unless something is not right with it. WHat you describe is not necessarily its nature based on when I've heard it compared to good vinyl on a well set up dealer system.
Maybe the Adcom amp? I'm not an Adcom guru but I have heard many indicate that they can be a bit harsh and brittle compared to some of the better amps out there. That usually works to the benefit of vinyl. Also, I am not familiar with your interconnects but that can make a difference. So can power conditioning if needed. If it were me, I'd look at some of these things perhaps before dumping more money into a new player. You may still find one you like better, but the one you have should sound competitive with vinyl at least with well produced and/or re-mastered discs.
Be sure you compare apples and apples when comparing vinyl recordings to CD. Either can be better at anytime under the best circumstances depending. |
Footers. That was the ticket for my cdp. First I used pumice stone. Then i discovered roller balls. The improvement was more than subtle. Soundstage increased tremendously. Go to AA and look in the tweaks section for diyumas
It is simply a 1" copper cap with a convex cabinet handle atop the open end of the cap. Place a roller bearing on top of the convex handle and set the cdp on top.
A new cdp may be better than the 640 but the diyumas should help a lot |
Most of the time 2K analog beats 2K digital, unfortunately. There are very few exceptions, almost none. |
Hi Mapman:
Some of the technical stuff would be compression, etc. But, what I hear a lot of the time from cds sounds mechanical, like it is not quite human. Sometimes it is very bright sounding and uncomfortable. I guess the main thing I notice is that I get listener fatigue pretty quickly with cds but not with analog.
It is not the case with all cds. Steely Dan's Gaucho sounds great on cd, but the analog copy of Aja is much better than the cd version. The cd version of Van Morrison Astral Weeks and Moondance sounds awful compared to the analog versions.
I have been buying analog lately that includes a cd copy along with it, and that allows me to make really direct comparisons. Rilo Kiley "Under the Blacklight" sounds great on analog, bright with no bass on cd.
I'm not sure if it is just my ears, or what. But, Analog seems more involving and less tiring. I've tried to factor out the whole ritual of playing analog that might effect how I hear it, and I think I have been able to do it. |
I think you should be able to with the 640. I've heard it done well with the 840c and I think the 640 is supposed to be sonically equivalent.
I guess it would help to know more about what sounds good with the vinyl and wrong with the CDs to you? |
