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Am I deaf?

Hello all,
Just got a Chord Qutest to use as an outboard dac with my Oppo BD 105. Connected the Chord to the Oppo coax out with an Audioquest Carbon coax cable. $2100 for the Qutest including the cable! I'm not hearing it. I think the Oppo dac may sound a bit better than the Chord. Tried all the filters. Am I nuts?
Ben
honashagen
joey54
431 posts
 
I'm not sure if anyone asked but are you using balanced cables from the Oppo to the Ayre and single-ended cables from the Chord to the Ayre? Ayre products all sound much better using balanced cables than they do using RCA cables. This may be part of the problem.

If you have an Ayre dealer nearby you might want to try an Ayre Codex in your system to see if you have the same reaction. The Ayre products sound great together. Just a thought. Good Luck!
honashagen OP
137 posts
 
Chord has no balanced connections.
jag's avatar
jag
98 posts
 
i have a NAD D1050 have not heard the Chord, but on my Rega system it's very very good. i think the DAC game is over, it's gotten as good as your going to get after 30 years of development.  all the major improvements have been made in SQ.  listened to Van Morrison live in SF last night on the Essential CD and it was like the real deal.  you can find them for $200 now.
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