I was just at an audio show. Many rooms used dCS players but mostly Vivaldi and it sounded great. Another contender that I heard and have heard before is the Kalista Dreamplay Stream. It sounds wonderful. http://www.kalista.audio/en/collections/dreamplay-stream/ |
I had the dCS Bartok home for a demo. Loved how it sounded, easily beat my Naim NDS into my Naim 252 preamp. Not so sure about direct into my ATC 40A active speakers. It was good, really good. I needed more time to play with the Bartok settings to find a correct balance. Looks like I will make to change to the Bartok, if need be, I will add a preamp latter. |
After a long time of reflection I think the MSB Premier is what I need. By all accounts the way it connects directly to a power amp and bypass the need for a preamp is second to none. My only concern is I have like 80% rock, pop, blues in my collection. I really do like the way Naim plays rock music in a propulsive way. Does MSB have that similar propulsive way with rock ? |
Hi I have ATC SCM 20ASL speakers which are extremely revealing and I use them with my JL Audio dual F112v2 subs through a JL Audio CR1 crossover. First I had a Naim Nova which sounded very good, and I listen to probably 80% rock from mainly the 70's and 80's but also love stuff like Kraftwerk to Yellowman and just recently started getting into Classical. Naim has a great in-house sound (PRAT) signature especially for rock, but I knew I could do better, like you the Bartok piqued my interest, so I arranged a home demo, sounded great and decent incremental improvement over the Naim, but in my opinion for two and a half times the price of the Nova it was not a real contender, then luckily one day on one of my frequent visits to my local dealer I got a deal I could not refuse on a rather special Streamer/Dac/Pre-amp, and for not a great deal more than the Bartok. Said Streamer/Dac/Pre-amp promptly taken home for a demo, quickly hooked up in my system, and I knew absolutely straight away I had something special, just everything I had been searching for in so long. Product being the T+A SDV 3100 HV, at the same time I bought a Sablon Audio RJ45 ethernet cable which for the price as to be one of the best purchases I have made, everything just fell into place, next and last on my list to buy is the EtherRegen. Hope this helps. Good luck and hope you find audio nirvana like I did after a long and sometimes frustrating time. |
