You will love the MA3i, I just use the Quboz connect and never had a glitch, it works great hooked directly to an amp also if later you want to ditch vinyl.
Meinter MA3i, Pass Labs XA-25 amp to the Volti Audio Lucera speakers, pure music bliss…
Does anyone have a digital system that is as involving as their analogue front end?
I have a good analogue front end. Not stratuspherically good but good enough for this comparison. VPI Prime Signature 21 turntable, Pass Labs XP-25 pono preamp, Pass Labs XP-30 preamp and Hovland Radia amp. It has a lovely, very involving sound. On the right recording, I just drop everythng and am drawn in to listen.
My streamer, on the other hand, is decent but not spectacular. It is better than my CD player, but it is not jaw-dropping like my analogue front-end. My question is this: does anyone have a high-end, tier-one streamer (dCS Bartok Apex, Lumin X2, or something like them) that can rival a good analogue system?
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I am looking forward to receiving the MA3i, maybe this week. I can't imagine, however, getting rid of my analogue front end. If for no other reason, I have some excellent recordings that would be difficult if not impossible to find (the same quality recording) on Qobuz. I am now listening to the Mobile Fidelity reissue (decades ago) of all the Beatles' albums. I'm listening to Abbey Road. I cannot imagine it sounding this good streamed. But I guess i will see. |
Congratulations. Let us know how it works out for you. I avoided DCS because it seemed a little analytical vs musical for my tastes
I waited several months before telling my wife speakers must be pulled out into the room. |
It’s a give and take with spouses. I doubt that anyone on this thread can afford the system they would buy if they had unlimited money. I did inherit some money from my sister and that went to the speakers and Moon 280D. In my wife’s mind, the money for the streamer is also. But if I had unlimited money I would definitely test out the $70,00 dollar Sonus Faber which are the same size as the ones I have now and would fit in the room. I’d probably listen to Magico, too. Pass Labs has a preamp the size of mine for around $50K. And I’m still talking chicken feed for unlimited money. I’m sure someone has a better audio imagination than I do for the ideal system they will never be able to afford. Let me know how you like the Meitner. |
@kennyc I also find lower to mid tier dCS Apex models to be a bit too analytical (it’s actually not sharp, just doesn’t sound natural and over processed, almost like too much contrast and saturation dial) However, Vivaldi and presumably Varèse do not have this issue. I have spent a lot of time with Vivaldi stack (dac, upsampler and clock) and I think it competes very well with DA2i (perhaps it should be the other way around). Same naturalness, great tonal weight, amazing soundstage, holographic soundscape without being harsh or analytical. The jump from Rossini to Vivaldi was very obvious and I couldn’t even listen to Rossini having heard Vivaldi.@audio-b-dog MA3i is about 80% of DA2i which IMO is itself fairly close (trades blows) with Vivaldi stack. I would have to assume Varèse has to be at least 10% better than Vivaldi. So the jump from MA3i to Varèse should be immediately obvious on even mid-tier equipment. So essentially 30% improvement for 3000% increase in price. Not for me, but could make sense for some people :)
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