Another Front-End Rumble at Big B's

zybar · « **Reply #40 on:** 5 Jul 2004, 05:15 pm »

Thanks John.

Although it is a dedicated room, there are some limitations that I have to deal with.

The screen does not roll up and I am way too lazy to build something and move it in and out.

I could go with more foam on the front wall, but I would prefer to keep it away from the screen.

The black is just paint. The black around the screen helps increase the perceived contrast and makes colors more vibrant.

I wasn't implying that the ic's are decreasing sound stage depth. I was more pointing out that thye are little forward sounding (which I like).

George

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #41 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 05:51 am »

Everybody (most importantly, Brian Cheney) still in for July 31 at 9AM at Big B's?

The all conquering Wadia/Krell versus the 1/4 less expensive Empirical Audio modded Sony 7700 tranport and MSB Gold Link III DAC

I have 3 and 6db attenuators to use as my DAC has no volume control and Big B uses no pre...those of us that were there for Alex/APL's test a few weeks ago complained that it was too loud to handle without volume attenuation.

They are inline RCA attenuators...I usually attach them to amp inputs to hear what is being added by the preamp in a system. The Ampzilla's use 1/4" input, however. Do we need (or does Brian have) an adaptor or can we just plug them out of the DAC outputs for use? Anybody know out there?

Or, should I just bring my preamp (IRD Purist), IC's, PC's and use them this way into the Ampzilla? It will be the most dynamic this way (and th IRD is an overachiever at it's price)...a very strong suit of the EA modded system according to it's 'GodFather' Steve Nugent.

jgubman · « **Reply #42 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 05:29 pm »

Hi chair guy,
I *think* I might be able to make it next week after all! We had our baby early and my ears could use a break... It would be nice to listen to something other than the 3kHz "warble" scream over and over! I'll see if the wife can handle the baby for a few hours, but I think I'm in!

Hopefully Stereophile will have sent me the Project K622 disc by then (in case you missed it, you can read a summary at: http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/804k622/ ). In brief, it's Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and it has four recordings of the same session:
SACD -- pure DSD recording
SACD -- DSD from analog master
Redbook -- PCM downsampled from DSD recording
Redbook -- PCM transfer from analog master

Might be an interesting comparison.

I'd also be interested in listening to Jim's Sunfire preamp, if he thinks it's worthy.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #43 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 06:49 pm »

Quote from: jgubman

Hi chair guy,
I *think* I might be able to make it next week after all! We had our baby early and my ears could use a break... It would be nice to listen to something other than the 3kHz "warble" scream over and over! I'll see if the wife can handle the baby for a few hours, but I think I'm in!

Hopefully Stereophile will have sent me the Project K622 disc by then (in case you missed it, you can read a summary at: http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/804k622/ ). In brief, it's Mozart's Clarinet Con ...

Excellent - congrats!! First one early - happens sometimes. Just make sure your baby doesn't look like the UPS guy - mine suspiciously does

If his/her first full sentence is ' Let Big Brown do it for you' - you have your culprit.

Did you already put a spectrum analyzer up to your baby's mouth to determine that it is a 3kHz scream

Congrats, you have the disease and are invited to Big B's.

Yes, bring yourself and that excellent recording if you can.

Brian, you around?....I may call you if I don't see a response here by early next week.

lkosova · « **Reply #44 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 07:17 pm »

Congrats on the baby.

They love Holly Cole "Train Song" will put any baby to sleep. As they get older ...not the "live" version...they will start to clap at three am!!!

Larry

Brian Cheney · « **Reply #45 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 09:21 pm »

No obection here to the Jul 31 date.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #46 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 09:49 pm »

Quote from: Brian Cheney

No obection here to the Jul 31 date.

Super Brian

Should I bring my pre/IC/Power Cable, just the attenuators, or none of the above?

Dynamics are one of the strongest selling points of my front end, and it surely sounds best with a pre ramping things up a notch or two. The attentuators might kill a bit of it and straight thru to the Ampzilla's will be loud (likely) and may be at disadvantage to the Wadia DAC...especially if that volume control has some stiffening caps behind it.

I bring this up 'cause I'm truly interested in advancing my, and our, knowledge of playback and as we know so much of all this is about synergy.

This is NOT, I repeat not, a part of any 'boo-hoo' strategy if the Wadia/Krell slays my front end...as it has so many others. Just trying to make the best available listening session for all of us.

Brian Cheney · « **Reply #47 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 10:02 pm »

I have a very nice Jadis JPL pre, recently retubed with NOS Sylvanias.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #48 on:** 23 Jul 2004, 10:46 pm »

Great, that'll save me some schlepping..I'll bring the attenutators tho in case it sounds better that way. Those are pocket-able jobs.

jgubman · « **Reply #49 on:** 24 Jul 2004, 01:28 am »

Quote from: TheChairGuy

Did you already put a spectrum analyzer up to your baby's mouth to determine that it is a 3kHz scream Congrats, you have the disease and are invited to Big B's.

No, I'm guessing the frequency by ear. Hey, it's about the only thing I get to listen to these days!!

You'll be happy to know that the poor techs who did the hearing tests at the hospital were plenty annoyed by my questions: what are the frequency ranges they test (2kHz - 5kHz); what kind of tone they were generating (no answer, though I'd suspect sine waves). They're lucky I didn't ask them for the baby's rolloff frequencies!!

John Casler · « **Reply #50 on:** 24 Jul 2004, 01:46 am »

Quote from: jgubman

They're lucky I didn't ask them for the baby's rolloff frequencies!!...

My congratualtions also!!!

I bet you know the little one's "dampening" ratio though

Audiophile? or Audiophilette?

jgubman · « **Reply #51 on:** 24 Jul 2004, 02:14 am »

A little phile, thank god. One less thing to worry about 14 years from now!

James Romeyn · « **Reply #52 on:** 24 Jul 2004, 04:33 am »

Jgubman
My late mother-in-law Senora Macias had a saying, "Where there's a baby there's a blessing." Blessings to you & yours.

I'll be there with Bob Carver's latest Theater Grand IV pre-pro. I recently learned the .5dB volume control steps are performed by digital voltage-control of the analog output stage amplifiers. This volume control method allows pure analog pass-through for high-definition sources. I hope I have my balanced interconnects ready for the pre out to amp input. I had very high expectations for this preamp & so far it has surpassed them all.

I'll also bring my unknown RG-type coax for digital interconnect. It's got a steel (stainless?) AWG16 teflon-insulated single-strand center conductor with dual-layer braided silver shield. It killed my Belden 1694A (RG6), which my broadcast engineer buddy gave me & said is quite good.

I promise to eat somnething at the firehouse Saturday morning before I leave for Brian's.

What time are we shewting fer?

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #53 on:** 24 Jul 2004, 04:56 am »

I'm shooting for 9AM at Brian's. Leave my house at about 8 AM.

It all sounds like great fun again...

Sa-dono · « **Reply #54 on:** 24 Jul 2004, 05:09 am »

Quote from: Brian Cheney

I have a very nice Jadis JPL pre, recently retubed with NOS Sylvanias.

Given people's feelings towards tubes, using this preamp will either be a positive or negative for each source, if it is not used on both sources. Not a great idea, IMO, as one source will be "colored".

jgubman,
Congrats on the new baby!

James Romeyn · « **Reply #55 on:** 24 Jul 2004, 03:25 pm »

When I A-B'd the McCormack MAP-1 preamp (with shorting plugs in all unused RCA's) vs. Brian's JPL (before the recent retube), I liked the MAP better overall. The tubes had their typical musicality, stage depth, liquidity & warmth (not too much), but I preferred the nuetrality & lower noise floor of the SS. Just my 2c. I'll bring it just in case.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #56 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 07:32 pm »

Come one, come all....we're on for 9AM at Big B's on Saturday, July 31.

I'll be bringing my 'perfect' front end consisting of an Empirical modded Sony DVP-S7700, MSB Gold Link III DAC. Also for the fun will be the MSB Power Base (dedicated power supply for the DAC), Revelation Audio Lab, cryo'ed silver solid core wired Power 'Umbilical' and Digi cable...and my favorite interconnects (LAT International IC-200 II) freshly re-terminated (and Kharma cable cooked) with silver Nextgens al la Bolder Cable (thank you, Wayne!) and my fave reasonably priced power cord (LAT International AC-2).

I'll also bring a few tweeks that'll help it along...all is fair as the Sony/MSB combo is leagues cheaper even if I added my 9 year old VW Cabrio into the mix

It'll be run thru a freshly tubed megabuck Jadis and/or Jim's ss McCormack pre.

Dynamics in spades to be sure are on tap, but will that alone be enough to slay the all-conquering Wadia / Krell combo

Proud 'Godfather' Steve Nugent/Empirical Audio seems to think so...but many have attempted this perilous journey before...and reached a similar fate.

We've got Brian, myself, 'Jumping' Jim/Ribbonspeaker and 'Gentleman' jgubman (he must hav a very nice wife as it ain't easy sneaking out with a newborn so early) coming to the shin-dig. Sa-dono, straggle in while you can...we'll be there for a few hours I'd think. Anybody else?

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #57 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 07:41 pm »

Brian,

Speaking of cost, what are the exact model numbers of the Krell and Wadia you are using? Also the model numbers of the your digi cable, IC and Power Cord you are using...with a little research we can detemine how much $$$ each front end costs complete, both when they were new and, now, used.

It would make it more relevant to me, and may, if there was a bang for the buck comparo. I can type up something quick and print up a few copies so that everyone can know what we are listening to, and how much each component is.

We can also talk a little more intelligently to the AC folks online afterwards with these facts ferreted out.

That is, IF the Krell/Wadia is better than then the Sony/MSB (so says the somewhat cocksure ChairGuy

)

Maybe I'm just frugal, but I tend to quantify my likes and dislikes versus a ticker tape total of 'affordabilty' in my head on most things purchased.

It'll help us 'bang-for-the-buckers' to know all the relevant costs involved.

zybar · « **Reply #58 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 07:56 pm »

This is a nice approach, but please also send comments about the music in absolute terms. I realize that musical preference is subjective, but not nearly as subjective as "good for the money".

George

zybar · « **Reply #59 on:** 29 Jul 2004, 08:04 pm »

BTW, on August 7th the NYC Audio Rave will be doing a little digital front end comparison on a more modest scale:

1. EA Modified Electrocompaniet ECD-1 dac being fed by an EA modified Sony S-7700.
2. APL SACD 1000 (newest rev I believe)
3. Dodson DA-218 dac being fed by an EA modified Sony S-7700.
4. Modwright Sony 999ES with Platinum Level mods
5. Stello DA220 dac being fed by an EA modified Sony S-7700.

George