AplHifi NWO-1

Charles Calkins · « **on:** 20 May 2006, 03:13 pm »

Saw Alex Peychev the other day. While I was there I listened to his newest creation the NWO-1.

KILLER!!!!

It doesn't get any better than this. The very,very,very best playback I ever heard. I thought that it was probably better than being at a live concert.

Cheers
Charlie

Jon L · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 May 2006, 06:14 pm »

What did the final price turn out to be? Last I heard it was in $15-17K range.

Anybody buying in that price range should definitely listen for themselves compared to other players, of course, but did you get to compare it to the stock Esoteric UX-1 and/or APL 3910 or EMM, etc?

Nick B · « **Reply #2 on:** 20 May 2006, 06:24 pm »

I was briefly in the APL room at CES and the player sounded excellent. For a while, I was considering buying a modded Marantz CDP from him for $1,100, but the customer service comments concerned me. Hope he has that aspect of his business squared away.

James Romeyn · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 May 2006, 06:54 pm »

Anyone considering state of the art Red Book playback should consider the TRL modified Sony 900 DVD player. It has fixed analog outputs only, so a level control is required. One mod runs around $800, add for battery ps. I like mine more than an $8k Krell transport/Wadia 27ix combo. I've auditioned the Pacific Microsonics DAC in a great TAD/Pass system, hard-drive based Red Book on several good systems, & a dCS Elgar source.

TRL says performance was improved since January '06, meaning more recent players like mine should sound better than what was heard at THE Show '06. A friend has one of January vintage. After my room's acoustic upgrades are complete I would like to compare the two, & also compare to a good hard drive or Squeezebox system.

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #4 on:** 20 May 2006, 08:13 pm »

jon L:
Nothing Alex has is stock so I couldn't tell you about comparing sound. Last year I did hear his modded 3910 and thought it sounded pretty good. But this NWO-1 completely blows it away.

Hey!!! Ribbonspeakers. Who is TRL?

Cheers
Charlie

James Romeyn · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 May 2006, 06:06 am »

http://tuberesearchlabs.com/

The player is all ss, no toooobes. I barely heard of them before THE Show '06. I went to the show considering big very expensive DACs like the Oracle. I wouldn't trade the TRL for anything I've heard before. With all due respect for Alex's work, his modified SACD1000 was eaten alive by the Krell/Wadia about 1.5-2 years ago. To me it wasn't even in the same ballpark. YMMV.....I'm sure Alex's does.

This hobby is so personal. As we all know, one man's ceiling is another man's floor. Someone else might think Alex's is ideal. There's room for all of our little fetishes.

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 May 2006, 02:54 pm »

Jim R:
In regards to the "Shootout" a few years ago I think the bottom line was that Alex's player had a disadvantage because it lacked a volume control. As I remember no preamp was used. Correct me if I'm wrong. Personally I don't like shootouts! Seems that people that were on good terms before a shootout afterwards can't stand the sight of each other.

No big deal. It's all water under the bridge.

Anyhow I think I've heard just about everything Alex has done his magic on. The NWO-1 he offers now is by far the best thing he has done. Next year it will probably be something else.

Hey Jim!!! Going to the RMAF this year?

Cheers
Charlie

James Romeyn · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 May 2006, 05:14 pm »

Charles
For various reasons I'm very limited to time off this year. But starting next year my current plans, God willing, are to visit every audio show in this part of the galaxy...That is of course depending on how negotiations go w/ the CEO!...

Yeah, I have to agree about that last shootout, it was pretty dumb w/o a state of the art level control for Alex's.

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 May 2006, 05:23 pm »

Jim:
Being dumb has it's advanteges. Take my word for it I've been a dumdum all my life. Not getting better either.
Want to take a ride down to see Alex and listen to the NWO-1? I live in Martinez and we could go from here.

Cheers
Charlie

James Romeyn · « **Reply #9 on:** 21 May 2006, 07:43 pm »

Yes, but I wonder if he'll let us bring another player (my trl) for the sake of comparison. I doubt it. This coming week might be good for me, drop me a note...Does alex have a nice level for a player w/ fixed analog output only?

I have not had a chance to directly compare my trl to brian's, but have a feeling the alleged upgrades are pretty signficant.

zybar · « **Reply #10 on:** 21 May 2006, 07:49 pm »

Quote from: RibbonSpeakers.net

Anyone considering state of the art Red Book playback should consider the TRL modified Sony 900 DVD player. It has fixed analog outputs only, so a level control is required. One mod runs around $800, add for battery ps. I like mine more than an $8k Krell transport/Wadia 27ix combo. I've auditioned the Pacific Microsonics DAC in a great TAD/Pass system, hard-drive based Red Book on several good systems, & a dCS Elgar source.

TRL says performance was improved since January '06, meaning more recent pl ...

How much do the mods cost?

I didn't see prices on their website.

Their amps and preamps are very, very expensive.

George

James Romeyn · « **Reply #11 on:** 21 May 2006, 08:51 pm »

It's hard to believe the TRL website is more outdated than even Brian's last website, but it is.

The TRL mod to the Sony was about $750, add about another $600-700 for the latest battery ps, which I didn't yet hear. Immediately after '06 THE Show, people were searching for the one particular Sony for TRL to modifiy, the '03-'04 DVP-NS900V (CD-DVD-SACD multi-channel). This upped the Ebay auction price to $450 for a player that would have otherwise cost me only about $200! The seller was shocked. TRL may be modding another newer Sony by now, but I don't know.

These guys design systems for mri machines. One of their guys is an ex-hp engineer who was the final consultant to fix problems no other engineer could solve. Don't know much else except they delivered late because of upgrades performed for the first time on my specefic unit, but they more than made up for that w/ tons of free software & other goodies. Principals are brothers Brian & Paul Weitzel. They've been quietly making components for many years. Brian is great to deal with.

Their latest amps are all ss & TRL's Brian says they beat any of their previous tube amps, even the +$100k models. They have a ss power amp, a preamp w/o remote, & an integrated w/o remote. The integrated is $4k unless memory fails. One guy owns the TRL ss amp & the now-$18k (was $12k) ss dartZeel power amp. The customer said only the midrange was slightly better on the darTZeel. TRL's Brian said the latest improvement would place the TRL in front of the darTZeel in every way. He's obviously biased, but I would absolutely not be at all surprised if it was true.

Owners of the modified Marantz SACD (sum total estimated value $8k for player & mods including a 30 lb outboard motorcycle battery), were deeply disturbed hearing the TRL-Sony (sum total about $1200) eat the Marantz' lunch at THE Show. It doesn't make sense cosmetically because the TRL-Sony is painfully plain looking, almost homely. I'd pay an extra $200 if TRL had an optional new aluminum faceplate, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen. Who cares when the lights are low?

I am anxious to finish my room & have someone bring over a Squeezebox.

The TRL maintains SACD output (benefits from the cd mods, pretty sure), but all video functions are kaput. I think I had the option to leave the video functions, but am also pretty sure the audio would have suffered to some degree.