Swans M1 / ModWright Version (and other sundry points)

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #20 on:** 7 Aug 2003, 01:24 pm »

I got ewe jumping!!!

doug s. · « **Reply #21 on:** 7 Aug 2003, 01:36 pm »

i *gnu* ya wood tink that!

in yer dreams, i was yumpin'!

i'm perfectly content w/what my system does, & i know i can hear... yust had to set the record straight, for folks that don' realize ya yust like to get a rise outta people!

when yure ready to take yer system to the next level, replace that cia dac w/a mensa di/o, & yer subs w/a pair of smaller vmps. don't forget to get a tubed pre back in there!

regards,

doug s.

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #22 on:** 7 Aug 2003, 02:39 pm »

Quote from: doug s.

when yure ready to take yer system to the next level, replace that cia dac w/a mensa di/o, & yer subs w/a pair of smaller vmps. don't forget to get a tubed pre back in there!
doug s.

My system IS going to the next level. I'm sending my 23 lb belt drive transport to Danny Boy for modding the electronics, then getting an i2digital cable and the CIA power supply--both will be fed via Jena Labs cryoe'd Tice PC3 power cords with Highwire Wirewraps. Right now the passive CIA pre vastly outperforms my previous Melos "tubed" pre. In reality, the sound of Melos is a coloration. A coloration in a good way but still a coloration...

The VMPS smaller subs will not be better than my NHTs. Otherwise I'd have purchased them. The NHT's are musically evil

and in my system, totally invisible.

doug s. · « **Reply #23 on:** 7 Aug 2003, 04:13 pm »

"...The VMPS smaller subs will not be better than my NHTs. Otherwise I'd have purchased them. The NHT's are musically evil and in my system, totally invisible..."
=========
only one way to know for sure...

regards,

doug s.

btw, my relative purchased a cia cryo dac, based partly on my recommendation, partly on the trial program. he has a wery nice rig, w/resolution audio cd50 cdp, arc ls16 pre/100.2 amp, & proac 2.5's. he returned it, cuz he liked the better soundstage/dynamics/detail of my self-modded di/o. he's considering a mensa di/o purchase, if the electrocompaniet dac he's awaiting doesn't work out...

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #24 on:** 7 Aug 2003, 06:39 pm »

Quote from: doug s.

" only one way to know for sure...

Not really. Sean explained to me why I needed to stay away from passive radiator subs in my application. It's mainly speed and tight response issues. The passive radiator designs, according to him, will not deliver good response at the crossover point I was going to use (80 Hz). He told me passive radiator subs should be crossed over at or below 30 Hz.

As for the DAC, I trust Danny Boy's judgement. The CIA is a very musical DAC that was designed to successfully play bad sounding 80's CDs. That's why I bought it. My reference is Lak's $4.5K Dodson 217 MKII which has been recently upgraded. Unless noise is removed from a system and rather neutral power cords are being used it is not possible to make good comparisons--especially in the digital domain. I was not liking some aspects of my DAC until after I got noise totally under control. Fact of life...

doug s. · « **Reply #25 on:** 7 Aug 2003, 07:21 pm »

hi francisco,

brian cheney could prolly explain technically much better than i, why his subs don't follow the same passive-radiator model sean talks about. suffuce it to say you won't find a faster tighter sub than the vmps, for any of their models re: output/spl/distortion, w/o spending multiple times the price of the vmps, even when including req'd amplification/crossovers... passive-radiator, sealed, whatever...

the illusion of live music in the home is the goal, tho not really technically feasible. in my system, the acoustic upright bass comes closest - on well-recorded software, it's downright scary.

re: the cia, i yust thought ya would be interested in another data point. i've now heard of several folks who have done head-to-head comparos of the cia w/the di/o, & not one has yet preferred the cia. w/the scott-nixon dac this isn't the case - a couple folks prefer the scott-nixon's smoother presentation... i actually had hoped my relative would try a scott-nixon toob dac, so *i* could try it in my rig, but he wouldn't bite w/o a return guarantee...

regards,

doug s., always listening & learning, trying to improve the sound of my system

Jay S · « **Reply #26 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 01:11 am »

I heard the CIA in a speaker designer's reference system and was not impressed by musicality nor resolution. That said, much of what I may have been hearing was the speakers, which may have been tuned on the lean side.

I would be happy if someone had a CIA to try in my system, but I am quite happy with my DI/O. If I were to shell out $$ to try another dac, it would be the TubeDac. Hi Tyson!

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #27 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 03:18 am »

Quote from: Jay S

I heard the CIA in a speaker designer's reference system and was not impressed by musicality nor resolution. That said, much of what I may have been hearing was the speakers, which may have been tuned on the lean side.

All I can say is that in my system the CIA has impressed the hell out of Lak, who owns a $3.5K Dodson 217MKII DAC that has been upgraded to 218 (almost, I don't think the boards were cryo'ed).

Jay, I say this over and over and over: "High end is who you are, not what you buy." I make my stuff sound awesome. I'm behind the steering wheel...

Ron D · « **Reply #28 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 03:37 am »

I have to chime in on the CI dac as well especially with the upgraded power supply. Mated with my recently acquired i2digital cable it offers a very detailed presentation. As far as cables go everyone should audition this puppy - it has outperformed a number of cables I've had in my possession including at least one manufactured by a forum participant here.

I am organizing a shoot-out with my CI unit up against a Scott Nixon DAC (non-tube version) vs a hotrodded Museatex Bitstream. Will post my results upon completion.

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #29 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:15 am »

Quote from: Ron D

I have to chime in on the CI dac as well especially with the upgraded power supply. Mated with my recently acquired i2digital cable it offers a very detailed presentation. As far as cables go everyone should audition this puppy - it has outperformed a number of cables I've had in my possession including at least one manufactured by a forum participant here.

I am organizing a shoot-out with my CI unit up against a Scott Nixon DAC (non-tube version) vs a hotrodded Museatex Bitstream. Will post my results upon completion.

We have discussed this in Audiogon. If I remember I was telling you I heard the i2 outperform a $450 Purist Audio proteus and my friend Deano sold his $2K Kharma digital IC for the i2.

The CIA needs really good filtration. The transport should also have its own separate filtration. Also, power cords that do not act as bandwith limiters are needed. My DAC responds well to Moca wood treatment....

doug s. · « **Reply #30 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:25 am »

hey, psychic know i was yust yankin' his chain, as he was mine!

as i've discussed w/him (and others) before, imo any $500 dac will now get at least 97% of the state of the art. taste & system synergy is key, here. and digital s.o.t.a. is only good, not great, anyway. and, two years ago, good dacs were few & far between, at any price. so, i'm yust pleased that there's any decent digital at all, at prices i can afford!

interesting about that meitner dac - i was reading a bi-dat thread on another forum almost two years ago, extolling the wirtues of this li'l modded art di/o ting, & how it smoked a modded bi-dat, that helped me to discover the wirtues of decent digital in my rig. was it hype? i dint care - if it was half as good as claimed, it'd certainly be a worthwhile improvement, & even if i THREW IT AWAY, i'd still lose less $$$ than buying/selling anyting else new, that may sound as good. i bought one the next day, modded it over the next few months, & i'm still happy w/it!

regards to all,

doug s.

doug s. · « **Reply #31 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:33 am »

psychic is right about power filtration for dacs/transports, not yust the cia. my system gained greater detail, soundstage, lowered noisefloor, smoothness when i put the di/o on its own dedicated isolation transformer. similar further improvements when i got another one dedicated for the transport. actually, i tink what happened is that the noisefloor was lowered, which made the other tings noticable. noisefloor is someting not always noticed until it's *gone*...

doug s.

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #32 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:35 am »

Quote from: doug s.

imo any $500 dac will now get at least 97% of the state of the art. taste & system synergy is key, here. and digital s.o.t.a. is only good, not great, anyway.

I don't know about that. The only edpensive DAC I've heard is Larry's Dodson. It is something special... Deano has two DACs, a Camelot and something else (Audio Note?). I look forward to hearing them.

Speaking of taste & synergy, they are important indeed but noise filtration is paramount. The upgrade from the Dodson 217MKII to 218 is mainly a software upgrade, a Bybee and an inboard isolation transformer. See? I've been trying to steer ewe right all along but ewe don't listen.

Jay S · « **Reply #33 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:51 am »

Quote from: Psychicanimal

Jay, I say this over and over and over: "High end is who you are, not what you buy." I make my stuff sound awesome. I'm behind the steering wheel...

I am not sure how this applies to the discussion.

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #34 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:54 am »

Quote from: Jay S

I am not sure how this applies to the discussion.

Keep coming to the meetings.......one day at a time!

You can also search in Audiogon.

OK, I'll give you a hint:

The professional is able to compensate the idiosyncracies of his equipment.

How about that?

Jay S · « **Reply #35 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 05:08 am »

Its all about synergy + satisfaction.

How much time would it take to search audiogon to figure that out? I can give a hint.

doug s. · « **Reply #36 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 05:10 am »

"... Speaking of taste & synergy, they are important indeed but noise filtration is paramount. The upgrade from the Dodson 217MKII to 218 is mainly a software upgrade, a Bybee and an inboard isolation transformer. See? I've been trying to steer ewe right all along but ewe don't listen...."

huh? wasn't it i who told ewe about the excellent results i had w/my powervars isolation transformer on my dac a while back? or did we both decide to try 'em at the same time? i don't honestly remember, but *do* know we both decided isolation transformers could be worthwhile for improved audio performance at about the same time! of course, i know ewe now have enuff of 'em to treat even yer neighbors' power!

certainly if ya can rid the elec'l nasties of all yer neighbors, it will result in cleaner power at yer own panelbox!

doug s.

Rocket · « **Reply #37 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 09:06 am »

hi psychic,

speaking of i2s cables can you let me know where you bought yours from?

i'm after one but don't want to spend big $$$.

regards

rocket

Psychicanimal · « **Reply #38 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:24 pm »

Quote from: doug s.

"

huh? wasn't it i who told ewe about the excellent results i had w/my powervars isolation transformer on my dac a while back? or did we both decide to try 'em at the same time? i don't honestly remember, but *do* kno ...

Audiojerry tried it first, posted about it in HD and then ewe ordered one and sent me the link. I also ordered it but that's where the similarity ends. I've come a long way since then and the Power Var is not even powering my computer tower anymore. I've evolved, whereas ewe are in the same spot, like the hamster running in the wheel.

If ewe would listen to me your system would improve tremendously. Lak did listen to me and look at the pictures of his noise control rig--top notch! When I went to your house I told ewe there was noise in the system--it's like a veil over the music.

***********

Rocket, you have to bite the bullet and order directly from i2digital. I have not purchased the i2 yet.

CIAudio · « **Reply #39 on:** 8 Aug 2003, 04:49 pm »

DAC's are like phono cartridges, it's really hard to say which one is "best". It really depends on how it sounds in the particular system it's in. We've had several customers replace modded DI/O's with ours (including Brian Cheney of VMPS) and we've talked to others who preferred the modded DI/O. System synergy and personal taste have alot to do with it. Doing a "shootout" between DAC's in a single system only tells you what you like in that particular system.