[I.Greyhound Fan]

I have finally found the right combination of AVA gear for my system.  After auditioning various equipment at Franks studio and in my home I have found a winning combination in the T-8 preamp and the Ultra DAC to go along with my Parasound Halo A21 amp.  I been using the 840c CDP with my Adcom GFR-700AVR and Magnepan QR1.6's.  I tried Franks all tube DAC which had too rolled off highs for my liking although it still sounded great.  I added the insight preamp and it sounded about the same as my adcom.  So I returned both units to Frank and took home the Ultra DAC which really did not sound all that much different than my 840c except for a slightly larger sound stage and a little less fatigue.

Well, today Frank let me take home the 550 amp and the T-8 preamp which alone sounded a bit better than the Ultra DAC and much better than the T-8 DAC.  But when I combined it with the Ultra DAC it was like magic.  I had the huge sound stage and transparency that I was looking for with out any roll off in treble.  It also gave me tighter, deeper bass with no fatigue what so ever.

When I hooked it all up to Franks 550 amp the sound was more liquid, slightly warmer and more pleasing over all but the bass was too deep and became boomy in my room.  In fact, I was suprised tha that my Maggies could put out such deep bass. It was clearly a case of the acoustics of my room which is 17x17x9 with all wood floors and several large glass windows.  The Parasound actually sounded more transparent so I guess I'll keep it.  If I had a different listening environment I would opt for the 550.

Thanks again Frank for your patience with me.  You've made another believer in AVA HiFi.

[rustneversleeps]

Since I am a systems specialist in my profession, so let me decipher what you've said.

A   The T-8 DAC doesn't have enough treble for you, so the T-8 DAC + the Insight sounds about the same as you Adcom (a lot of people will hate you for that). So you returned the Insight preamp and the T-8 DAC back to Frank.

     
B   The Ultra DAC sounds a little bit better than your Cambridge 840c (what did I tell you after I compared the Ultra DAC with my
     Cambridge Azur 540c and the AMC CD8B?).

C   The 550 amp + the T-8 preamp + the 840c sound better than the Ultra DAC + whatever other equipment you have, but the 550 amp
 
     + T-8 preamp + the 840c sound much better than the T-8 DAC with whatever you have. How did you make this comparison since
you already returned the T-8 DAC back to Frank? Did you get it back after step C?
     

D    Then the 550 amp + T-8 + Ultra DAC turned out to be a magical combination for you. But now there's too much boomy bass, and
      now you think that your room is too small , too much wood, and too much glass for this combination.

E     Because of D, you returned the 550 amp back to Frank , and keep the T-8 preamp, Ultra DAC for your Parasound Halo amp.

With all these swapping around, did you put any nick, dent, or scratch on Frank's equipment before you returned them? What would Frank do to them if there are nicks, dents and scratches on these pieces? Putting them out for dent and scratch sales, maybe?

But I am happy for you that you've found your best combination in this hobby.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

No nicks dents scratches!  You got it right.   The T-8 DAC was nice sounding but the treble was too rolled off for my taste.  For some reason the T-8 preamp's treble is not as rolled off, other than that the  two T-8 units sounded similar.  And adding the insight preamp didnt really improve the sound.

The Ultra DAC with the Adcom preamp sounded just a bit better than the 840c I'm sorry to say and was not worth the $1500 to me for that slight improvement in sound.

The combo of the T-8 preamp and Ultra DAC made the biggest impact.

And Rusty, I'm sorry about that discussion about the 540c.  I didnt realize that you were running it as a transport.  As a stand alone CDP it does not hold its own against the 840c, but as a transport they are equal.

[Wayner]

This is the reason Frank offers 3 different lines (currently). Solid state, Hybrid and pure tube offer the customer many options to find the "sound" they are looking for. Glad your happy with your system. Yes, your room is a boom box being square, but dealing with room acoustics is part of the equation. Perhaps a throw rug on the hard wood floors would help a touch. Happy listening!

Wayner  aa

[martyo]

The combo of the T-8 preamp and Ultra DAC made the biggest impact.

That one is working really fine for me. 

[rustneversleeps]

I would like to clarify my comment about the comparison between the Ultra DAC and the low cost CD player.

I think a while back, even before I had the opportunity to compare the Ultra DAC with my other two low cost CD players, I said that with the progression of digital technology in the past years, low cost CD players had close the gap with the higher end CD players or DAC. Immediately, I drew some negative responses.

My point still is, if you go out and spend $200 to $400 on CD players nowadays, chances are they will sound much better than the $1000 CD player that you paid for 15 years ago, technology advances, no doubt about it.

Now is it worth the extra $1200 more to buy the AVA DAC? Well, if you have the dough, the answer is yes, the little trade off there is the AVA Ultra DAC will give you (or me) more natural, fuller sound stage, better imagine, more focus, and more detail sound. You will find the musicians and their instrument to be more precisely placed through the AVA Ultra DAC.

If you don't have the dough, then enjoy your low cost good sounding CD player and be happy with it.

But if you compare the AVA Ultra DAC with some other high end DACs, the AVA Ultra DAC may still beat them by miles, I'll never know, because I don't have any other high end DAC or CD player to compare with.