Some might say that audiophiles are a strange breed. I mean, what other group of “hobbyists” would drive 1000+ miles on a weekend just to try some new gear? I don’t really have an answer to that question, but I will say up front that it was well worth the hours spent making the drive.
I had been trying to make it out to Nashville again for a while, and finally, I got the chance to schedule some leftover vacation, and head out. Nathan and I had planned this out, and as we talked, our list of gear to listen to had grown to almost unmanageable proportions. So needless to say, this is going to be a long series of reviews.
Part one will feature our comparison of digital sources. Some surprises there, and then again, some things that are not so surprising. Overall, this was the most interesting comparison, and I heard what may possibly be the best CD player I have ever heard.
Let’s get down to bidness. . .
First off, although Nathan had a few systems we listened to, any comparison was done with the same system. The review system was configured as follows:
- Eastern Electric MiniMax preamp with TungSol 6X4, Valvo E80CC and Raytheon 5814A tubes.
- Von Schweikert VR-2
- Audience speaker cables, interconnects
- Eighth Nerve Spinal cords, and Amp cords
- Carver ZR1600 with the Eighth Nerve mods
- Stereovox HDXV
We attempted to evaluate the following digital front-ends:
- Naim CD5 with Flatcap 2
- Ayre CX-7
- Scott Nixon TubeDAC with upgraded power supply, and my exclusive ERS mod.
- Chris Own’s dAck which had been slightly modded by Nathan, and consisted of upgraded internal cabling, and caps.
First at bat was the Naim CD5 with Flatcap 2 power supply. To save you the trouble if you don’t like to read, I’ll go ahead and say that this is the best CD player I have ever heard. From the first 15 seconds of listening to the Naim player, it was evident what all the hype is about, and what the reviewers always say about all Naim gear.
The CD5 was dynamic as hell. I am going to say that this was the one characteristic that really defined this player. The first track we put on was a Chris Thile track off his first solo disc, and my god, there are trumpets on this that come out of nowhere, and they have startling dynamic range. That sticks in my mind even now as I sit 500 miles away on the sofa, writing this up.
Terry was saying how the sheer toe-tapping ability of the Naim was amazing, and I concur. My feet are tired now too, and I don’t think it’s all from the drive.
Shawn liked the Naim as well, and said it was better sounding than the Ayre CX-7 and the dAck we had there.
The CD5 was not without sin. Let’s face it, for a $2250 player with the $900 power supply, it can’t be all things to all people. But those of you who hang at the Circle surely have read my continuous reviews, and praise for the Scott Nixon TubeDAC, and you know what all I have listened to in the quest to find something better. I have listened to DAC’s and players from $400-$33,000, and I say again, the Naim is the best player I have ever heard. It easily surpasses the Accuphase SACD combo on Redbook.That would now be the SECOND best player I have ever heard, and it’s also the most expensive, at about $30K+ more than the Naim setup.
Back to weakness though, it did cut a few corners to get there, but it did get there. The bass is there, and ample, but it’s not ultra refined, and tight. The Nixon DAC had the best bass of the bunch, aside from the Ayre CX-7, which is subterranean and amazingly controlled. The Naim also wasn’t as hyper-detailed as the Ayre, and not as clean and quiet as the Nixon DAC.
Next up was the much-loved Ayre CX-7. Without reservation, I can say that the Ayre is the quietest, most detailed player I have ever heard. The detail on this is absolutely incredible. Players are rendered very accurately, and in their own acoustic space. When I say this player was quiet, I mean it was deafeningly silent. I’m not talking about the silence that some of us non-oversamplers know and love which is evident in the way the notes start and stop. I am talking about the entire backdrop of the music being void, and non-existent. The music comes out of nowhere. . .
Even with this amazing silence going for it, the Ayre still did not seem to have the same dynamics of the Naim player. There are many who would have a cow if they heard someone say this player wasn’t dynamic. That is why I say it is not as dynamic as the Naim, which you have to understand is truly startling at times.
During the Alison Krauss “New Favorite” track, Nathan remarked also on the amazing bass that I was telling you about. He was also saying how this player was hyper-detailed. This is an accurate assessment of what I was hearing as well. Alison’s vocals were just heavenly with the Ayre. Actually better IMO than with the Naim.
Terry had a Cassandra Wilson track we listened to that was great. A cover of the Rolling Stones “You Gotta Move”, it had lots of low-level detail, and was a great piece for us to judge the gear on many aspects. On this track, the Ayre showed off a bit, and peeled a layer off Cassadra’s proper enunciation. She actually gently puts the “D” in the word Lord on this track, and on some of these it was harder to hear, and inaudible on another so that we all were thinking she was saying “When the LAW gets ready”. . .
I can’t emphasize enough how detailed the Ayre is.
Where it gets interesting is at this point when Kris kicks in his evaluation of the two players.
Kris thinks that the Ayre reaches even higher in the harmonics department than the Naim. This is something I disagree with. I think the Ayre NAILS the fundamentals, and sacrifices a bit of harmonics in order to present amazing, and quiet detail. After discussing with Kris further, we discovered why Kris preferred the Ayre to a player we all liked better.
We came to the conclusion that Kris derives emotion from music in a different way than the rest of us do. Myself, I find that the vast majority of emotion I have experienced with music has been going to live shows. Kris on the other hand is going for his doctorate in order to become a conductor. He works in that role presently at Vanderbilt, and has always been in that type of role where he is absolutely in the center of the music. Going to live shows is a much different experience. We experience more of the room, the hall, and the audience. Kris experiences unadulterated music that hasn’t been “dirtied” by anything else before it touches his ears.
This was fascinating for us to discover because I had not previously listened with someone who could approach music that way. So this is the fundamental difference in the presentation of the players, and why most of us liked the Naim better. It’s because we’re out in the audience when the music reaches us.
Next up was the dAck. We did find that the Ayre CX-7 just killed everything else we had in the building when it comes to a transport. We had my heavily modded Sony 7700, Nathan’s 7000, and the Audio Alchemy DDS Pro. The Ayre was it. I couldn’t believe how much better it was than the Sony of mine. The Naim is NOT usable as a transport because the digital out is not good for the sound according to Naim.
We listened to the same tracks on the dAck next, and it was quite different from the other two players. The dAck had that non-oversampling thing that I have grown to love. Although not as much as evident as the TubeDAC, it had the silence between notes, and the start-stop thing was working well too. I was sort of surprised by this because the dAck uses batteries. I expected it to be quieter than the TubeDAC, but it was noticeably not as quiet. This is probably a function of the analog stage that Chris uses. I’m not really sure what the cause is, but the dAck was “dirtier” than the TubeDAC. Though not as extended in the frequency extremes, I found the TubeDAC was almost as clean as the Ayre. I believe this “dirtiness” is most evident in the cymbal work, and higher frequencies. Perhaps I am not using the right wording, but it almost seemed to muddy up the high frequencies unnecessarily. The highs are much cleaner on all the other digital sources in this evaluation.
Bass on the dAck was quite a bit looser than the other gear, except for the Naim. Naim had the loosest bass of all. Kris said the dAck seemed a bit “twisted, and unnatural” compared to the Ayre player. He said that the dAck wouldn’t allow him to “relax, and release”. Although I felt the dAck was the least natural, and least extended of the bunch, I think it is a valiant effort from a guy who has only been in the business for a short time, and is not a full time manufacturer.
Nathan actually seemed to like the dAck better than the TubeDAC, but that was before the transport switch. I think that these non-oversamplers are very sensitive to the transport used.
The TubeDAC was up next, and I am not going to spend too much time on it, since you all know what I think of it, and are probably tired of reading the constant praise. I will say that the TubeDAC was up there with the Naim for me. I liked it better than the CX-7 for sure, and I like the CX-7 better than the dAck. The hard part for me is that I really wish the Naim had a digital out. I would love to have the Naim AND the TubeDAC. Neither of them are all of what the other is.
The startling dynamics of the Naim are second to none. I know I have used that word several time, but seriously, it is amazing. The Naim was quiet as well. I didn’t find myself missing the non-oversampling silence between the notes as much as I have with much more expensive oversamplers. The Naim was not as articulate as the TubeDAC, and did not have the clean, pristine presentation of the TubeDAC. Although not as clean as the Ayre, the TubeDAC had the emotion that was missing from the Ayre for most of us, and also was almost as clean, and quiet.
Terry had no doubts about the Nixon DAC, and in fact said during the second track that he was getting on the list for one ASAP. The TubeDAC is so natural, and this is where the biggest difference is between it and the dAck. Both of the DAC’s lack ultimate frequency extremes, but the Nixon is much cleaner on both frequency extremes than the dAck, and not quite as Mr. Clean as the Ayre. Again, I wondered why this was since the Nixon doesn’t have a battery, and is running off the wall power in Nathan’s gorgeous, old home which didn’t even have three pronged outlets until Nathan moved in.
Terry said although he didn’t feel he could live long term with the Naim, the TubeDAC was a DAC to live with, and make a part of the family. Nathan felt a bit “bored” after hearing the Naim, so after the two oversamplers were done, we hooked that thing back up b/c it’s so fun!
I’m not going to go on aimlessly. This is about all I had for this part of the review, and I will let others follow up with their comments.
I had a blast this weekend, and after 16 hours or so of listening, and a few hours of live bluegrass, I am beat. Again, I’d like to thank Nathan, and his wife for being such gracious, hospitable hosts, and for setting all this up.
Look for Part II tomorrow, which will be the amplifier portion of our testing.
L8r,
B
