TAG AV32R dealing...

Sold my Tag AV32R and bought another one. Why? Well, my old one was one of the original 5.1 96kHz DAC models (without the analogue bypass) – you can of course get the older ones upgraded to the current spec but it's expensive compared to selling and then buying a newer model with the features already present.

Anyway, I sold the old one for just under £1K and then bought an 18 month old BP-192 7.1 model (that's the better 192kHz DACs, the analogue bypass and EX/ES processing – and DPLII) for £1500 (new price is £3300). Haven't had a chance to set it up properly yet but it should be excellent – the 192kHz DACs are supposed to make quite a difference, especially in stereo. I'll report back on this.

This kind of makes a mockery of Tag's upgrade policy – it's a great idea in principle but to upgrade my old one to the spec of the new one I've bought would have cost a cool £1600 instead of the £525 it ended up costing me by selling one and buying another.

Matt.

 

Update: very, very nice in stereo - more natural, organic sound than the 96kHz DAC version. I think a lot of stereo fans would be happy with it's performance as a two channel pre-amp.

Pro Logic II is great with TV programmes - much closer to Dolby Digital than the original Pro Logic - better separation/use of the left right channels and some decent bass coming through.

Haven't put it through it's paces with DD/DTS yet but I've no doubt this will be virtually state-of-the-art and could probably only be bettered by spending a lot more (e.g. Lexicon MC8/MC12). Then there's EX/ES but that will have to wait until I get a bigger house, another two speakers and another two channels of power!

Haven't used the 5.1 bypass yet but yesterday I ordered a Pioneer 757i - down at a good price (£450) now that the newer 868 has been launched - so SACD and DVD-A should only be a few days away!

Matt.

p.s. for anyone who remembers, yes I did order a Sony 999ES DVD/SACD player but they were taking so long with the order that I cancelled and by then, the 'play all' Pioneer had appeared for less money so I decided to go for that instead.

 

I also sold my TAG and bought a new DP instead of upgrading, in fact all but one of the people I know with TAG did the same, he is a reviewer for a magazine, so must have special deal...

 

Hi Matt F
Being a recent Tag AV32 192 owner myself, I can safetlysay that you won't be dissapointed with the DTS/DD sound.

A few films that have really impressed me and sound stonkingly good are:
Blade 2: Awsome bass and surround effects in DTS.
T2: I preferred the 5.1DD to the DTS.
Predator 2: Allsorts of sounds coming from everywhere.

I have yet to find something I don't like about the Tag AV32. It really is a sensational piece of HIFI with both Movies and Music.

 

Matt,

Do you think Tag is in the hifi business for charity or to make money? If you couldn't find a secondhand/demo model with the better spec so cheap and your older Tag gear have a very lousy resale value it would certainly cost more to retire it in the attic and have no option but to buy a brand new model. The unfortunate truth with most other branded hifi toys. This is one reason why a lot of people suggest buying secondhand brands that has a good reputation. You still lose a bit of money but at less not so much.

When you get your Pioneer 757i hope you will let us know what you think of it. I don't have a SACD/DVDA disc player yet. Always keen to hear what is people opinion about these new universal spinner.

 

Re: Re: TAG AV32R dealing...

I think that the shareholders have been asking the same question and if the rumours are to be believed they won't be in the hifi business at all by the end of this month.

 

Re: Re: TAG AV32R dealing...

Ideally, I guess it would be to make money. However, I know that each of the £4000 DVD32R's they sold cost them £6400 to produce so profitability wasn't always a reality and this may be one of the reasons they got themselves into trouble.

The point I was making is that their upgrade policy was a great idea and initially worked well. For example, 12 months ago I could have upgraded to 192kHz DAC's and a 5.1 bypass for £644 and this would have most probably been a fair bit cheaper than selling and re-buying a newer BP-192 unit. However, following the 'changes' at Tag, the upgrade costs shot up (and an excess was added to upgrading older units) thereby increasing the upgrade I wanted from £644 up to £1000 - all of a sudden it made a lot more sense to sell and buy a newer unit, especially as the problems at Tag had reduced the market value of pretty much all of their gear.

I'm not moaning as I've ended up with a fantastic unit at a really good price – it's just a shame that the upgrade route no longer makes financial sense.

On the Pioneer 757i front, I've ordered 3 pairs of phono leads for the analogue SACD/DVD-A feed – found some reasonable interconnects at a very good price: 0.5mtr IXOS 1002 for £18 (rrp = £40) at greatsaves. Also ordered DSOTM on SACD (essential purchase) and I've already got Miles Davis's 'Kind of Blue' SACD so we're all ready to go when the Pioneer arrives.

Can't wait – and I'm running with a top centre speaker (MA Gold) and decent rear speakers plus equal amplification all round so I should be well placed to hear what multi channel high-res audio is capable of.

I will of course report back.

Matt.

 

Re: Re: Re: TAG AV32R dealing...

Well, we're getting there, got home from work yesterday and there was a small package on the mat – the SACD of Dark side of the Moon. Great - but there was also a courier card saying a package for me was left at the next door neighbours. Aha – could it be? Yes, it was the Pioneer 757i. Excellent.

Only problem is the wife doesn't know I bought it so, sent her off to bed at 10:30 and then began the unpacking and rearranging of the hifi cabinet.

Nice looking player the 757i – not mega heavy, hewn from stone or anything – but neat and well put together. Nice, logical operating system and, my, it's good to have SCART sockets on a DVD player again (my Rotel has none) – I know the things come in for some stick but they do have their advantages i.e. switch the player on and the TV automatically switches (in my case) to the s-video extension – plus there is sound to the TV speakers – not important to me but my wife (who has no desire to fire up the sound system when watching her chick flicks) will appreciate this. Actually, if I was watching something like The Office on DVD then I might even just listen through the TV speakers.

Anyway – connecting it all up – god there's a mass of spaghetti behind the cabinet – no matter how neat you try to make it. And christ those new IXOS 1002 interconnects I bought are short – I know they are only 0.5 metres but they seem shorter. They are fine as long as the processor and 757i sit next to each other with the 757i on the left – hey, at least they don't trail out the back and add to the mass of cables there! Looped the on-screen-display s-video output from the Tag through the 757i using a s-video to SCART lead (which I was using with the Rotel DVD player) – this is very handy as the Tag's on screen menu comes up over whatever the Pioneer is showing.

Didn't get a chance to calibrate the levels for SACD/DVD-A but, nonetheless, I did have a quick listen to the beginning of the first track on DSOTM – this was at a low level for obvious reasons but it sounded pretty good nonetheless. I'll try to get it set up properly tonight.

So, there we go. I'd recommend the Pioneer to anyone after a decent 'play all' machine – the fact that you can now get it for £450 makes it a great deal. If anyone is wondering, I did consider the Denon's but the 2900 is a lot dearer and there have been quite a few (disc playing) problems reported with ones that have been made multi-region (which I needed).

Matt.

p.s. if anyone wants to buy an immaculate Rotel RDV985 DVD player at a good price then give me a shout (paid £600 for it).