Very nice set up Ronaldo, Though the width of most US kit can be anoying.
ronaldo said:the dac can be bought here for £699 http://www.loud-clear.co.uk/offers_1.htm
KUB3 said:Sorry, a bit harsh. I should have omitted the utter. Your answers in order...
For every review, you will find it's opposite. One review said it has the same detail as a £10,000 zanden dac, but not quite as organic. Mind you I don't buy or rely upon glossy mag bs.
We used a CA2 ATC preamp, all the time with benchmark volume bypassed. Same cables.
I presume you equate more money spent = better performance.
You'll have to contact the ATC accounts department and TagMcLarens tech dept.
They all sound the same into a benchmark. As confirmed by a room of hifi nerds.
Please name a more revealing setup than those used to master? I wonder why they wouldn't use said system if it would make the job easier.
Wasn't it the head of Linn who couldn't hear a cheap 1980's cd player slotted into his vinyl system, on a blind A/B. Carry a blind A/B with witnesses if your so confident, like we did.
Tenson said:The TacT would obviously A to D the sound then D to A it again so it is pointless using something like the Esoteric. I suppose you could use the TacT digital in and out though. Does the Esoteric have digital out AND in?
KUB3 said:Wasn't it the head of Linn who couldn't hear a cheap 1980's cd player slotted into his vinyl system, on a blind A/B. Carry a blind A/B with witnesses if your so confident, like we did.
KUB3 said:I'd like to hear a demo of the benchmark being affected by transport, but I haven't been disproved so far. That is why I sold my VRDS mechanism tranny as it made no difference. I had an old cyrus up in the loft which does the job as well as anything tested so far. Not wasting space and money means more music![]()
KUB3 said:I don't know which partner equipment was used in the review you mention, however I can assure you the DAC1 has no shortage of bass depth. I have A/B'd it on systems with *extreme* extension against the competition, so I'll sleep well at night knowing there is certainly nothing missing
Also, it's rather funny that every highly revealing piece of hifi in existence is often described as 'bright' sounding - coming from people who favour warm distorted rose tinted presentations. I really doubt companies like PMC, ATC, Wilson, Mark Levinson, Benchmark, Krell etc are producing gear which is inaccurate to the original signal somehow. More likely it just clashes with the opinions of those who personally like warm sounding gear.
KUB3 said:My kit is fully balanced XLR from beginning to end. I wouldn't use single ended RCA on principle as it's just not the correct way of doing things imho.
I nearly bought ATC, so they are good speakers. I was considering the active 50's but I really would need a sub to reintroduce the missing lowest octave, which rolls off. I was recommended to get the velodyne sub, which I didn't get around to trying. I suspect those two would work well, judging from other's experience. I decided against this route as I hate integrating subs. I spent three years trying to do so before! The larger ATC models like 100 don't seem to add any more extension over the small 50's, just more volume. (PMC IB2 has over double low end output extension of ATC100 on A/B in same room, for example).
For a little more outlay you could go the PMC passive route with a pair of Bryston 7B SST mono's, or one 4B. This will give you sub levels of extension, but without the hassle. I feel passive PMC is smoother, but not quite as detailed as active ATC on highs, which seem brighter![]()
I left this route to go active PMC, which I feel is the best of all worlds: sub levels of extension without the hassle, smoother sounding, but with ATC active levels of upper detail. It really does have all the bases covered, which is unique in my experience. The only trouble is the cost. You'll get off lightly if you only need to fill a small/normal size room as the AML1 are a silly bargain. If you need to fill a massive room, you'll be requiring BMW M3 money for a fully active new MB2 setup, and no girlfriend.