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February 28, 2016 - 3:07pm
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Finally scratched the 30 year itch
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That should make some rather satisfying sounds.
It sounds like you may be a "CD denier", but you might want to throw in an OPPO BDP-105. just for laughs.
Mine makes my CDs sound almost as good as my LPs, which I never thought could happen until I heard it. Very remarkable fine sound quality.
My modest system only set me back $25K or so; less than half of what you are spending, yet I am getting some very fine sound from most of my CDs, as well as my LPs.
Just a thought.
I have a BDP-103 in my home theater - this is purely 2 channel. I have about 1,000 CDs which I have ripped uncompressed onto a Synology Diskstation. I am adding a Aurilic Aries to stream that to this system. I have about 800 vinyl albums including the very first one I received when I was like 8 years old (A LONG TIME AGO). Over the last 20 years or so I have auditioned (read drooled) a LOT of systems and held out for my reference system and this is it.
The BDP-103 is OK, for a $500 player. Not great, but not bad.
The BDP-105 is a whole different kind of player!
I got rid of my $6000 Ayre C5xe/MP when I heard it; it makes some of the CDs I bought 30 years ago sound like the latest audiophile recordings. The SABRE chipset in it is really state-of-the-art IMO. CDs never sounded so good (or SACDs).
Good sounds to you!
That is truly an awesome system. Love it. I am curious about two aspects of it.
How do you feel about the software associated with that Auralic? My dealer raves about them for a streamer and said that the software is second to none. I have a Marantz Reference unit that I got at a great price but the Marantz software stinks. Nothing prevents me from using the Marantz DAC with an Auralic streamer. Incidentally, I haven't spent a ton of time listening to the DAC in that C52 but everyone raves about it. McIntosh's internal DACs seem to be great.
Longer term, I am thinking I am going to get that Ayre P-5xe. Why did you pick it over the Parasound JC3+ which seems to be its nearest competitor? Did you get a chance to listen to the two side by side?
Again, congratulations on putting together an awesome, awesome system.
I appreciate your insight into the Oppo CD Player. Just my opinion not being a big fan of the digital sound - never have been. Again IMHO Digital is a convenience - not something to sit down and do serious listening. I don't listen to much music made after the 1990's - so most of the stuff I treasure I have on vinyl. I will be streaming my digital content through the Macintosh C52 to the 800D3 and expect it to sound about as good as digital can. I heard the BDP-105 on a system with Ayre reference electronics hooked up to the B&W 803D3. This system had a basic Clearaudio turntable and cartridge (nothing fancy). The Oppo sounded terrific but when the same music was played on the Clearaudio let me tell you it was like you were right there in the studio hearing it live.
I had a budget of $100K and I have listened to just about everything including driving 3 hours to go listen to Ariel Acoustics 20Ts and the SME 30. Also looked at Wilson speakers. When I started to seriously put this system together about a year ago, I happened upon an audition of the B&W 802D with the Macinstosh electronics (then the C50 and MC452) and it just clicked - it was like WOW this sounds amazing. I wanted to stay away from tubes and for the phono stage I compared the C52, the Ayre and the Parasound - the Ayre just sounded very neutral - so that was that. As far as the Auralic is concerned, it is there to stream my digital music when I have people over so went with the dealer recommendation. Figuring that it will run through the C52 to the 800s and it should sound awesome.
The Ayre P5xe is certainly very good, but I chose the Musical Fidelity M1-VINL over it because of its excellent sound and the fact that it is much more flexible for the user. It also has balanced outputs.
The M1-VINL allows you to choose between several load resistors and load capacitors by simply pressing a front-panel button to cycle through the available loads, and you can listen while you change them, on the fly, to optimize the sound of the cartridge.
The P5xe has no such feature, requiring you to solder a load resistor into a connector to make a change. I regard this as a really mickey-mouse system for a $2000 unit!
You make excellent points. I will consider it in the future if I am unhappy with the performance of my system in any way.
Way to go! 2channel.
getting out there and visiting Audio shops and listening to the gear, is the best way to build any system.
Keep me posted & Happy Listening!
thanks - will post pictures as the system gets up and running
Congratulations to you 2channel. I also agree with the recommendations others have given on the Oppo.
Now can anyone explain to me how a budget of $100K is Entry-Level? :-)
So the 800 D3s finally arrived at the end of August. This system is nothing like anything I have heard before at any price. The meticulous engineering on the Clearaudio is something to behold. Its simple yet it sounds phenomenal. The 800's are so far beyond even the 802s its not funny. I have about 50 hours on the system at this point. Pictures coming soon.
So now that I have the system about a month - here are my findings. The vinyl has details the digital does not. There is actual content that is plain not on the digital of the same recording. It's in the farther background of the soundstage - but its definitely there on the vinyl and absent on the digital. Having said that, the digital is somewhat "heavier" than the analog - it reaches deeper into the lower frequencies than the analog. They have distinct features and both are highly enjoyable.
It all depends on what your standards are. Some of us like to buy and upgrade and some of us want to hold out until we can get what we ultimately want.