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August 21, 2014 - 2:09pm
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A warmer-sounding integrated amplifier?
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Both of your speakers are from the 'British' end of the spectrum with regard to their 'house-sound' & should lean toward a warmer, slightly rolled-off top end with good mid-range character when all the other components are essentially neutral.
Is the 'Warmth' you are searching for missing from both your CD players & your DACs?
How much difference is there between your CD playback & files played thru your DACs?
How much difference is there between the Emotiva DAC & the Peachtree DAC?
What I am getting at is that it may be more than, or something other than, your amp that is not providing the warmth you are looking for.
While not an attempt to disparage your equipment, remember also, a 'Highly regarded Budget Amp' is just that……… a 'Budget Amp'.
Another point of view & one I repeat often, is that next to your speakers, the most important (influential) piece of equipment is the PRE-amp.
Bill - on the Hill
Practicing Curmudgeon & Audio Snob
- just an “ON” switch, Please
I had a couple of NAD 3020 amplifiers for many years, and they are very good in many ways, but if they have a flaw it is that they ARE pretty "warm-sounding" and lack a bit of resolution.
"Warmth" and "decent detail retrieval" tend to be polar opposites, at least in relatively low-priced gear. But your speakers and amps can sound pretty good if they are fed a decent audio signal.
I think that your problem is that your CD players are not what you need. They are feeding a relatively low-resolution audio signal to the amplifiers, so the amplifiers are really not responsible for the end result; neither are the speakers. Garbage In...garbage out.
Your amps and speakers should work pretty well together to give a reasonably warm sound quality, but you are getting a relatively low-resolution signal from those CD players; they are a long way from the best.
My suggestion is to spend $1200 on a OPPO BDP-105 CD/SACD player, which will, I guarantee you, transform your system. It will give you an audio signal that is 500% better than the ones you have now. It is better-sounding than most players on the market for $3000 to $8000. It is a STEAL at its price (I sold my $6000 Ayre player after getting it).
Also, once you have the OPPO, you will know that an excellent signal is going to the amplifier. THEN you can start to determine what the amplifier may or may not be doing right. Right now it is just impossible to tell because the input to the amplifier is not that good to start with.
If the $1200 price is a deal-breaker for you, the Marantz CD5004 is only $350, and would be a significant improvement over the CD players you have. It is quite good for its price.
Thanks, I appreciate the thoughtful comments and feedback. I hadn't given much thought to my source. Both the Emotiva and Peachtree, though well reviewed, sit firmly in the budget category of DACs. I have been loath to upgrade my disc players because at present I'm using them primarily as transports feeding into my DACs via coaxial and optical respectively.
Most of music listening is PC-based, fed to the DAC via USB. So, in essence, if I'm going to upgrade my source, it sounds like it would be on the DAC front. I'm assuming the Oppo can be used as a USB DAC as well?
In summary, the take-out for me here is that I've been making a number of sideways moves rather than really upgrading. Food for thought...
Comm, what do you think would be a good choice for a DAC for the op?????I am new to DACs and am trying to zero in on a quality DAC
that is under 1000$.
try to find a Marantz UD 5007. It's 499.00, and it plays SACD, audio DVD,audio Blu-ray, everything. I bought one a month ago, and I love it. IMO; amps and preamps aren't the problem, the problem is crappy source material. Poorly equalized recordings, mastered at too high a level. In fact, the better your equipment is,the WORSE a lot of CD's sound. The equipment is revealing the true sound of the CD. Amps and pre-amps are not actually supposed to "sound like" anything.A perfect amp is a straight wire with gain.
Go directly to:
http://nadelectronics.com/products/masters-series/M51-Direct-Digital-DAC
I have personal experiance with the NAD in my own system & my best friend's system which is in a league significantly above mine.
I have heard more DAC's than I can even remember.
Only a few have left lasting impressions.
If you want a DAC that delivers 98% of a Briscati (~$8k) try the M51.
Next to the TOTALDAC, Berkley, et.al. it is the best value I have heard to date.
Bill - on the Hill
Practicing Curmudgeon & Audio Snob
- just an “ON” switch, Please –
My recommendation would be the Musical Fidelity M1-A DAC, which sells for $799. It is very good.
I did a bit of tinkering in my system today, trying various alternatives from using the Emotiva as a pre-amp to swopping out speaker cables. It turns out the using the Emotiva as a pre-amp with the NAD only doing power duties is the way to go. It also would seem that some Audioquest speaker cable I recently purchased was partially responsible for the issues I was experiencing. I went from an 11 AWG Ixos cable to a 14 AWG AQ cable, and the latter just seems to sound leaner. Anyway, I've got a solution that will satisfy me for now.
In future, though, I'll be looking out for better amplification. I tested a Sugden C51 in the system, courtesy of a friend, and was very impressed by its punch and warmth. I had no idea vintage gear could sound this pleasing.
2 grand for an M51 ouch
No, it is not cheap.
They can easily be found for $1500 or even less if you are patient & diligent.
Also, take into account, this would be an 'endgame' unit for most of us.
Bill - on the Hill
Practicing Curmudgeon & Audio Snob
- just an “ON” switch, Please –