Description: A pair of flexible Y-adapters, each having two phono sockets at one end and a single phono plug at the other, supplied with five pairs of color-coded resistive plugs: 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 ohms.
Price: $49. Sold direct.
Manufacturer: DB Systems, PO Box 460, 214 Main Street, Rindge, NH 03461. Tel: (603) 899-5121. Web: www.dbsystemsaudio.com.
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Sidebar: Specifications
There's an old Russian folktale about a farmer who goes to a fair. He buys a bread roll from a vendor. He eats it, but he's still hungry. So he buys and eats another roll, and then another. Still hungry. Next, he buys a donut from a different vendor. At last, he's no longer hungry. The farmer then says to himself, "I wasted the money I spent on the rolls—I should have just bought the donut first!"
This story illustrates a problem with the way most of us buy stereo equipment: If only we could know in advance what we would end up being happy with, we'd save a lot of the money we spend…
Is anyone in this economy shopping for a four-box, rack-swallowing, two-channel SACD/CD player contending for the state of the art and costing $79,996? dCS is betting that its Scarlatti will attract a small crowd of those wealthy music enthusiasts who, in any economy, reliably pony up for the best. For the rest of us, the Scarlatti will be a spectator sport.
While ease of use is one of digital audio's greatest selling points, "simplicity" is not the Scarlatti's middle name. Although this ultra-complex system, including the optional new Upsampler ($12,999), has more menu choices…
Much has happened in the six years since my review of dCS's Verdi-Purcell-Elgar. dCS has greatly upgraded its products' appearance, to give the Scarlatti stack a more uniform and graceful look; their attractiveness speaks for itself. The external build quality has been improved, and, of course, the price has doubled almost exactly, from $33,985 to $67,997 (not including the Upsampler). I hate when that happens, but previous dCS systems always had the feel of expensive works-in-progress; the Scarlatti stakes a stable, finished claim to the state of the art.
I started my evaluation by…
Though it definitely sounded richer and breathed more easily when run in balanced mode, the dCS Scarlatti was easily the most satisfying SACD player I've heard.
Cary on
Cary Audio Design's impressive-sounding CD 306 Professional SACD player ($8000) that John Atkinson reviewed in November 2008 was available, so I did some comparisons with that. The Cary sounded "fast," exciting, slightly forward, and a bit "etchy" and mechanical. Good as it was, it was no match for the Scarlatti's harmonically richer, more dimensional, microdynamically superior, more relaxed, more detailed sound.…
I also have the LP, CD, and HRx DVD-R versions of Reference Recordings' collection of overtures by Malcolm Arnold, performed by the composer and the London Philharmonic (RR-48, RR-48 CD, and RR-48 HRx). The LP was sourced from an analog tape, the DDD CD from a Sony PCM 701ES D/A converter (16/44.1) modified by Keith Johnson, and the 24/176 HRx DVD-R from the analog tape. The CD sounded hard, bright, and glassy, even on the Scarlatti. Turn it up and your ears bleed. Even downconverted to 24/96, the HRx DVD played on a computer via the Scarlatti's USB input sounded full, rich, delicate,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
dCS Scarlatti Upsampling SACD/CD Transport: Drawer-loading, dual-laser SACD/CD transport with DSD datastream output via IEEE1394 FireWire interface. Digital outputs: 2 AES/EBU (XLR); 1 BNC, 1 TosLink optical S/PDIF (both RCA); 2 BNC for single S/PDIF-2; 2 each IEEE1394 digital (dCS-encrypted DSD), SDIF-2 BNC. Word clock In/Out, SUC multipin connector for RS-232 control. Includes Philips Pronto 9400 remote control, BNC cable, IEEE1394 cable.
Dimensions: 20.2" (513mm) W by 5.5" (140mm) H by 16.7" (424mm) D. Weight: 43.2 lbs (19.6kg).
Serial Number Of Unit…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog Sources: Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn, Cobra, & Castellon turntable, tonearm, & stand; Graham Phantom tonearm, Lyra Titan i cartridge.
Digital Sources: Cary Audio CD 306 Professional SACD/CD player, Musical Fidelity kW DM 25 CD transport & DAC, BPT-modified Alesis Masterlink hard-disk recorder, Sooloos Music Server.
Preamplification: Manley Steelhead, Ypsilon VPS-100 phono preamplifiers; darTZeel NHB-18NS, Musical Fidelity Primo preamplifiers.
Power Amplifier: Musical Fidelity Titan.
Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Specialties…
Sidebar 3: How Revealing?
For much of the review period, all four Scarlatti components were plugged into the latest version of Shunyata Research's Hydra V-Ray II power conditioner, itself plugged into the wall with Shunyata's latest King Cobra Helix AC cord. Then I switched to Audience's Adept Response power conditioner fitted with their own latest Au24 AC cord and got a different balance: warmer, fuller, bigger on bottom, but not as airy on top. Different, but better? With glary, bright-sounding recordings, yes—but not with darker, warmer discs. The XRCD edition of The Tony Bennett Bill…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I assessed the performance of the dCS Scarlatti system using Audio Precision's SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and "As We See It" in the January 2008 issue), as well as, for some tests, our Audio Precision System One Dual Domain.
Because of the complexity of this four-box system and the multitude of operational choices—internal or external clock (the latter with or without dither), SACD or CD playback or external 16-bit and 24-bit data via S/PDIF, AES/EBU, or USB, with PCM data upsampled to 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, or 192kHz PCM or to or DSD, with four…