search

Aesthetix Saturn Romulus DAC/CD player

Tubes?

In a CD player?

Century-old technology embedded in a modern digital design?

I realize that Aesthetix's Saturn Romulus is not the first disc player or D/A processor with tubes, nor will it be the last—but does combining these technologies even make sense? Are audiophiles working at cross purposes to themselves, looking for modern perfection but preferring a little old-school sweetening here and there?

To date, I've stuck with purely solid-state DACs and disc players, but I was curious enough to jump at a chance to audition the Aesthetix Romulus DAC/CD…

Aesthetix Saturn Romulus DAC/CD player Page 2

But details are what DAC reviews are all about, and that was certainly the case here. Using the Meridian Sooloos music server via the Romulus's S/PDIF input and my Macbook Pro via USB, I cued up several tracks of classical, jazz, and world music that I also had on CD, to assess the input and transport options. I heard little difference; I prefer hard-drive–based media to CDs, but these differences, if any, were too close to reliably call.

Back to the Sooloos and some recent releases from HDtracks.com. First the classics: the entire Rush catalog has been issued in 24/96. The sound ranges…

Aesthetix Saturn Romulus DAC/CD player Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Tubed CD player with S/PDIF (coaxial and TosLink), AES/EBU and USB digital inputs. Tube complement: two 12AX7, two 6DJ8 or 6922. Audio data accepted: 16, 20, 24-bit word length with sample rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192kHz. Maximum output level without optional volume control installed, RMS: 4.8V balanced, 2.4V single-ended. With volume control installed: the volume setting for standard 2V (SE)/4V (balanced) output is 80. Setting for the same output level as a non–volume-control unit is 82 (2.5V SE, 5V balanced). Output impedance: 300 ohms…

Aesthetix Saturn Romulus DAC/CD player Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.7, iTunes 10.6, Sonic Studios Amarra 2.5, Songbird 1.9.3, XLD; Western Digital 2TB NAS Device; Oppo BDP-103 universal Blu-ray player; Sooloos/Meridian Digital Media System (Control 15, TwinStore x3); Apple iPad 2, 3 (or "New iPad" or latest or HD or Retina or whatever); Apple iPod Touch 1G; Apple iPhone 4S.
Digital Processors: Benchmark DAC1 USB, M2Tech Young & Palmer DAC & power supply, AudioQuest DragonFly USB DAC, Wadia 121decoding…

Aesthetix Saturn Romulus DAC/CD player Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I examined the Aesthetix Saturn Romulus's electrical performance with Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain. For USB tests, I used my MacBook Pro running on battery power and the Romulus set to USB2.0. I played back test-signal files with Bias Peak Pro, using Apple's AudioMIDI utility to make sure that the sample rate and bit depth were correctly set for each file.

The Romulus's error…

Audio Research Reference CD9 CD player/DAC

Now entering its fourth decade, the Compact Disc player seems to have reached a stage of maturity where the best models within a given price range will sound pretty much alike. The technology of the Compact Disc itself is set, its possibilities and limitations are well understood; and the designers of CD players who figure out how to stretch the former and finesse the latter wind up at about the same sonic place (again, for the same price), even if they've taken different routes to get there. What distinguishes these players in the marketplace tends to be not so much their sound quality as…

Audio Research Reference CD9 CD player/DAC Page 2

Not so with the CD9 and the Cipher. In fact, if you crept into my house, swapped out one for the other without telling me, and put on a disc that I know well, I probably wouldn't notice anything amiss unless I listened very closely, and even then the difference would be small; if you revealed the substitution and told me I was stuck with it, there was no going back to what I had before, I wouldn't be upset; I might even shrug.

When I did my first A/B comparison of the players and found them sounding more similar than any two components of any sort that I'd ever heard in my system, I dug…

Audio Research Reference CD9 CD player/DAC Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Top-loading, remote-control, tubed CD player with optional upsampling, two digital reconstruction filters, and digital inputs/outputs. Tube complement: four 6H30 dual triodes (analog stage), one 6H30 and one 6550C (power regulation). Digital inputs: S/PDIF (TosLink, BNC, RCA), AES/EBU (XLR), and USB. Bit depths handled: 16 and 24 bits. Sample rates handled: 44.1, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192kHz. Digital outputs: BNC, AES/EBU. Analog outputs: single-ended (RCA), balanced (XLR). Frequency responses: 3Hz–96kHz, +0/–3dB; 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.15dB. Signal/noise:…

Audio Research Reference CD9 CD player/DAC Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Source: VPI Classic turntable & tonearm, Lyra Delos cartridge.
Digital Source: Krell Cipher SACD/CD player.
Phono Preamplifier: Nagra BPS (battery-powered).
Integrated Amplifier: Simaudio Moon Evolution 700i.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio2.
Cables: Nirvana
Accessories: Bybee Technologies Signature Power Purifier (not with amplifier or, sometimes, CD players), Black Diamond Mk.4 Racing Cones (sometimes not used), Audio Desk Systeme LP cleaner.—Fred Kaplan

Audio Research Reference CD9 CD player/DAC Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

To measure the Audio Research Reference CD9, I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It"); for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain. To test the CD9's performance via USB, I used my MacBook Pro, running on battery power, with ARC's supplied USB2.0 driver (v.2.03.14), and played test-signal files with Bias Peak Pro, using Apple's AudioMIDI utility to ensure that the sample rate and bit depth were correctly set for each file.

…