Post by stuofsci02 on Dec 18, 2010 22:05:21 GMT -5
Last year this time I made a mega upgrade to my system (for stereo listening). I traded in my B&W 683 for a new pair of B&W 804s, and I got rid of my NAD Power Amp and replaced it with a Chord Electronics SPM650 power amp.
Now the SPM650 set me back a pretty penny, but I just loved the sound of this amp and could not find anything else for cheaper that came anywhere close. The problem was that there was no money left over for the Chord CPA2500 preamp to mach my poweramp.
So for the time being I decided to continue to use my NAD reciever as a preamp (brutal, but you do what you can). It was around that time that I learned of Emotiva, and was very interested in the USP-1. With the Chord Preamp costing in excess of $4k, ~$300 sounded pretty sweet. In the spring I decided to take the plunge and order one.
Without doubt the USP-1 beat the heck out of the NAD as a pre. This much was expected, but for the price the USP-1 was really something special. I will not go into more detail, because there are tons of reviews explaining how the USP-1 trounced their AVR.
This week (approx 7 months after getting the USP-1) I decided I needed to figure out what was the weak link in my system. The two obvious candidates are the Oppo 83SE (my source) or the Emotiva USP-1.
Yesterday I made an appointment with my B&W/Chord dealer to bring my USP-1, 83SE and my amp, and A/B against his Chord CPA2500 preamp ($4000+) and Chord DAC QBD76 ($5000+).
This sounds like hardly a fair test, however, it is common knowledge that both the USP-1 and 83SE perform extremely well when compared to products at similar and even 2-3 times the price. I want to assemble a reference two channel system (even if it takes me my whole life), and I want to know which one is holding me back the most and should be replaced first.
So now to the test. In order to match my system as close as possible we used B&W 804Di speakers (the current version of my speakers). First up was all my gear (Chord SPM650 amp, USP-1 and BDP-83SE).
I listened to 3 songs (about 10-15 min total), and it sounded excellent. I thougt to myself, that this USP-1 might suprise me and even more the sales guy (I made it quite clear to him that the USP-1 cost less then the sales tax on the Chord CPA-2500).
We then switched out the USP-1 for the CPA-2500. I played the exact same sequence of songs, but in the reverse order so that the same two songs were played back to back. It was obvious that the CPA-2500 was better almost immediately. The vocals were smoother, there was better separation in the instruments, the sound stage was better defined. In a nutshell, there was nothing about the USP-1 I preferred over the CPA-2500 except the price
. Now don't get me wrong, while the USP-1 was most certainly at a disadvantage, it did hold its own very well. In fact it didn't get blown out of the water at all. There was, however, a marked improvement with the CPA-2500. At that moment however, I felt the difference was still small enough the money could be put towards other things for better gains.
I then went on to compare the 83SE against the Chord DAC. For this test I used the CPA-2500 (not the USP-1). If anybody is interested in this comparison, just let me know and I will happily discuss my findings.
Obviosuly in comparing the 83SE with the DAC, I spent about an hour straight listening with CPA-2500. As I was finishing up I decided I should put the USP-1 back in to compare one last time. I often find there is a bigger difference after spending some time with the "better" piece and then going back.
Well, it must have taken me listening to the CPA-2500 for an hour to really start to appreciate it. When I put the USP-1 back I noticed a much larger performance drop. The USP-1 still sounded fine, however it was not as close as I originally thought. The soundstage was reduced, it was muddier in the midrange and the insturment separation was clearly inferior. The gap definately became bigger between the two.
While the USP-1 is great, and I am sure cannot be topped when compared to pre-amps in the ~$1000 range, it should not be compared to uber high end gear. And with its price, this is fairly obvious. Now as a note the CPA-2500 is Chords entry level preamp. I did not try out the better preamp yet.
After this testing I will definately at somepoint upgrade the USP-1 (maybe I will even give the XSP-1 a shot in the mean time). I will however keep the USP-1 as it is an excellent pre-amp for the price. I have a second system with B&W CM7 and I think it will fit in very nicely with those (maybe even paired with a couple of UPA-1).
Cheers,
Stuart
Now the SPM650 set me back a pretty penny, but I just loved the sound of this amp and could not find anything else for cheaper that came anywhere close. The problem was that there was no money left over for the Chord CPA2500 preamp to mach my poweramp.
So for the time being I decided to continue to use my NAD reciever as a preamp (brutal, but you do what you can). It was around that time that I learned of Emotiva, and was very interested in the USP-1. With the Chord Preamp costing in excess of $4k, ~$300 sounded pretty sweet. In the spring I decided to take the plunge and order one.
Without doubt the USP-1 beat the heck out of the NAD as a pre. This much was expected, but for the price the USP-1 was really something special. I will not go into more detail, because there are tons of reviews explaining how the USP-1 trounced their AVR.
This week (approx 7 months after getting the USP-1) I decided I needed to figure out what was the weak link in my system. The two obvious candidates are the Oppo 83SE (my source) or the Emotiva USP-1.
Yesterday I made an appointment with my B&W/Chord dealer to bring my USP-1, 83SE and my amp, and A/B against his Chord CPA2500 preamp ($4000+) and Chord DAC QBD76 ($5000+).
This sounds like hardly a fair test, however, it is common knowledge that both the USP-1 and 83SE perform extremely well when compared to products at similar and even 2-3 times the price. I want to assemble a reference two channel system (even if it takes me my whole life), and I want to know which one is holding me back the most and should be replaced first.
So now to the test. In order to match my system as close as possible we used B&W 804Di speakers (the current version of my speakers). First up was all my gear (Chord SPM650 amp, USP-1 and BDP-83SE).
I listened to 3 songs (about 10-15 min total), and it sounded excellent. I thougt to myself, that this USP-1 might suprise me and even more the sales guy (I made it quite clear to him that the USP-1 cost less then the sales tax on the Chord CPA-2500).
We then switched out the USP-1 for the CPA-2500. I played the exact same sequence of songs, but in the reverse order so that the same two songs were played back to back. It was obvious that the CPA-2500 was better almost immediately. The vocals were smoother, there was better separation in the instruments, the sound stage was better defined. In a nutshell, there was nothing about the USP-1 I preferred over the CPA-2500 except the price
. Now don't get me wrong, while the USP-1 was most certainly at a disadvantage, it did hold its own very well. In fact it didn't get blown out of the water at all. There was, however, a marked improvement with the CPA-2500. At that moment however, I felt the difference was still small enough the money could be put towards other things for better gains.I then went on to compare the 83SE against the Chord DAC. For this test I used the CPA-2500 (not the USP-1). If anybody is interested in this comparison, just let me know and I will happily discuss my findings.
Obviosuly in comparing the 83SE with the DAC, I spent about an hour straight listening with CPA-2500. As I was finishing up I decided I should put the USP-1 back in to compare one last time. I often find there is a bigger difference after spending some time with the "better" piece and then going back.
Well, it must have taken me listening to the CPA-2500 for an hour to really start to appreciate it. When I put the USP-1 back I noticed a much larger performance drop. The USP-1 still sounded fine, however it was not as close as I originally thought. The soundstage was reduced, it was muddier in the midrange and the insturment separation was clearly inferior. The gap definately became bigger between the two.
While the USP-1 is great, and I am sure cannot be topped when compared to pre-amps in the ~$1000 range, it should not be compared to uber high end gear. And with its price, this is fairly obvious. Now as a note the CPA-2500 is Chords entry level preamp. I did not try out the better preamp yet.
After this testing I will definately at somepoint upgrade the USP-1 (maybe I will even give the XSP-1 a shot in the mean time). I will however keep the USP-1 as it is an excellent pre-amp for the price. I have a second system with B&W CM7 and I think it will fit in very nicely with those (maybe even paired with a couple of UPA-1).
Cheers,
Stuart
