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Post by thepcguy on Dec 31, 2010 23:06:18 GMT -5
Who made Peter Aczel God. I can send you a dozen counter articles from well know and respected editors and reviewers who will tell you it starts with the source.........it's all important, but to claim that the amplifier and cd player make no real difference is hogwash. You can't say it's hogwash until you have proven it yourself. Without doing a blind test ( I know it is tedious) ourselves, we rely on these individuals, 'respected' editors and reviewers who have their own agendas. We then pick and choose from these individuals based on our own biases perhaps. These are some of mine: Tom Nousaine - www.nousaine.com/David Ranada Ian Masters Julian Hirsch How about you? |
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Post by srb on Dec 31, 2010 23:24:55 GMT -5
While I wouldn't necessarily diminish or deny the importance of source and amplication, he definitely nailed 1, 2 and 3 in that order - Recording, Speakers and Room. I have proven that to myself many times. It's hard to imagine anyone would dispute that.
Steve
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cawgijoe
Emo VIPs 
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." - Yogi Berra
Posts: 5,033
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Post by cawgijoe on Jan 1, 2011 1:48:07 GMT -5
Who made Peter Aczel God. I can send you a dozen counter articles from well know and respected editors and reviewers who will tell you it starts with the source.........it's all important, but to claim that the amplifier and cd player make no real difference is hogwash. You can't say it's hogwash until you have proven it yourself. Without doing a blind test ( I know it is tedious) ourselves, we rely on these individuals, 'respected' editors and reviewers who have their own agendas. We then pick and choose from these individuals based on our own biases perhaps. These are some of mine: Tom Nousaine - www.nousaine.com/David Ranada Ian Masters Julian Hirsch How about you? Robert Harley for one. I've been listening to audio since I became hooked for almost thirty five years now and I can tell you that speaker, room, and recording are very important in excellent sound reproduction. But I will also tell you that a good amp with excellent damping factor will give you better sound quality than a cheap amp. I've heard the comparison many times. Cheap amps sound thin. I can also tell you that I've owned many cd players.....Kyocera DA-710cx......Denon DCD-1500II.......Denon DCD-1520.......Sony CDP-X339ES....Sony CDP-620ESII......Nakamichi OMS7.....Emotiva ERC-1.......and they alll do not sound the same. I'm not quite sure why you would even frequent a site such as this if you believe that the electronics make no difference..why buy Emotiva when Radio Shack will do?..please explain. |
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Post by brubacca on Jan 1, 2011 6:05:17 GMT -5
He comes here because he is enligtened and you (me and the others here) are not. He is right and wants to prove us wrong. He has no concept of point of view or adult conversation.
Can we get this thread back on Track? I have a xda on pre-order and would like to hear more about it.
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Post by vmishra on Jan 10, 2011 20:05:59 GMT -5
Folks,
I have an XDA-1 on order as well. Would like some opinions about how the SQ changes when going straight to the amp or via a pre/pro.
I will have two options for 2-ch setup
A. XDA-1 ->balanced out-> Integra DHC-9.9 ->balanced out -> XPA-1 monoblocks -> Magnepan 1.7 spks
OR
B. XDA-1 ->balanced out-> XPA-1 monoblocks -> Magnepan 1.7 spks
Option A is preferred as it would allow me to use the pre/pro for my HT setup and use the same amp & speakers seamlessly.
Option B means I would have to use the RCA output of the pre/pro into the XPA-1s for my HT use. And I would manually have to flip the switch behind the XPA-1 (RCA vs balanced) everytime I want to listen to 2-ch (XDA-1). Not sure its built to handle that abuse.
So the question is - Is there a significant gain in SQ with Option B and is it worth the hassle? Has anyone tried this with comparison with balanced output?
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Post by jonsmith on Jan 11, 2011 15:24:29 GMT -5
I can hear differences. I just don't know whether what I hear is real, or due to my digestion, mood, whether my Eustachian tubes are clogged, etc. I do know that I like the sound of analog better than digital, but don't know if this would be repeatable if tested scientifically. I also usually prefer the sound of live music, even when with a p.a. system, over reproduced sounds. YMMV.
Further, I would seriously doubt that any thing I hear could be scientifically repeatable since there is no "double blind" testing that has ever proven that anybody could hear differences to a degree not attributable to chance.
To quote Nelson Pass: "Since this is the entertainment business, I hope we are all having fun." I hope that those who treat audio as a religion are somehow able to see the silliness of getting upset over something that is a hobby, and therefore subjective as to each audiophile's individual taste.
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Post by vmishra on Jan 12, 2011 19:30:34 GMT -5
Thanks jonsmith. Seems like the answer is "Not a substantial difference" in your system. That's what I was hoping for. For me it will basically come down to pitting the digital vol control stage in the XDA-1 against the analog vol control stage in my Integra DHC-9.9 pre/pro. If I am lucky the Integra will fair well and I would be able to use Option A and save me some hassle. But we won't know that for sure till I get my DAC - and god only knows when that will be  . |
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Post by usc45cal on Jan 15, 2011 12:36:35 GMT -5
wonder what it would do for my sirius radio , im running the umc and it sounds awful and i know its probably the way they compress the music , just curius if anyone has tried it yet
thank jim
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maddog07
Emo VIPs
"hearing" is a subjective perception!
Posts: 108
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Post by maddog07 on Jan 19, 2011 23:23:20 GMT -5
wonder what it would do for my sirius radio , im running the umc and it sounds awful and i know its probably the way they compress the music , just curius if anyone has tried it yet thank jim If you know how to get the "digital" signal out of a Sirius/XM satellite radio receiver - let me know. I have a portable Sirius and as far as I know, you can only access an analog output so the XDA is of no use here. I find myself listening to Sirius more than about any other source these days and really enjoy getting to hear new music on Sirius. So getting better SQ from the Sirius is a prime concern. What I have found to significantly improve the thin, collapsed sound of the Sirius analog outputs is to put a buffer between the Sirius receiver and my preamp - I tried a few, and settled on the Burson 160 <-- this makes a huge improvement to the Sirius' SQ. Everything gets bigger, more dynamic, spreads out and actually has an image/soundstage now.. more like my Digital source. * BTW... I do have an XDA-1 and am still evaluating it against my current reference. Jury is still out. But at the outset, I will go on record that the XDA-1 is very, very, very good. And I know of nothing anywhere near its price that will touch it - but it's not quite a true "giant killer" either IMHO. I'm not an electronics engineer, but looking at parts, specs and doing A/B listening comparisons at measured, matched volume levels now for about two weeks - I would guess the XDA to have a near state-of-the-art digital section. Where I think it lacks a bit perhaps, compared to the best I've heard, is in its analog output section. I think if Emo would put just a little more beef in the XDA-1's analog ouput section, say in a Ver. 2... charge the additional $50/$100 bucks it might cost, then it might really and truly be a GIANT Slayer.
And as long as were building the list for the MKII version; if the color of the display can't match the blue LED's around the buttons.. then make the display white... as it is now - it clashes like stripes on plaid!!  And I would prefer a way to turn the display all the way off too - like on the Emo amps! |
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Post by wizardofoz on Jan 20, 2011 6:35:21 GMT -5
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. 
And I would prefer a way to turn the display all the way off too - like on the Emo amps!
