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dCS Puccini Clock

I had yesterday the oportunity to hear for first time the Puccini clock.

I must admit that I was a little sceptical. The system consisted of:

Howland preamp HP-200 SE
Howland amp RADIA SE
Avalon Indra
Transparent power cleaner / station ?
I can't tell which cables

Well the effect is quite amazing and you can easily recognize it in a blind hearing. If I have to describe it I would say, you become aware of the hall / the space in which the recording has been done. The difference is very noticeable when you switch the clock off, suddenly the music sounds dryer, shorter and the space all around the whole music desapears.

I heard:
Luiz Bonfa plays and sing Bossa Nova (Verve)
Bruckner 4th by Jaap van Zweden (bad SACD & interpretation)
Bruckner 4th by Günter Wand (the last recording)
Ports of Call by Eiji Oue (Ref. Rec. bravo Prof. Johnson you are a great sound engeneer!)

One of these days I will take it home and have a test on my system ... and will make some blind hearing with my wife ;-)

I will report then about the experience.
clavil
blackstonejd
153 posts
 
A very reliable source who has extensive experience with this equipment told me that the Puccini is not quite as good as the separates, even the old separates, and that the Puccini clock makes a dramatic improvement.

I just heard an A/B comparison of the Puccini with and without the clock, and it offers a substantial improvement.
blackstonejd
153 posts
 
The clock is more than just a clock, however. The biggest selling point in my opinion is that it unlocks music server functionality because it has a highly perfected asynchronous USB interface. This would allow any USB capable computer to serve as a transport. The asynchronous USB allows the computer to basically override whatever clock signal the computer would normally generate and use the Puccinni's vastly superior clock. What you then have is a music server TRANSPORT that is clocked by Puccinni--something a conventional Squeezebox device cannot do.

Not to mention, I believe, that asynchronous USB is supposed to be a better sounding interface than coax to begin with.
blackstonejd
153 posts
 
Sorry what I meant to say was that asynchronous USB allows Puccinni to override the computer's clock signal. Basically it tells the computer that it is the clock.
clavil OP
254 posts
 
any experience with diferent cables beetween the clock and the Puccini?
blackstonejd
153 posts
 
I don't have experience with it but my dealer said that the cables do not have to be expensive.
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