E.A.R. Acute Reliability

Phaelon

Thanks for the good wishes. Yes, the anticipation is kind of exciting. And I haven't got any quality sound in the interim because my transport died.

I was a little disappointed to hear from Dan today that my unit will ship with GE 5687's rather than Tung Sols because he is out of stock of the latter. He suggested that I contact Brendan at Tube World about a pair of Tung Sol's.

I've also ordered some Tenderfeet from Herbie's Audio Labs. What interconnects are you planning on using?

Airfla,
I wish more people would initiate and respond to threads concerning product/service reliability issues. To people without excess disposable income, it's just as important as sound quality. An EAR was on my short list for an amplifier upgrade but I'm rethinking that now.

I'll Email you regarding my interconnects as I don't want to get too off topic.

Regards

If you need a manual to operate a cd player, not having one is the least of your problems.

Airfla,

You made a great choice with the Modwright. I own this model from Dan and the sound is outstanding. The Modwright replaced a Audio Aero Capitole 2 and it wasn't even close, Modwright all the way. I have had the Modwright 9100 ES for almost a year and it has performed perfectly. In addition Dan provides outstanding service if needed. You will be very happy.

I have to address someone's previous remark about Robert Levi's Positive feedback review. In raving the Modwright player, he STILL clearly says that the ACUTE sounds better for standard CD playback. Another rave reviewer of the same Modwright on Positive Feedback also says the ACUTE is still better sounding for CDs. In Levi's review of the ACUTE he says the CD layers on SACDs sound better than the SACD layer on his best SACD player! He MIGHT not be including the Modwright, and he doesn't make clear that Modwight SACD playback is superior to ACUTE CD playback in his Modwright review either. It would be nice to have SACD playability, but for me it would mean also having to get a new preamp to accomodate the format, and sacrifice the superior CD sound of the ACUTE for a seemingly (& unfortunately?) dying format.
I admit Sony would likely be more "reliable" than just about any manufacturer, but I've owned other "small label" CD Players that held together just fine. I couldn't find any basis for above comments on "reliability issues", it all seemed speculative. At any rate, I've owned an ACUTE little over 24 hours so I hope those guys aren't right. Rereading the reviews of the Modwright I have no regrets sound-quality wise. I very much like what I hear so far, and my upgrade Ediswan tubes haven't even arrived yet. I am not knocking the Modwright, haven't heard it, sure it's great. Just think some of the above ACUTE knocking is unfounded, and needlessly stirring up reliability worries with owners and prospective buyers.