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Pro vs. Consumer Equipment

One of the best set-ups I ever heard was a Crown preamp feeding a McIntosh amp driving a custom built cabinet featuring JBL professional speakers. I've also read quite a bit about professional cables being a lot less expensive and just as good as consumer cables. Earlier today, D911 posted a thread on the professional ART SL-1 power amp.

Across the board, these professional solutions seem to be very high quality at a much lower price point than the consumer equipment. So what's your experience? How many of you are running professional equipment in your set-ups? What are some great recommendations? Does this work better with some kinds of music than with others? Thanks in advance.
ozfly
david99
1,467 posts
 
Ozfly-Nope,its MIA
ozfly OP
887 posts
 
David, I'm at a loss to explain it -- I can get to the thread, but perhaps because I responded to it. I copied the thread address I gave you to the Address line in the internet bar and got there right away. I then searched under the name of the thread -- What's the best amp you know of -- and got there. Since you already tried the address, can you get there via the search routine?
d911
18 posts
 
It's gone. They gave me some lame excuse for removing it. Sean all i can say is that you should audition the amp. As far as the DIO, I don't know your' likes or dislikes or if you ever heard the unit, but it murdered my former Sony SCD-1. And all the other high end gear I compared it to: Linn CD12, Accuphase DP100/DP101 combo, Elgar gear. There were a lot more comparisons, but I think that the gear I listed above sums up that I have been exposed to some of the so-called best high-end gear around.

Best regards,
d911
d911
18 posts
 
WE also compared it to the $23K pacific microsonics pro dac. The dio literally destroyed it. Price does not always dictate performance. Also, generalizations about bias points and the such are of little interest to me unless I am in my lab designing gear. If something sounds great, it sounds great. I have yet to look at an oscope see a reading and go aha!!! great sound right before my eyes. I guess I am saying is the ear tells all. Give it a listen.

Don
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
Don, I have avoided contributing to this, but I had a ART Di/O, purchased new and modified by friends of Paul and Brian Weitzel because of threads like this.

I must agree with Sean, the ART is NOTHING great. I preferred my stock Sony 9000, and three of my friends who took it home for trial all thought it was just "OK."

Based on the hype that proceeded this DAC, I worked with it for two months, trying every footer, digital cable and power supply I could get my hands on. The end result was only adequate performance and not even to be discussed with high end players.

I admit I fell for the hype, hoping for something for nothing. I admit I made a mistake and sold it (cheap) to a buyer with full disclosure. It was a learning experience but not one that tempted me to prolong the fable of it's "superior" performance.
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