Hi John . I tried the Virtual Dynamics Nite 1 , the Nordost Valhalla and the Xindak gold as well as a Elrod eps 3 in addititon of course to my present Elrod pcs. I have written of and stand by Xindak as offering real world performance at budget prices . For many systems , the Xindak cables , speaker , innerconnect and to some degree pcs all out perform much of the competetion at a fraction of their cost . As the components in a chain improve then the arteries must as well and that is why i have all but eliminated Xindak from my systems . They served me well however. The Virtual Dynamics is a good pc. I use it on my xover at the mmoment . It delivers a nice coherency in my system without drawing attention to any band of the frequency response . It is less transparent than the sig series of the Elrods however . I tried the nordost valhalla against the sig series as well as the Statement. The sig 2 and 3 offered greater dynamics , a more involving midrange envelope and trailed the top octave somewhat but still held its own . I thought overall , either sig was am improvement im my Pipedrteam system . The Statement simply outperformed the valhalla in every category for me. I have tried other pcs im my system but at different times so a fair comparison is not possible. I have been told by a very well respect AG member that PCs should not make an improvement on products that are properly designed in the first place. My answer is that from what i can tell , its obvious that they improve MY system and at every junction so I can only assume design flaws routinely exist in audio. I have two revealing systems that i test components out on. The Pipedream system you are asking me about and the Aerial 20 t Bat , meridian system . The Pipedream is the system I perform the majority of my experimentation on as it is the most revealing of the two. Microchanges in the system are at times obvious whereas the Aerial system is a constant source of pleasure but not ruthlessly revealing . Changing ics for example does not radically alter the soundifeld . Its a wonderful theatre however but for critical listenming the Nearfield Pipedream 21 system properly set up with a competent chain behind it is awe inspiring. Thanks for your kind comments John ! Brent
Review: Denon APl 3910 CD Player
Category: Digital
Musical tastes : Patricia Barber , Deep Forest , Sting , Banco de Gaia , Seal , Steely Dan and anything from the FIM label . Recordings I use for testing are Chesky s Ultimate Demonstration Disc , Chesky s Women of Song , Patricia Barbers Modern Cool , Dean Peer s Its All Good , Diana Krall Love Scenes and all Burrmester discs . Most important aspect of sound reproduction to me is transparency , timbral accuracy and soundstaging properties. Turn offs are a bass heavy balance. This unit has been with me for 3 months. It replaced a Bat Vk D5 SE and marantz SA 1 . The sound changed by becoming more focused with a much larger soundstage .The players within a given ensemble seperated dramatically and it was much easier to look into the soundfield and place the space between the instruments. A favorite disc for this test is Deep Forest s "Music Detected". Each track is brilliantly recorded and is a fantastic disc for evaluating spacial characteristics of your speakers and how they react within your system . With the Denon , the sound wrapped around both sides of the room and enveloped me in a faux surround sound enviroment that no other player in my system had done. It was deeper as well as wider than any player I have ever auditioned .The Sacd version of Diana Krall "Love Scenes" is breathtaking in its imaging properties and the Denon was spot on . The acoustical envelope was clearer and more holographic with an extended top octave which added immediacy and air to percussive instruments and cymbols.A good example is Johnny Frigos "I Love Paris ". Stregnths were an obviously huge soundstage and quick midbass percussive attack. The arrangement is fast and taunt and the Denon seemed to place acoustical air around the musicians. It comes alive on the Denon. Lower bass was extended deeper and discs like the DVD-A version of Blue Man Groups " Audio " showcase the stregnths of the Denon by delivering a far superior percussive assault than the Bat , Marantz Sa 1 or the Meridian G 98 . Female vocals became natural and engaging. Rebecca Pidgeon s famous " Spanish Harlem " was so lifelike I felt like it was the first time I had heard the track. Instrumental " character " was better defined as cymbals became more easily deleniated from one another within a given song. Dean Peers " Its All Good" has a wealth of cymbal diversity on it and the decay and individual caracter of the various unique cymbals used are beautifully recreated through Alex Peychevs Denon 3910. I am no relation to nor affiliated to Alex or APl Hi Fi . I have also heard no better player regardless of price.
Musical tastes : Patricia Barber , Deep Forest , Sting , Banco de Gaia , Seal , Steely Dan and anything from the FIM label . Recordings I use for testing are Chesky s Ultimate Demonstration Disc , Chesky s Women of Song , Patricia Barbers Modern Cool , Dean Peer s Its All Good , Diana Krall Love Scenes and all Burrmester discs . Most important aspect of sound reproduction to me is transparency , timbral accuracy and soundstaging properties. Turn offs are a bass heavy balance. This unit has been with me for 3 months. It replaced a Bat Vk D5 SE and marantz SA 1 . The sound changed by becoming more focused with a much larger soundstage .The players within a given ensemble seperated dramatically and it was much easier to look into the soundfield and place the space between the instruments. A favorite disc for this test is Deep Forest s "Music Detected". Each track is brilliantly recorded and is a fantastic disc for evaluating spacial characteristics of your speakers and how they react within your system . With the Denon , the sound wrapped around both sides of the room and enveloped me in a faux surround sound enviroment that no other player in my system had done. It was deeper as well as wider than any player I have ever auditioned .The Sacd version of Diana Krall "Love Scenes" is breathtaking in its imaging properties and the Denon was spot on . The acoustical envelope was clearer and more holographic with an extended top octave which added immediacy and air to percussive instruments and cymbols.A good example is Johnny Frigos "I Love Paris ". Stregnths were an obviously huge soundstage and quick midbass percussive attack. The arrangement is fast and taunt and the Denon seemed to place acoustical air around the musicians. It comes alive on the Denon. Lower bass was extended deeper and discs like the DVD-A version of Blue Man Groups " Audio " showcase the stregnths of the Denon by delivering a far superior percussive assault than the Bat , Marantz Sa 1 or the Meridian G 98 . Female vocals became natural and engaging. Rebecca Pidgeon s famous " Spanish Harlem " was so lifelike I felt like it was the first time I had heard the track. Instrumental " character " was better defined as cymbals became more easily deleniated from one another within a given song. Dean Peers " Its All Good" has a wealth of cymbal diversity on it and the decay and individual caracter of the various unique cymbals used are beautifully recreated through Alex Peychevs Denon 3910. I am no relation to nor affiliated to Alex or APl Hi Fi . I have also heard no better player regardless of price.
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- 40 posts total
- 40 posts total