711
I think everyone would prefer to hear one of Alex's latest mods...which would be the APL 3910. I think that's only fair to Alex. It's my understanding that you have already sent that unit to Alex for the upgraded clock...is that correct? Are you suggesting Jactoy or I pick up your older APL 1000 for inclusion in the shoot-out? If so, I'd prefer to wait until you get the 3910 back. When we did our last audition at your home I thought both the Exemplar and the APL 3910 were superior to the 1000.
FrankG
First of all, I think we should probably conduct the shoot-out at David's house (the guy who owns the Meitner gear). Or, over Brian's at Essential audio. I too have doubts that QA will allow us to do a massive test on their showroom floor. Plus, QA does not have an XO1 nor will they in the very near future. In the case of the Meitner (since its such an exceptional piece of gear) I'd prefer to put it up against Esoteric's very best. The UX1 is not quite at the level of the X01.
We probably could get away with taking a couple of the modded units up to QA to compare against the UX1 which (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) is supposed to arrive this week. That would be a separate, smaller shoot-out that would not draw the ire of QA. Plus, they already know I'm waiting for them to get the UX1 to compare against a couple of modded units so it shouldn't be a problem. As a matter of fact, I'm hoping we can do that this Saturday. 1Markr, Jactoy, Brian, 711, David...are you guys up to it?
Regarding single-ended vs. balanced, I agree that we should hear each player as it sound best. But the other problem we will run into is Jactoy's modded Sony sounds best going direct to the amp (bypassing the pre). My understanding from Jactoy is there's a pretty big drop-off in performance in going out from the rca's.
711's APL sounds pretty good thru the single-ended rca's (it beat my DV 50 handily in this configuration) but I think (not sure) his unit also can go direct to the amplifier and sounds better this way. In the past 711 has been so confident in his machines ability to beat others he really didn't care how it was configured so for him it may not be an issue. I don't know what configuration would be more advantageous for the Kern modded Sony. To thge owner of the Kern please let us know.
Some of you may feel differently but my system serves a dual purpose for both HT and 2 channel music. Additionally, I've already invested in a top notch pre-pro that I'm very happy with and not inclined to get rid of anytime soon. Therefore, I'm not interested in using a cdp that produces its maximum performance going direct to an amp.
Furthermore, I am a fan of multi-channel music (Jactoy's unit does not do multi-channel) and I want a unit that sounds glorious in both 2 channel and multi-channel.
I would hope that either Brian or David has a pre-pro that accepts both single ended and balanced inputs. Being a dealer I can't imagine that Brian doesn't have such a pre-pro and for that matter an amp that handles both.
I guess the point I'm making here is that its going to be very difficult to to a completely fair and apples-to-apples comparision that appeases everybody because everyone's music priorities may not be the same.
Personally, I don't feel the use of an amp with balanced inputs is that critical. For those machines that are clearly mfg'ed to sound better balanced (Esoteric and Meitner) I'm more concerned about making sure we have a pre-amp or pre-pro that has balanced inputs. The connection to the amp is of less importance (unless the amp is also fully balanced). I will also make sure the same balanced intrconnects are used for each unit.
Should Brian or David not have a pre that accepts both configurations I have no problem bring my Anthem D1 Statement pre-pro to the party. It is generally considered to be one of the most transparent and top-notch units availabletoday. It accepts balanced digital (AES/EBU),XLR, optical (Toslink), single-ended rca's, digital coaxial...basically any connection known to man! My amp (Cary Cinema 5) also has both single ended and blalanced connections and I could bring that if necessary.
1Markr
Yes, we always have a spot for serious audiophiles! Additionally, the Audio Aero is very well respected as both a stand-alone cdp and a dac and I would love to see how it fares in our shoot-out. We could audition your dac using either the Meitner or my DV 50 as the transport. The Meitner will probably be the better pairing.
AVGURU
