Blind Shoot-out in San Diego -- 5 CD Players


On Saturday, February 24, a few members of the San Diego, Los Angeles and Palm Springs audio communities conducted a blind shoot-out at the home of one of the members of the San Diego Music and Audio Guild. The five CD Players selected for evaluation were: 1) a Resolution Audio Opus 21 (modified by Great Northern Sound), 2) the dcs standalone player, 3) a Meridian 808 Signature, 4) a EMM Labs Signature configuration (CDSD/DCC2 combo), and 5) an APL NWO 2.5T (the 2.5T is a 2.5 featuring a redesigned tube output stage and other improvements).

The ground rules for the shoot-out specified that two randomly draw players would be compared head-to-head, and the winner would then be compared against the next randomly drawn player, until only one unit survived (the so-called King-of-the-Hill method). One of our most knowledgeable members would set up each of the two competing pairs behind a curtain, adjust for volume, etc. and would not participate in the voting. Alex Peychev was the only manufacturer present, and he agreed to express no opinion until the completion of the formal process, and he also did not participate in the voting. The five of us who did the voting did so by an immediate and simultaneous show of hands after each pairing after each selection. Two pieces of well-recorded classical music on Red Book CDs were chosen because they offered a range of instrumental and vocal sonic charactistics. And since each participant voted for each piece separately, there was a total of 10 votes up for grabs at each head-to-head audition. Finally, although we all took informal notes, there was no attempt at detailed analysis recorded -- just the raw vote tally.

And now for the results:

In pairing number 1, the dcs won handily over the modified Opus 21, 9 votes to 1.

In pairing number 2, the dcs again came out on top, this time against the Meridian 808, 9 votes to 1.

In pairing number 3, the Meitner Signature was preferred over the dcs, by a closer but consistent margin (we repeated some of the head-to-head tests at the requests of the participants). The vote was 6 to 4.

Finally, in pairing number 5, the APL 2.5T bested the Meitner, 7 votes to 3.

In the interest of configuration consistance, all these auditions involved the use of a power regenerator supplying power to each of the players and involved going through a pre-amp.

This concluded the blind portion of the shoot-out. All expressed the view that the comparisons had been fairly conducted, and that even though one of the comparisons was close, the rankings overall represented a true consensus of the group's feelings.

Thereafter, without the use blind listening, we tried certain variations at the request of various of the particiapans. These involved the Meitner and the APL units exclusively, and may be summarized as follows:

First, when the APL 2.5T was removed from the power regenerator and plugged into the wall, its performance improved significantly. (Alex attributed this to the fact that the 2.5T features a linear power supply). When the Meitner unit(which utilizes a switching power supply) was plugged into the wall, its sonics deteriorated, and so it was restored to the power regenerator.

Second, when we auditioned a limited number of SACDs, the performance on both units was even better, but the improvement on the APL was unanimously felt to be dramatic.
The group concluded we had just experienced "an SACD blowout".

The above concludes the agreed-to results on the blind shoot-out. What follows is an overview of my own personal assessment of the qualitative differences I observed in the top three performers.

First of all the dcs and the Meitner are both clearly state of the art players. That the dcs scored as well as it did in its standalone implementation is in my opinion very significant. And for those of us who have auditioned prior implementations of the Meitner in previous shoot-outs, this unit is truly at the top of its game, and although it was close, had the edge on the dcs. Both the dcs and the Meitner showed all the traits one would expect on a Class A player -- excellent tonality, imaging, soundstaging, bass extension, transparency, resolution, delineation, etc.

But from my point of view, the APL 2.5T had all of the above, plus two deminsions that I feel make it truly unique. First of all, the life-like quality of the tonality across the spectrum was spot-on on all forms of instruments and voice. An second, and more difficult to describe, I had the uncany feeling that I was in the presence of real music -- lots or "air", spatial cues, etc. that simply add up to a sense of realism that I have never experienced before. When I closed my eyes, I truly felt that I was in the room with live music. What can I say.

Obviously, I invite others of the participants to express their views on-line.

Pete

petewatt
Pubul57, I believe you would end up holographic with the EMM CDSA SE if you get the "X" upgrade. Synergistic Research produces truly world-class products. With the addition of the SR PowerCell 10SE and Galileo speaker cells and interconnects cells the quality of the sound produced by your EMM would likely be elevated to an even higher level. It is just a matter of unlocking its potential.

What it all comes down to is that you have to listen to each CD player in a system that is designed for it. Most players need to be modded or upgraded and special components, cabling and tweaks have to be added to bring each player up to its full potential. No news here.

It is the same with speakers. Some high end speakers may sound awful until all the elements in the system are matched to produce the synergy they need to find their full potential. I have seen this with my Merlin TSM mmi speakers. Out of the box they sounded unremarkable. But once I got everything in my system matched to their potential they began producing the world-class sound I knew they were capable of producing. I might have concluded -- prematurely -- that there was something lacking with them -- the same with the EMM right out of the box -- when, in truth, it was only the synergy of the system that was holding them back. Now they produce world-class sound.

I recently compared a lot of well-known high end speakers in very expensive systems at Adelphi in Singapore. I took a lot of time in the listening rooms to note the attributes of many of the world's best speakers. The Merlins are among the very best. Although I don't have floor-standers -- I have the latest iteration of the Merlin monitors in a small listening room at home -- they could easily fill a medium-sized room with beautiful sound driven by my Marantz PM-15 (the original 1994 model).

Likewise, with a player like the EMM that has such great potential it is only a matter of looking for the solution to the problem of synergy to find it. The fact that the solution is undoubtedly there has been driven home to me by the enormous improvement in sound from my own EMM by adding the SR PowerCell, some excellent cables and tweaks (a high-end fuse, SR MiGs, etc.). I have not done the "X" upgrade and do not have cabling that can be called "fully-loomed high end". Yet even at this stage my EMM produces beautifully layered 3D sound. It may not be "holographic wrap-around" yet but it is wonderfully satisfying to listen to from morning till night -- full of fine detail, natural tone and just the right warmth.
Jafox, I expected a jibe from someone on this thread -- and here it comes right on schedule. Whenever the EMM is mentioned here in a good light the knives are sharpened and the attack begins. We see have seen this time and again on this forum -- it is as predictable as clockwork -- and, with all due respect, it is about time that the moderators took notice.

Did I say something so offensive as to provoke this mockingly negative response? Quote me. Did I say "3D synergy and it's best"? If you would kindly re-read what I actually said you will see that I said " ... my EMM produces beautifully layered 3D sound. It may not be holographic wrap-around yet but it is wonderfully satisfying ... " Is there something wrong with reporting the sonic qualities of one's sound system?

If someone owns the EMM and it sounds good, is talking about it honestly, accurately and politely verboten on this thread? Does a comment like yours not deserve a direct response that points out both its inaccurate content and its tone that lacks respect for the poster? I believe it does. All posters should show respect for one another though we may hold differing opinions. Otherwise we will all be on the low ground and I don't believe that is appropriate for this sort of discussion -- nor is it necessary.
Jafox, I note that in an earlier posting on this thread you characterized the EMM used in the shoot-out (not the EMM CDSA SE that I own) as " ... a dimensionally flat component ... ". Would you care to elaborate on this? Are you implying that the EMM in the shoot-out was incapable of producing anything other than a flat 2-dimensional sound or are you saying that it produced nothing more than this in the shoot-out, ergo it was incapable of producing anything more? In that earlier posting, upon re-reading, your comments seem to be quite defensive.

If you happen to find yourself in my part of the world one day I invite you to listen to my EMM CDSA SE. You will immediately recognize that the sound is anything but flat and 2-dimensional. It is 3D and layered with a wide and deep sound stage. It is irrelevant if you or anyone else on this thread don’t “buy it" because this is an opinion that has no basis in fact. You have not heard my system. I am not asking anyone to buy anything. I am only reporting what my ears hear. Anyone with good hearing who listens to my system hears this lovely 3D sound stage immediately. I had an audiophile friend over the other day who was very impressed with it. If you or anyone else contributing to this thread were to hear it you would hear the same thing. Then, this would no longer be a matter of argument or conjecture or speculation -- or the subject of jibes.

You are all invited over for an audition.
After reading posts in this thread it becomes obvious why the the blind should never be in a shoot out.
Bullets start flying all over the place with no direction or purpose.