Have You Heard the Northstar CD Combo?

My rack is custom made, but is similar to the Mapleshade racks with maple shelves. The uprights are threaded to allow for infinite adjustment of the shelves. The rack is spiked to the floor with carpet piercing spikes. the floor is concrete slab with wall to wall carpet. I am using three roller blocks (one in front, two in back). I just put a second set under the transport (between the dac and transport) as they are stacked. So far I don't hear much improvement over just one set under the dac. I believe you would benefit from soome form of isolation other than the stock feet.

Anthony also has a $600 I2S cable that is really killer. I've tried the Northstar and the RA cables, which are both excellent. The filtered Northstar cable is probably best for really revealing or top-heavy systems. My favorite is the $600 one from Anthony.

Slowhand - every instrument in it's place is a result of the low jitter and 24/192 upsampling. I feel that this combo with mods bests pretty much anything else on the market. The Extremo DAC is even better with mods, but the mods are so complex that I'm not doing any more of these.

Steve N.

My understanding from the importer is that the upgraded cable North Star offers is $1200. I wasn't aware Anthony had one. I may have to look into that further.

Steve - are you still doing North Star mods, but just not on the Extremo DAC?

After putting the second set of Rollerblock Jr's between the transport and dac, I find that I definitely like the sound better with just one set under the dac. The second set seems to cause a loss of dynamics.

What power cords do you guys like best with your Northstars, and do you use the same kind on both the dac and transport?

Clio09 wtre:

Steve - are you still doing North Star mods, but just not on the Extremo DAC?

Yes, I'm still modding the Northstar 192.

steve N.