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dCS Puccini Clock

I had yesterday the oportunity to hear for first time the Puccini clock.

I must admit that I was a little sceptical. The system consisted of:

Howland preamp HP-200 SE
Howland amp RADIA SE
Avalon Indra
Transparent power cleaner / station ?
I can't tell which cables

Well the effect is quite amazing and you can easily recognize it in a blind hearing. If I have to describe it I would say, you become aware of the hall / the space in which the recording has been done. The difference is very noticeable when you switch the clock off, suddenly the music sounds dryer, shorter and the space all around the whole music desapears.

I heard:
Luiz Bonfa plays and sing Bossa Nova (Verve)
Bruckner 4th by Jaap van Zweden (bad SACD & interpretation)
Bruckner 4th by Günter Wand (the last recording)
Ports of Call by Eiji Oue (Ref. Rec. bravo Prof. Johnson you are a great sound engeneer!)

One of these days I will take it home and have a test on my system ... and will make some blind hearing with my wife ;-)

I will report then about the experience.
clavil
mert's avatar
mert
132 posts
 
Kops
Don't be oversure about solidity of alumun. box of dCS. Mind you, it is half empty! If Alumun is composed as sandwich like Symposium Svelte format, I would understand that. Heat? Yes there is. There are no external heatsinks on Puccini. Matterfact there will be always heat.
I couldn't report this to Mr.Stevens(RIP)of dCS because he passed away:(
keiserrg
26 posts
 
just adding my two cents here: when you go to the u-clock page on the dcs website all pictures show the clock under the puccini in a stack. this is unusual to me because i would think stacking would create more vibration than not. the dealer where i first listened to the puccini had the clock on a separate shelf (above), and i would guess separate shelf (above or below) would always be better, provided you have proper ventilation. anyway, for now, i use mine sans clock and hope to get one soon.

@kops, per our email exchange several months ago, you are correct, puccini+jadis is a very nice combination :)

best wishes to all. r
violinandviola
9 posts
 
I owned an early dCS stack, which was non-firewire. I had the Elgar and the Purcell.

I now have the dCS Puccini (currently without clock). Personally, I think that the dCS Puccini is an improvement over the original stack, for the following reasons;

1.) It loses the slightly dark, slightly cloudy sound of the Elgar.

2.) It sounds more dynamic and alive.

3.) It sounds "cleaner" and clearer.

4.) It extends further in both bass and treble.

If the Elgar is better in any respect, it is in a sense of depth (uncommitted on this point).

I should stress that it may be that there may have been improvements that made their way into the Elgar plus which change that equation.
kops's avatar
kops
478 posts
 
if you try the clock you'll notice music flow with ease and a sense of better depth. After living with the clock there's no turning back.
violinandviola
9 posts
 
Kops, I have just bought the u-clock. The main purpose was to make computer audio acceptable. I have a Sonos with a Rick Cullen mod (clock) and I just don't listen to it, because it is not as good as CD.

So far, I've only listened to the u-clock with CD. I didn't know whether it would make much difference.

It makes a big difference. I agree with your assessment. It is more rhythmic, fuller, cleaner and basically just more musical than without.

On the other hand, the dither feature is a waste of time. If anything, I think it is better without the dither on, which makes the music mildly constipated in comparison.
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