2. cables
  3. 1225729435

2 Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II IC's too much?

I had Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II XLR IC between my McIntosh 301 and McIntosh 6900 with great results (well, maybe I would prefer a slightly softer sound). Now 6900 is gone and it's upgraded to 402 power amp. Most likely it will be paired with C46. C46 has a rather "warm sounding" repuation so I'm thinking about getting another Silver Reference. Or maybe it will be way too bright and I need a Matrix Reference IC?
antonkk
antonkk OP
137 posts
 
My speakers are Sonus Faber Golden Reference. It's not that I'm afraid of brightness (with McIntosh 301-6900 with on Silver Reference IC between the source and the integrated it was not an issue) - but cymbals have a certain "silvery" coloration and I would prefer a more natural "bronze" sound.
antonkk OP
137 posts
 
Oops. Sorry folks, of course I meant Sonus Faber Grand Piano!:)))
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,784 posts
 
that coloration is exactly what I was talking about when I said the sound was artificial. I'd stay away from an all Silver Ref II config. Mix and match and you will prob get better results.
cruz123
586 posts
 
If it's within your budget buy both a Silver Ref and a Matrix and keep the one you like. Ultimately you'll have to try both in your system to know which works best. If you buy used here on A'gon, you won't loose anything if you need to resell. Both the Silver Ref and the Matrix hold their used value very well. Good luck.
audiotomb's avatar
audiotomb
1,112 posts
 
here's a novel idea
swap out one of your silvers to a single channel both the source and pre to power and hear the additive affects (don't know if you have a balance knob on your preamp, or you can just hook up the one channel)

I've used Matrix reference and paired it with StraightWire Crescendo which is a very revealing and tonally balanced interconnect (which worked great between pre and power amp)
More to discover