Amazing that I also am running the 3.1 into B&W 802's with North Creek outboard Xovers, and I find it very musical, with not a hint of brightness. I upgraded the cheapo standard opamps to the far more expensive model (part of the PLATINUM upgrade package), and the sound improved greatly. I am using my CAL Icon MkII as a transport, run the 3.1 balanced to a Bryston BP-25 preamp and BAT VK-200 amp. Sounds like beautiful music to me!
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Thanks Madisonears for your comments. The 3.1 that I auditioned was the Platinum package which is all the more reason that I was so disappointed. My transport is a Theta Basic II feeding the EAD 7000III DAC. 802 Series II are modified by North Creek and I've added Golden Flutes which make a substantial difference in the bottom end. All interconnects are Gamut. Speaker cable is the new Silver Sonic Q-10. My reference point is my ears-I constantly go to live concerts, especially chamber. What one hears typically is the mellow and wonderful resonance of the wooden bodied instruments-that's what is missing with the 3.1 Who knows, maybe I received a defective unit-but after 100 hours of music still sounded like the cello player was on vacation...and it was even more pronounced on larger classical pieces. I imagine that these differences are what keep us interested in the pursuit of excellence. |
More to Madisonears. Forgot to mention several other key points. Preamp is a Linn Kairn hooked to an Aragon 4004 amp. More importantly, I bought an Assemblage D2D about 4 months ago and it truly was the one component that has made the single most favorable change to my system. CD's that were slightly strident all of a sudden became much smoother with a depth and "air" that had never been present before. The D2D was hooked up in line with the 3.1 during my auditions. Perhaps the D2D is so good that it masked whatever standalone qualities the 3.1 might have had if I had auditioned it by itself. I guess I'll never know. Good luck with your listening experience!!!! |
Well I thought I was pretty clear on why I like the monitor audio Platinum better than the paradigm persona. Unfortunately audio Troy doesn't want to believe what I believe and that's fine. And I have listened to the Platinum 500 the Wilson Alexx and the magico Q5,and just as someone that I talk to you in Ontario that has the 500 I agree with him that the 500 were better in the three-dimensionality of the sound the layering and depth and imaging. So if audio Troy and his friend there want to believe that the paradigm is better so be it I guess they like a brighter edgy top end. I prefer a more natural sound where the human voice sounds warm not hard where the cymbal sounds brassy not metallic and there's lots of air and space between the instruments like there should be in a natural environment. |
soupconBoth are great R2R multibit dacs, and the best way to convert PCM Redbook 16/44, 24/96 or DXD. The Assemblage 3.1 uses the last and best chip form R2R converter the PCM1704 with the best HDCD filter the PMD200, great combination if done right. The MSB Platinum uses discrete R2R multibit dacs and their own programmable filter, also very very good. If this were me and I had the choice without an a/b comparison, I would go with the MSB Platinum. Cheers George |
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