2. digital
  3. 1009209295

Has anyone else ever reached an audio impasse?

Perhaps I should explain -

A friend of mine has a VERY high resolution system which would retail close to the $100K mark. Each component upgrade he has made over the years has been based upon comparison between components. He has built a fantastic system.

Now here is the problem -
Recently he and I compared his source CD player which is the top model currently available under 15K, against a Sony 9000 ES SACD/DVD player. We A/B compared them.

After extended listening, we found the differences to be so minor that it was difficult to detect which was better. We did the comparisons with Redbook CD vs SACD, RedBook vs. Redbook and still the 15K CD player was only marginally (.05%) better.

The 15K CD player had better more expensive interconnects and power cords than the Sony which was using a stock power cord an old Audioquest Topaz (cheap) interconnects.

In previous listening sessions over the past year we had compared the same Sony 9000 CD/DVD/SACD player against MANY other CD players ranging in price from 2000 all the way up to 7000 and on redbook CD's the Sony always got it's butt kicked! It sounded hollow - with a recessed midrange - electronic - over emphasized highs, etc.

Then - I took a 100 Toshiba DVD player to his house and tried it against his 15K CD player. It sounded the same as the Sony. In fact, the 100 Toshiba sounded as good if not better in some ways than the Sony DVD player but...still was .05% out classed by the 15K CD player.

With each source component in these auditions, the soundstage remained VERY large, images were perfect and tonal balance couldn't be better. The subtlety of the changes between the various source components would be best described as perceived rather than actual.

I am curious to know if anyone else has experienced this type of an impasse. I know the $100 DVD player should not sound like the 15K CD player (at least it never did before)
but it does now. Why??

Could there be a bottle-neck somewhere? Could the character of an pre or amplifier be so strong it restricts performance of a source component? What could cause this to happen?

Help please...
bwhite
bwhite OP
807 posts
 
Madisonears - I have been using an AudioMeca Mephisto II CD player myself which is better than Sony SCD-1, Marantz SA-1 100% of the time on redbook vs SACD.

I think that my friends Linn CD12 should be capable enough of a CD player to sound better than a 100 DVD player don't you? Or do you really think I should buy a 2000 cd player to accompany the 1000 Sony? Do I need a fleet of CD players? It seems that my friend has his bases covered with the Three players currently in his home.

This is not a matter of an outrageously expensive component not being worth its cost but is more akin to maxing out a system or perhaps taking it to a level which it cannot surpass or cannot be surpassed I guess.

I mean - one must ponder, how good can sound, sound? Where does it end? Does it? Or do gains in system performance just go on forever?
bwhite OP
807 posts
 
Pooguy - the comparison has been made with Linn CD12, AudioMeca Mephisto II, Electrocompaniet EMC-1 MK II, Marantz SA-1, Sony 9000ES DVD/SACD/CD, Toshiba $100 DVD player and they all sound quite similar on my friends system. However each unit will sound different on my system - easy to determine & never subtle.

Amps we have used in the past month include Pass Labs X350, Conrad Johnson Premier 8A, McIntosh MC500. Preamps have been Conrad Johnson ART, Supratek Syrah, Electrocompaniet 4.5, Krell HTS, Sony 9000ES.

With the Electrocompaniet and Sony, we could tell the difference between the source components. With the Supratek and ART, everything sounds very good (no matter what source). With the Krell HTS-2 bass is substantially improved and highs get harsh.

We even used an Oracle Turntable vs. The AudioMeca Mephisto and the while the Mephisto sounded better, the difference was minimal - very minimal.

poorguy
90 posts
 
I think Supratek SET amps drive Dynaudio Consequenses is not a good idea. Having a SET drive a difficult load speaker will restrict the performance of SET.
bwhite OP
807 posts
 
Poorguy - the Supratek Syrah is a preamp.
poorguy
90 posts
 
Maybe LP will have the improvement you want.
More to discover