Audio Aero Capital CD vs SACD

thanks Mike, great honest review. What would happen if you used the Capitol as a transport and used an external DAC ? could it be that the internal DACs limit the success of the player.. in either case, both players were direct to a Preamp using there own DACS ?

I think the major question would also be, can the linn be justified at approx $13K more ?.. then again, it a question of what you want to hear if money is no object.

hi Matt,

my opinion on your first question is that a separate dac would be unlikely to improve the Capital; which doesn't need improving. part of the magic of the Capital is related to it's tube output stage.....which would be bypassed if you used a separate dac. on the other hand until you tried it you wouldn't know for sure. in your case i think the #37 transport would be more appropriate for your #36s dac.

i have heard from a friend in Australia that by installing a "direct out" from the dac and bypassing the internal volume control and gain stage the sound improves. my experience would tend to prove that. who knows, i may have preferred the Capital in that configuration.

of course, one man's magic can be another man's limitation.

as far as $$$$, i think most would choose the Capital over the Linn but i will keep my Linn.....i prefer the Linn by enough margin to balance the $$$ savings by selling the Linn and buying the Capital. with 3200 cds i can justify in my mind the best cd playback. in my system i get no advantage with the internal volume control/gain stage of the Capital.

Thanks Mike, very informative. I too have always loved the CD-12 but, as you note, at $6900 vs. $20,000, this says a lot not only for how far even 16/44.1 digital has come but for the Capitole as well. If they are that close in your system, I am looking forward to hearing the Capitole.

Mike-I am very surprised with your comments, though the Linn is one of the few greats that I haven't listened too. In particular with the SACD I noticed the opposite, it didn't have anything on the Capitole. Though it is possible the Valhalla is a little more nuetrel then the Jena(we used Valkyre) thus leading to your thoughts. It is interesting to hear this from another discerning listener, just so I know was the capitole broken in? I know when my friend got his he was ready to send it back, but he didn't and really warmed as it broke in, giving it the analog sound-to me anyway, keep in mind I have not listened to near as much vinyl as you guys seeing as I have never owned a turntable. FWIW the capitole was also used in my friends system with Tenor amps, and the volume on the amps sounds different then the volume on the player, it was hard for us to say which sounded better, I am sure time will tell.
Tim

Wait till the new SACD Gold Aero comes out ..any time now.