Anyone have their Audio Aero Capitole MKII yet?

And i forgot to add that the Capitole's balanced XLR outputs is wired using EUROPEAN standards, so if you use it direct with an amp which is using US standards you may get the noise i was previously complaining about.

Cheers

Well, all I can say is that I did NOT make any mistake in selling my Sonic Frontiers T3/P3 combo. Don't get me wrong, the T3/P3 combo was a stellar performer in many ways and had LOOKS and a remote that put the AA to shame. Ah, but it is the sonics that count for me so I don't fret about the cheesy remote or what I consider to be a Mickey Mouse sliding door mechanism. In my system and for my tastes, the AA is simply more enjoyable than the T3/P3.

I am also glad (KNOCK ON WOOD) that the tracking problem has stopped. Badwisdom's posts also confirm my intitial finding that the AA sounded MUCH better through my Lamm L2 Ref at about 70-75% (as opposed to 100%) with the Lamm providing more gain (I am still going to try direct into the amps when fully burned in).

There is NO congestion (as I heard at first with the AA at full volume), now the bass is deep, full, impactful and tight (thank God), there is such a lack of digititis that I don't think I can go back to any other "digital" sounding player again (which include almost everything out there save a few). This player is all it had been praised about to me. Oh sure, I can nit pick the hardware, but when I hit the PLAY button I couldn't care less about the hardware.

A FULL review when I get it fully burned in and used to it.

From what I remember a typical DAC outputs 2 - 2.5V...well this should not be a general statement for all DACs. I guess one would have to play a little but I would follow the lead of .5 to .75 of the max volume.

Is there no way to disable the pre function volume or do a voltage adjustment for those who do use a Pre-amp ?
thanks...Matt

Problem is, at 70-75% volume on the AA, the volume coming out of my 240W integrated is VERY low. With a standard CD player, my listening volume is around the 25 mark (out of 100). With the AA, i need to be at 50.

Now that I believe that my AA is fully burned in (it has been running 24/7 for 19 days, I can say that for MY tastes, in MY system, and compared to any other CD players I have heard in my system (Sonic Frontiers T3/P3, Cary 306/200. Sony SCD-1 and 9000ES, Wadia 850), this player is clearly superior to them all and, in most cases, by a LARGE margin. Without doing a full review at this time, suffice it to say that, as has been advertised and written about this player, it is the most analog player I have ever heard. BUT, I was worried that SOME people may interpret "analog" or "tube-like" as mushy, or as rounded or rolled off to achieve the lack of digital glare. NOT so with this player. It has more inner detail than I had expected, wonderfully extended highs and, MUCH to my surprise and amazement FULL, extended, deep, well-articulated bass. In fact, I was worried that I was going to have to "settle" for less than stellar bass with the AA to gain its analog like sound. NO WAY JOSE! This puppy has the most incredible and life-like harmonics, overtones, and transient attack on bass lines I have heard to date.

This player has great image, focus and soundstaging (both depth and width) now (it wasn't nearly as good out of the box or even one week into burn-in) and such a "you are there" lifelike presence it can be spooky.

I will stop here and simply say that for my system, this is the best player I have heard to date and one I could live with for a long time.

I would also like to mention that I had been HORRIBLY upset and frustrated with the people in France (AA) during the long wait and broken delivery promises, but the people at the importer, Globe Marketing (Matt and Jody) have been true gentlemen and a pure class act to deal with. As you may know from my previous threads, I (and I believe Badwisdom) have had some tracking problems with my unit. I called Matt and he said he was aware of the problem, that two or three players escaped with this problem (and the guy who allowed that to happen has been put to death! just kidding!), and he offered me either: (1) a new player (I decided I did not want to go through break-in again); (2) a one day turn-around for them to fix it; or (3) to send me the plug-in chip to fix the problem that I could install myself (I opted for #3). GREAT service from a great guy - Thanks Matt!