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jandl100
08-02-2008, 10:48
By popular request! (well, Leporello expressed a vague interest ... :))

Here's some pics of some CD spinners I have owned over the years .....

Pioneer PD-S505. OK as a CDP, but very nice indeed as CD transports into a good DAC.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/PioneerPD-S505.jpg

Eastern Electric Minimax. I liked this CDP a lot - lovely valve output stage put a real 'zing' into the music.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/EEMinimaxCD.jpg

I bought this Benchmark DAC before they started getting trendy .... nice, but imho a bit tame.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/Benchmark1.jpg

A vintage JVC I got on eBay for £30 :) - lots of hype in some of the forums about these - largely unjustified, I reckon! OK, if a bit stolid as a CDT, but frankly 3rd rate by todays standards as a CDP.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/JVCCD.jpg

A pair of Musical Fidelity DACs - very musical indeed imo.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/x-dac.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/96792999_tp.jpg

I replaced Mark Levinson No. 39 CDP with a trio of Perpetual Technoliogies P1-A, P-3A and Monolithic PS (no pics, for some reason :confused:) - the Levinson got thoroughly stomped by the PT kit :eek:

But, where was I ... ah yes .... an excellent little cheap DAC - Flying Calf - strongly recommended to those on a budget!
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/FlyingCalf.jpg

I used the Flying Calf with this rather tasty Micromega transport - nice!
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/Micromega.jpg

Of course, those that know me from other forums will be expecting the next DAC ... a Beresford TC-7510 Mk3. I still think it's wonderful - especially for the money. Yes, you can get better sound - but you've gotta pay for it!

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/BeresfordDAC.jpg

A Teac VRDS10SE graced my system for a while - only really used it as a transport though!
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/TEACVRDS10SE1.jpg

Bringing my self more up to date - here's a really tasty item! - a Burmester CD006. Real audiophile porn with that chrome fascia! I've only recently moved on from using this - so it'll be up for sale soon. ;)
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/Burmestercd006fascia1-1.jpg

And here's my current CD system .... a Teac T1 with Trichord Clock 4 mod CD transport
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/TeacT1Clock4.jpg

and an Audio Synthesis DAX Decade DAC/Pre-amp.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/ASDAXDecade.jpg


Just to complete the story (no pics though) ... other interesting CD kit I've owned includes Musical Fidelity FCD, Quad 99 CDP (I was surprised by how good this was!), AudioNote DAC3 Sig, ... and I'm sure lots of other stuff that slips my mind at the mo :)

I've also had home dems of Naim CDS2, Audio Research CD2 but didn't think much of them. Both quite bland imho. (YMMV ;))

Vinyl Grinder
08-02-2008, 10:56
What Stage is that micromega Jerry? I sold a Micromega 'Minium' CDP last year, quite liked the sound..

jandl100
08-02-2008, 11:06
It's a Micromega Drive 2 - as you can see from the display :)
Yup, I enjoyed it, nice sound - good pace!

Filterlab
08-02-2008, 11:24
You are the box swapping king!

Love those Teacs. :)

Vinyl Grinder
08-02-2008, 11:27
It's a Micromega Drive 2 - as you can see from the display :)


Aye so you can...Typical me that
:rolleyes:

snapper
08-02-2008, 11:46
I replaced Mark Levinson No. 39 CDP with a trio of Perpetual Technoliogies P1-A, P-3A and Monolithic PS (no pics, for some reason :confused:) - the Levinson got thoroughly stomped by the PT kit :eek:


Interesting,I used the 3 box PT as well for about 6/7 years.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y198/davhar/ren_47aa373c215eap1a-3-1024.jpg

It saw off,at the time,Chord DAC 64,Audio Synthesis DAX Decade and an Audio Note,CD2?.

The PT has now been superseded by a Beresford.

PT - £2,150.00

Beresford - £89.00

:eek:

jandl100
08-02-2008, 12:00
Interesting,I used the 3 box PT as well for about 6/7 years.

It saw off,at the time,Chord DAC 64,Audio Synthesis DAX Decade and an Audio Note,CD2?.

The PT has now been superseded by a Beresford.

PT - £2,150.00

Beresford - £89.00

:eek:

I must admit that I can't get on with the latest Beresford DACs - I much prefer my old mk3 to the new-fangled mk6/3.

Must confess to being mighty pleased with my A-S DAX Decade ..... to my ears the Beresford doesn't come close at all!

Perhaps it's one of those synergy things - or just plain old personal taste. :)

snapper
08-02-2008, 12:04
I must admit that I can't get on with the latest Beresford DACs - I much prefer my old mk3 to the new-fangled mk6/3.

Must confess to being mighty pleased with my A-S DAX Decade ..... to my ears the Beresford doesn't come close at all!

Perhaps it's one of those synergy things - or just plain old personal taste. :)


Probably a bit of both,Jerry.

:cool:

jandl100
08-02-2008, 12:15
Oh - & I forgot about these .....

MF TriVista 21 DAC ... pretty good, but not as good as the magazine hype would have it. Didn't stay long, even by my standards!

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/MF21DAC.jpg

And here's a token Meridian. I've had a whole bunch of Meridian kit ... I almost like it , but ultimately it's so *&£%ing boring!

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/Meridian563.jpg

Lots of folks love Meridian gear, of course, and that's just fine. :)

(Sorry these are a bit blurred).

Filterlab
08-02-2008, 13:00
MF TriVista 21 DAC ... pretty good, but not as good as the magazine hype would have it. Didn't stay long, even by my standards!

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/MF21DAC.jpg

I had one of those until recently. They're good, better than a lot of DACs, but my Apogee completely and utterly destroys it in ever area. Mine went to my mate who masters his track through it - he loves it. :)

Marco
08-02-2008, 13:20
Un-repentant box swapper...


LOL. You see, that's just fine when you're honest about it!

It's the box swappers that deny it until they're blue in the face and who claim to be genuine 'music lovers' that do my head in :laser:

We know a couple of those, don't we Snaps? ;)

Nice collection of disc players and DACs, Jerry.

Marco.

snapper
08-02-2008, 13:26
LOL. You see, that's just fine when you're honest about it!

It's the box swappers that deny it until they're blue in the face and who claim to be genuine 'music lovers' that do my head in :laser:

We know a couple of those, don't we Snaps? ;)

Nice collection of disc players and DACs, Jerry.

Marco.

:nocomment:

jandl100
08-02-2008, 13:37
LOL. You see, that's just fine when you're honest about it!

It's the box swappers that deny it until they're blue in the face and who claim to be genuine 'music lovers' that do my head in :laser:
We know a couple of those, don't we Snaps? ;)

Nice collection of disc players and DACs, Jerry.

Marco.

Well ..... I'm a music lover, too.

Here's a pic of some of my CDs .... :) ... the cabinets extend up to the ceiling.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/seat.jpg

I've about 2,500 CDs all told, plus about 150 concert DVDs (they're on the right in the pic) and 600 or so minidiscs with live concert radio recordings.

So, yes, a hifi box-swapper - but a music lover, too ;)

Two great hobbies, that are nicely inter-related.

Lefty
08-02-2008, 13:52
Wow - that's quite some list of kit Jerry! I'll bet that Burmester sounds pretty awesome, wonder what could be replacing it...

Lefty

jandl100
08-02-2008, 14:07
The DAX Decade has already replaced the Burmester plus an Audio Synthesis Passion8 passive pre. :)

Different, not sure about better .... ;)

Marco
08-02-2008, 16:11
Well ..... I'm a music lover, too.


Absolutely, Jerry, and don't get me wrong I never insinuated otherwise.

There are some "box changers" I know who own, shall we say, considerably less music than you have ;)

Personally though I think too much emphasis is placed on the number of CDs or LPs someone owns to determine how much of a music lover they are.

There is an element of truth in this of course, but I would contend that someone who owns, say, 500 CDs of various music genres, and plays them all regularly, is as much of a music lover as someone who owns 5000 titles and only listens to a fraction of them.

It's the fact that music is being played and enjoyed by someone regularly, and that the musical content of their collection is varied, that are the most important factors not the actual number of CDs or albums owned in total. In turn, someone with 2000 titles of the same musical genre, say, Prog Rock (sorry Andr’e!) would that necessarily class them a ‘music lover’ in the true sense or merely just a lover of one particular type of music?

Of course, if you've only got 10 CDs and they're all audiophile test discs you might have a problem! :p

Marco.

Lefty
08-02-2008, 23:25
Jerry, You've got me all intrigued now about the Audio Synthesis kit. Is the DAX-2 any good? Would it be an improvement on the Beresford? If not, what other DAC's do you think better the Beresford at around the £500 (secondhand) mark?

Lefty

(I also didn't get on with the Benchmark DAC 1. It was a bit too clinical and dry for me)

jandl100
09-02-2008, 08:07
Hi Lefty

I've not tried the DAX-2, it may or may not be the same DAC as in my new DAX Decade. I am certainly very pleased with the Decade - it's a substantial improvement on my Beresford Mk3 (as I mentioned, I don't get on with the new M6/3 - it's too "hifi" for me - I enjoy the Mk3's more relaxed musicality).
Then again, a previous poster here says his Beresford has handily bettered his DAX Decade ... so, I reckon you've just got to decide for yourself! Sorry. :) And given your Avatar of Mr Hendrix, I can safely assume, I think, that our musical tastes are very different!

Other DACs up to £500? Well, there's loads around of course, most of which I haven't tried! All these things are very much a matter of taste anyway. If it was me, buying new, I'd be tempted by the fairly new PS Audio DAC3 - oops, but that's £800, so not a lot of help! If you can get hold of a MF TriVista21 for £500 that would be a bargain.

Must admit that as a box-swapper, my approach is to see what's on the 2nd hand sites, do a bit of research a la Google, and just go for something that looks interesting!

Not very helpful, am I?! ;)

Lefty
09-02-2008, 08:57
Not very helpful, am I?! ;)

On the contrary, that was an extremely helpful post :) You make a good point about different sonic tastes. It's almost impossible to get an exact idea of one's sonic priorities via a forum. All we can do is compare kit that we have both listened to and post our views. To that end, we both had similar appraisals of the Benchmark DAC 1 and your call on the Beresford (although I've never heard the MK3) was certainly a good one.

My main reason for wanting a good DAC is to use with my SB. The Beresford is currently doing a sterling job and I guess I just wanted to see what else is out there. If I put my sensible hat on, I think the best thing to do would be to save up for a SB+ or Transporter. I'd then keep the Beresford for Freeview and other duties.

Lefty