Astin Trew At 3500+ CDP: any opinions?

[guiller]

The hi-fi gods are testing you my friend.

Shame on them! They don't realize that I profess an Atheist belief!

 

[Mr. Lin]

Shame on them! They don't realize that I profess an Atheist belief!

Ditto!

 

[guiller]

Just an update: the AT's are here, and the local dealer has to pick them up from the local Customs Office. He mentioned he would do this before the weekend.....

 

[Mr. Lin]

Hope he doesn't get robbed by bandits along the way.

 

[guiller]

Hope he doesn't get robbed by bandits along the way.

I´ve picked it up! I won´t be able to unpack and try it until tonight. I´ll post some pictures.

 

[JohnVF]

Very excited for you over here. I can't wait to hear your impressions.

 

[guiller]

First impressions: amazing natural sound, for example, in Vivaldi´s concerti played by the English Concert conducted by Trevor Pinnock (the solo playing of two mandolines sounds as close as the real sound as I remember). The bass is clear, dark, weighty, for example in the bass string instruments. And perhaps the best of all is the depth and widest range of the soundstage. Even though the break-in time is suppossed to be of the order of 100 hours, what I hear so far is superb and by far the best sounding digital source known to my ears. The rest of the system blends very naturally with its sound (Audio Research LS-3 preamp -with the "direct" input used-,Bryston 4B power amp and DIY speakers - Seas tweeters, Yamaha Beryllium midranges -from the NS-1000- and passive radiator 12 inches woofers with a high quality component crossover).

PS: I´m charging batteries to take some pictures later.

PS2: the vacuum tube is used in a very singular scheme, with very low operating voltage so that it really does not get warm and lifetime is suppossed to be of about 10.000 hours).

 

[guiller]

As promised:

 

[guiller]

More impresions: this time, dense orchestral textures are as clear as in my beloved vinyl records rig (Benz Micro Ace LOMC, Clearaudio Emotion TT, Clearaudio Nano phono preamp). The example at hand is the last movement of Mahler´s 6th symphony as recorded by Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philhramonic Orchestra. The sound of the orchestra is as close as possible to a real concert balance, again with a very wide soundstage. As I expected, the supremacy of sound quality of my vinyl rig is seriously challenged, and I´m happy for this since it was the scope of this addition!

 

[guiller]

Human voices: I tried Mozart´s Don Giovanni in the recording conducted by Herbert Von Karajan for DG. I´ve found that recording a bit fuzzy (typical "digital" sound) in other CDPs so I thought that it was a good test. Nothing of this sort with the AT! Actually I am amazed at the colors and nuances of the voices. The highs seem to be very open, not constrained or grainy. The sopranos and tenors sound sweet, as they do in a good LP system.

Finally I tried a disc of Boulez conducting his own works, with lots of silences and percussion instruments. Superb detail and definition here, with a xylophon sounding like the real instrument and not a bad copy of it.

Summing up, my first impressions could not be better. I´m enthusiastic and anxious to go through all my favorite discs, as it seems that there is a lot more in there than what I was familiar with.

 

[guiller]

So far, I've been listening with non-upsampling. The upsampling makes subtle changes that I need to explore more, but somehow I prefer the non-sampling option, for the moment at least. More time and experiencing is needed.

 

[Mr. Lin]

I'm so happy and relieved to read all this. Relieved because I encouraged you to get the AT even though I've never heard it, and I was nervous that you might not like it (but doubted that would be the case), and happy because I can feel your excitement, and you absolutely deserve it. With a music collection like yours, this just seems so right.

And by the way, I knew about some of your system (the analog side mostly), but I didn't know you have such high-end gear! Bryston and Audio Research? Wow.

The example at hand is the last movement of Mahler´s 6th symphony as recorded by Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philhramonic Orchestra. The sound of the orchestra is as close as possible to a real concert balance, again with a very wide soundstage.

Mr. davidro will appreciate that most of all.

As I expected, the supremacy of sound quality of my vinyl rig is seriously challenged, and I´m happy for this since it was the scope of this addition!

Mmm hmm - I hate to admit it, because I love vinyl, but this is the reality of the situation today with CD players like your new AT.

Human voices: I tried Mozart´s Don Giovanni in the recording conducted by Herbert Von Karajan for DG. I´ve found that recording a bit fuzzy (typical "digital" sound) in other CDPs so I thought that it was a good test. Nothing of this sort with the AT! Actually I am amazed at the colors and nuances of the voices ...

As you know, the human voice - male in particular - and piano, are the hardest things for a hi-fi to correctly reproduce. I like to do the voice test with new components. You know you've got a winner considering the results you've described above.

Is that the Don Giovanni that I have, and I posted a picture of it some months ago? It's the mono vinyl box set. You might not recall because it was a while back, but I believe you said it was a reference recording of sorts for voices, and that's indeed how it sounded to me too.

Summing up, my first impressions could not be better. I´m enthusiastic and anxious to go through all my favorite discs, as it seems that there is a lot more in there than what I was familiar with.

That's just about the highest praise possible, huh? See, this is why I can almost never stay quiet on AK when people trash CDs. A well-recorded one on a great CD player can sound simply amazing.

One last thing here: Some people might find it a little annoying that I bring this up when you've just gotten the AT - and I'm not suggesting that you do it any time in the near future, since you should enjoy the CD player and get to know its sound signature well - but down the line you might want to seriously consider trying a tube upgrade. There's no shortage of wonderful NOS 6922 tubes out there, and I've been amazed in the past at the improvements yielded in equipment I have that uses the 6922 tube, when I tried different NOS types.

Have fun! I'll check back later tonight and follow your progress with great interest.

 

[guiller]

I'm so happy and relieved to read all this. Relieved because I encouraged you to get the AT even though I've never heard it, and I was nervous that you might not like it (but doubted that would be the case), and happy because I can feel your excitement, and you absolutely deserve it. With a music collection like yours, this just seems so right.

Thanks Dave, your encouragement is and was very much welcome!

And by the way, I knew about some of your system (the analog side mostly), but I didn't know you have such high-end gear! Bryston and Audio Research? Wow.

I must thank again to fellow AK members, who educated me. I feel very happy about the sound of my present system. I guess I´ll post some pictures soon, but felt like doing a rearrangement of the components in the rack before doing that.

Mr. davidro will appreciate that most of all.

Well, I had him in mind when choosing that recording!

Is that the Don Giovanni that I have, and I posted a picture of it some months ago? It's the mono vinyl box set. You might not recall because it was a while back, but I believe you said it was a reference recording of sorts for voices, and that's indeed how it sounded to me too.

Maybe I messed things up, but I remeber commenting your wonderful LP set of Fricsay conducting Die Zuberflote, which has a cast to die for.

Regarding this Don Giovanni, this is the box cover:

It is a digital recording, and the sound might be a bit problematic on some CDPs (like my Cambridge Audio 640 C V2).

One last thing here: Some people might find it a little annoying that I bring this up when you've just gotten the AT - and I'm not suggesting that you do it any time in the near future, since you should enjoy the CD player and get to know its sound signature well - but down the line you might want to seriously consider trying a tube upgrade. There's no shortage of wonderful NOS 6922 tubes out there, and I've been amazed in the past at the improvements yielded in equipment I have that uses the 6922 tube, when I tried different NOS types.

Have fun! I'll check back later tonight and follow your progress with great interest.

Your advice is wise and welcome. Michael Osborn himself took care of upgrading the tube in my AT 3500+, and it was shipped with a signed quality control test certificate. So, my tube is a better version than the stock one. Nevertheless, as you mentioned, there are several interesting sources for tube upgrades, and I will certainly start playing with that sometime in the future.

Thanks again for your opinions, interest and support!

PS: if know a good source for tube upgrading, please PM me!

PS2: regrading ECC88 tube upgrades, I´ve found this review: http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/eat_ecc88_e.html

 

[guiller]

More than testing, now this is becoming the pleasure of redescovering many old friends, like the recording that Gidon Kremer made of Brahms´ violin concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein. The high notes in the violin sound clean, effortless played, with no irritation. I very soon forget about the CDP and let myself go into enjoying the wonderful melodic and harmonic lines of this concerto, one of my preferred ones. In the last movement, I was suprised by the weight and the beat of the orchestra. Another aspect to mention is the tone of the vienesse woodwinds, a real joy to my ears and my soul.

 

[guiller]

As for a different test, one using piano music, I´ve chosen a Debussy program played by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli for DG. The tonal richness of BM´s playing is superb, and the sound is clear, well focused and subtle.

 

[JohnVF]

You're going to have a lot of fun over the next several days/months- I can't believe how good a top flight CD player sounded, and how much it changed my system (so much so that I bought another). My listening patterns from a year ago have turn around 180 degrees from vinyl, and that's not to say it sounds bad at all- just I'm shocked at how good digital got. You'll be buying a lot more digital I bet...

I have a Cambridge Audio 640cVII as well. Boy am I glad I didn't listen to those who said it was 95% of what a truly nice machine can deliver. Its no contest- congratulations!

 

[guiller]

Many thanks John! Actually, it looks like things are going to go the way you describe! Every piece of music I play makes me wonder about the fact that it seems that I didn´t know my CDs that well.

 

[Art K.]

Wow, Guiller...the new player looks great! Sounds awesome too, how wonderful.

Enjoy!

 

[guiller]

Wow, Guiller...the new player looks great! Sounds awesome too, how wonderful.

Enjoy!

Many thanks! I can´t do anything else but sitting there listening for hours to some of my favorite CDs. It is an awesome moment.

 

[jt45]

Congratulations on your new CDP Ive been following some threads lately about CDPs and searching for ways to improve my system. Im starting to realize that I should consider selling my big 70s system and focus my efforts more towards Smaller high end components that I can manage more easily and probably enjoy more often. Im hoping to concentrate my system around a very good CDP and TT and threads like this one are very helpful and positive.

I hope you enjoy hearing your CD collection in a whole new light, there is nothing like it and for me thats what its all about.:thmbsp::thmbsp: