Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
Thanks! Only here on AK would anyone actually enjoy reading about that lol!
My thoughts on three CD players: Naim, Musical Fidelity, and Jolida
- Thread starter Mr. Lin
- Start date
Thanks! Only here on AK would anyone actually enjoy reading about that lol!
jazzgene
Active Member
I've been planning to do this for a while but just haven't had the time, but even now, I think I'll focus on the main points so as not to bore you to death. Here goes:
In the past year and a half I've acquired three excellent "performance" CD players. I chose them based on reviews, company philosophy, reputation, and design of the specific model, and out of curiosity as well. I prefer integrated CD players at this point as I don't have the money to buy the DAC and transport I'd really like to own.
These are the CDPs in question, in the order I bought them, first to last:
1. Jolida 100 (tube output)
2. Musical Fidelity A3.5
3. Naim CD5i-2
Let's start with the Jolida. This is a model I'd been curious about for years, and nearly every review I read on the internet was positive, so I had no reservations about getting one. I bought it new. Do to the accessible way it's designed, an amateur DIYer like myself is able to perform some basic upgrades. In short, I replaced the RCA sockets with a Furutech version, replaced all the wiring from RCA sockets to circuit board, dampened the chassis and a number of electrolytic capacitors in the power supply, and installed two Hi-Fi News Silver Star fuses. Pictures and more details are in my previous review of the 100 here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=271384&highlight=jolida
Oh, and I did some tube rolling with my collection of awesome NOS tubes, and found the 5751 type most pleasing.
Apart from comparing it to the other CD players, I won't say too much more about the Jolida here since I've already written a review of it.
An impulse buy proves fruitful, for once
I moved about four months back. Just prior to the move I thought to myself, If I'm going to have two separate rooms for audio systems, I can't NOT have another CD player.Otherwise I'd have to lug the Jolida back and forth, and who wants to deal with that kind of hassle? So onto Audiogon I went. My bid for an Arcam CD92 failed, then I came across the Musical Fidelity A3.5, which was within my budget. I knew nothing about it, but I certainly liked the looks of it, reviews were promising, the company is highly reputable and established, and the retail price was twice that of the Jolida. I know some people say cost means nothing in hi-fi audio, but my experience has been just about the opposite of that. You get what you pay for.
The A3.5 is in the first picture below. It's an upsampling CD player, an approach to CD playback that MF is a proponent of (some are not). I expected the A3.5 to out-perform the Jolida in one way or another, and it was immediately clear that it did.
This is what I heard:
The first disc I played was one of Haydn's string quartets on the Tacet label. I'd been listening to these over and over again in the past few months, but when played back on the MF there was greater timbrel accuracy, or harmonic color. The strings were a good indicator of this, I could hear the texture of the strings and the micro-dynamics that make them sound closer to the real thing. This made the sound a bit more raw, but not really in a bad way, perhaps more a sober way (that doesn't sound enticing either but it's a positive comment). I'll clarify this in a moment.
What else did I notice? For one thing, and this was in line with a number of reviews I read, the sound stage was much smaller than it was with the Jolida. The players sounded like they were in a tighter space, and the presentation was a bit darker, and a little warm. Highs are softened; in fact, one of the first things I noticed when the string quartet began was a distinct lack of harshness, like sibilance but from the instruments, not a voice - this harshness at the top end was present with the 100, but absent with the A3.5. A tube unit sounding slightly hotter on the top end than a solid state one, who'd have though? :scratch2: I attribute this "softening" to the upsampling. It makes lesser quality recordings more listenable, at the slight expense of a sense of quickness, or PRAT.
So back to the sobriety comment. What was that about? I believe it was a Six Moons review of the Jolida unit in which the author used the word "intoxicating" to describe the sound of the 100. This is one way to put it. The sound of the Jolida CDP is big, lush, airy, with a wide sound stage and three-dimensional imaging. By comparison the A3.5 is, well I just explained that above, but by "sober" I meant that the Musical Fidelity CDP is probably closer to reality (the reality of the source recording, that is) than the Jolida. I suspect most people would prefer the more exciting presentation of the Jolida, but I actually prefer the A3.5, just a bit. I'm huge on instrument texture and that's what the A3.5 really delivers, which makes it particularly strong with classical music. There's also more detail than one gets with the Jolida, which is no slouch in that category either. It's a close call, I'm glad to have both and won't sell either any time soon.
I wonder, though, if I removed all the upgrades to the Jolida, how much farther apart would the two be? Because I have to say, the RCA socket upgrade alone yielded a very noticeable improvement in transparency.
The Naim of the Game
And now comes - as they sometimes say - the game changer. With two fantastic CD players in my possession I figured I wouldn't need to buy another one for a long time. After reading some reviews and doing some research I began to seriously lust after a Naim CD player. Some day, I promised myself. Then the planets aligned and one came up used on Audiogon for the right price, when I had the money, and I pulled the trigger, feeling slightly guilty as I did, and wondering if I'd made a mistake. The CD5i-2 is, after all, the direct competitor of the A3.5. Perhaps the two would be so similar I'd regret my decision to buy yet another CD player.
Well those concerns were wiped away in the first minutes of listening to the Naim.
If you know anything about Naim as a brand, it's probably their reputation for a house sound that does timing very well, which results in a quick, lively sound. Naim claims much of this comes from paying a lot of attention to the power supply. More on that shortly. What you get with the CD5i-2 is a more up front, or forward presentation. You're closer to the action, in other words. Quite different from the A3.5. In my opinion, this characteristic brings everything to life in a big way. The music is more exciting, you feel more involved. Is there a bigger compliment than that? Maybe, but that's a big one.
As for the pace and timing thing, it's all true, and your foot will be a tappin', trust me. You can really hear this with percussion and bass lines. Transient response is fast and clean, there's no blurring whatsoever, and this makes the beat and rhythm sound more realistic and enticing, which we know of course to be vitally important.
There's plenty of detail, but this is one area where the A3.5 and the Naim are actually pretty much even.
Tone colors? I'd say the Naim is again right on par with the A3.5, and you'll recall I believe this is one of the latter's strong suites, but with the Naim there's something hard to describe that gives it an edge in instrumental texture. I think it has to do with the more open, clear presentation of the Naim, as opposed to the the darker, more closed in sound of the A3.5 (which sound much worse than it really is).
As for sound stage and imaging, the width is somewhere in between the rather extreme cases of the Jolida and the MF, and therefore probably closer to reality than either. The sound is big and wide enough, but not to the point where you're questioning how true-to-life the reproduction of the source recording is. Imaging is very strong, with players and instruments positioned precisely and clearly, with the sought-after "air" and "space" around individuals. In this regard I can imagine better, but it's still among the best imaging I've heard, falling short only when compared to my best analog setup.
I've been doing a lot of listening through headphones lately, but not long ago I did a direct comparison between the Naim and Musical Fidelity players through my secondary system, using normal speakers. When the Naim was dropped into place all the things I've described above breathed life into the music, plus something else I haven't yet noted. This CD player seems to have an iron grip on the music, so much control and tautness, it never sounds overwhelmed or disorganized even when challenged. In the end, I had a more emotional connection to the music when it was played back on the Naim.
What's in a Naim?
Good question, thank you for asking. Take a look at the last two pictures below. When I opened up the CD5i-2 I was quite surprised at the size of the toroidal transformer inside. The one in the A3.5 is literally half that size, and the Jolida uses two smaller stacked iron transformers. Which is the "best" approach for technical reasons, I'm not really qualified to tell you. But as I said before, Naim focuses a lot on the power supply, so I'm assuming, based on the resultant sound, that they're correct in doing so. Look at the Black Gate electrolytics, they're pretty hefty too.
Now there's one more thing about this CD player that I really like, but haven't mentioned yet. That would be the CD drawer, which actually houses the transport. If you take a look at the picture in my signature you can see how it works. You manually pull the drawer out, which swings to the right, then you place the CD on the "tray," and finally place a magnetic puck over the center of the CD, which holds it in place. I don't like flimsy drawers, they really irritate me. While the Jolida and MF drawers aren't exactly flimsy, they're typical plastic drawers that don't inspire the kind of confidence one gets upon seeing and especially touching the one in the Naim. It's some sort of glass-impregnated material, it feels solid and dense, it feels like high quality, no question. And I personally find the ritual of manually loading the CD enjoyable and more involving.
While I do enjoy CD player "rolling" (oh how ridiculous I've become
The close-up, colorful (not colored), and exciting sound of the Naim really does bring the music to life to my ears. And I know I've already said that but it should be repeated in the summation.
Good Looks Can Get You...
Ok, so you couldn't care less about how your gear looks, as long as it performs well. Fair enough. But I'm a visually-oriented person nearly as much as I am an auditory-oriented one. Who's the winner here?
Of the three, although it's neat, clean, and has a look of general quality, the Jolida is my least favorite. The Naim, though I really do like the green on black theme and the way the drawer looks when swung out, falls just behind the A3.5. It's the bluish purple display on the MF CDP that floats my boat. It's a simple thing, but I find it very attractive with the white characters on top.
How about the remotes? They're very important too IMO. Here I have to take my hat off (even though I'm not wearing one) to Jolida; the 100 comes with a heavy metal (not Iron Maiden) remote with metal buttons. It's heavy, it's probably nearly indestructible, and it's easy to use. Plus I feel like royalty when I handle it. In second place is the Naim's remote. This simple design is not exactly what I'd call intuitive, and I've read some complaints about the idiosyncratic nature of the buttons, but you get used to it. For example, when you press pause during playback, you have to press pause again to continue. If you press play instead, it starts the track over. Interesting. A large, circular pad has arrows for going forward and backward with tracks, and this is what I like most about this remote: almost analogous to the sound of the CD player, one feels like there's total and instant control while changing tracks, there's no lag here. You press, it goes, instantly. On the other hand we have the Musical Fidelity remote, which, while not necessarily bad, is a little annoying. Long buttons on the bottom are used for primary CD playback (this remote is used with other MF models), and what bothers me is how narrow the field is for the remote to communicate with the CDP. I often have to aim it over and/or around things. With the Naim and Jolida remotes, well, they seem to go through walls.
All's Well That Ends...
No it's not over. The review is, but not my journey into the heights of digital playback, which has become something quite good in the last ten years or so. I should note that I also own an original Rega Planet, which has since kicked the bucket. It was my first "good" CD player, and it opened my eyes to the possibilities of normal CD playback. As it turns out, they can sound great!
I will eventually move on to something else. It's not a manifestation of some deep unhappiness or inability to stay focused on and enjoy what I have. Believe me, I'm enjoying it, like crazy. All the time, effort, and money brings you closer to the music, which is the entire point. As we all know, there are many different ways to get there, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
They (whoever they are) say the CD is dead, or dying at least. In any case, it's terminally ill, the prognosis is not good. Musical servers and digital files are in, and they're the wave of the future. For me, however, the vast library of CDs I currently have and am expanding upon nearly every day makes it well-worth spending money on CD players. And since they do eventually die, I figure it's a good idea to have a few around. I have to tell you though, I think I've found my brand, at least for digital playback, and is it - you guessed it - Naim. I'm not sure I'll buy anything else in CD players from now on. Maybe, but my priority will be a higher Naim model above all else. It just works for me, I look forward to using it every day.
If you're still reading you need to get a life (just kidding, and like I should talk anyway
It's good to get all this off my chest.
Please Note: As it's now after midnight, I have to work tomorrow, and I'm tired from typing all this, I won't be editing it just yet. In the meantime, please excuse any typos, etc, that you encounter.
Hi,
I enjoyed your review. Thanks for posting. I too love classical music as I grew up as a classical pianist but now a full time jazz guitarist in NYC.
Have you any experience with Audio Research CD players? I am seriously considering the CD8 and wanted to ask of your opinion.
Regards.
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
Unfortunately no, I haven't, but I've heard pretty much all of their CD players are amazing. If you can afford it, seems like it would be hard to go wrong at that performance level.
Actually, just before I settled on the Musical Fidelity CDP discussed here, I nearly bought a Audio Research CD1 Cd player. This was from the mid to late nineties I believe. Reviews from the time were very enthusiastic, and it was a $3k CD player back then. Looks to be built like a tank. Well, we all know about some of the dramatic improvements in CD playback in the last decade or so, and the general consensus on the internet was that it's a nice CD player, a big deal in its day, but for the money these go for used at present, one is better off buying one of the less-expensive newer players, like a used Rega Apollo. The CD1 I was looking at was $800, which seems to be about what they go for used, and I paid less than that for the Musical Fidelity - in the end the guy selling the CD1 was very polite and understanding about what I'd decided to do.
But their newer, higher-end CD players like the CD8 are on my "Maybe someday if I strike it rich!" list.
jazzgene
Active Member
Unfortunately no, I haven't, but I've heard pretty much all of their CD players are amazing. If you can afford it, seems like it would be hard to go wrong at that performance level.
Actually, just before I settled on the Musical Fidelity CDP discussed here, I nearly bought a Audio Research CD1 Cd player. This was from the mid to late nineties I believe. Reviews from the time were very enthusiastic, and it was a $3k CD player back then. Looks to be built like a tank. Well, we all know about some of the dramatic improvements in CD playback in the last decade or so, and the general consensus on the internet was that it's a nice CD player, a big deal in its day, but for the money these go for used at present, one is better off buying one of the less-expensive newer players, like a used Rega Apollo. The CD1 I was looking at was $800, which seems to be about what they go for used, and I paid less than that for the Musical Fidelity - in the end the guy selling the CD1 was very polite and understanding about what I'd decided to do.
But their newer, higher-end CD players like the CD8 are on my "Maybe someday if I strike it rich!" list.
Thanks for your insight. I decided to go with the CD8. I am an analog fan with a whole herd of TOTL Nakamichi decks set up to spec if not better than new. I don't enjoy CDs much but I decided to get a player that I can hopefully enjoy. I've spent way more on my turntables and Nak decks than my CD player so I figure I'd balance it out a bit.
guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
This is one of my dream decks! Please, let us know your impressions about it!
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
Very nice. I'm a cassette and Nakamichi fan too. Unfortunately my "good" deck, a Nak DR-1, is currently not working properly. About halfway through playing a tape it suddenly just stops. It's been suggested that it's the motor going bad, and Old Tech recommended something else that I haven't tried yet. Anyway, I have mountains of NOS cassettes, some very desirable ones, that can't really be used unless it's on my BX-1.
Seriously, please do, I really want to hear about the CD8. We don't hear about CD players of that caliber around here very often, in case you haven't noticed.
jazzgene
Active Member
I've restored a bunch tape decks including Nakamichi. Although unobtainable parts are always a headache, I might be able to help your DR-1.
I believe the DR-1 is a gear idler. And internally, exactly like the Cassette Deck 1. These decks came with a lower quality capstan motor. However, I need to know more about the problem of the DR-1 to diagnose.
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
Unfortunately at present all I could tell you is that halfway through any tape it plays, it just stops. Aside from that it's actually one hell of a tape deck, as far as sound quality goes, and it kills me that I'm missing out on making recordings with it. Although the later Nak decks like the DR-1 are often eschewed by fans of the classic models, I've had a few Nak "gurus" tell me that when properly serviced and set up, the DR-1 was one of the best sounding decks they made.
jazzgene
Active Member
Does it always just stop in the middle of any length tape? Does it rewind and FFW without any problems? And do you notice high w/f when the deck is playing, I assume the 1st half or the 2nd half of tape.
It just might be something really simple. The DR-1 does sound great when running at spec. If they added a rec level calibration with the bias tune, it would have been a great recording deck as well.
You should really get this deck working! Let me know if I can help.
I see you use a Sutherland PhD. So do I but with a Grado The Statement cartridge. Wonderful sound!
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
I think it does have those things - it definitely has bias fine tuning, or is that not exactly what you meant?
I just got it last year, there's a thread somewhere in the turntable forum wherein I ramble on at length about my initial experiences with it. I really like it a lot, just slightly better than the Wright Sound Company 200C tube phono preamp I was using before (and still have), which is no longer even available because George Wright died last year, unfortunately.
I moved on to the Sutherland first because I needed adjustable impedance settings, which were absent on my 200C (set permanently to 47kohms). This allowed me to properly use a LOMC cartridge, then I was very fortunate to get the ZYX just before they switched distributors and jacked up their prices about 100%. It's an incredible cartridge.
I used to have a Grado Platinum, and still have a Silver as a backup. I really like the Grado sound, but as you may know, the lower models tend to have issues.
Thanks, I appreciate that. You've got me thinking about it again at least, I just have some things to deal with in the immediate future first, then I'll let you know if I need assistance.
To answer your first questions, I don't think it's a really precise thing, meaning it probably doesn't stop exactly halfway through any tape you play, it just seems to be roughly that, sometimes a little bit longer. Aside from that, everything seems to work well, although I admit I've never tried to record with it yet. I played a few tapes I'd made on the BX-1 and they sounded really, really good. Plus I happen to really like the way this model looks.
I got it from an acquaintance over at the tapeheads website, someone I trusted. I believe he really didn't know about the issue because he'd just purchased it himself, listened briefly, then offered it to me because he's just not a Nakamichi guy. When I told him about the problem with it he offered to give me my money back right away, but I told him I'd rather hang on to it in hopes to using it in the future.
jazzgene
Active Member
The rec level calibration is separate to bias. It is critical as tapes have differing sensitivities. Basically, you want a 0 db tone recorded to tape to playback at 0 db. Otherwise, dolby will mistrack. Even without dolby, the recording will not be accurate. Even with the same brand and type, the tapes differ in sensitivity. DR-1 bias adjusts both channels and by ear. It is far more accurate with a 15khz test tone and individual bias adjust for each channel. However, with a good set of ears and program with easily discerned high frequency content, you can do a good job with your ears. The thing is many people can't hear abot 13 or 14 khz after a certain age.
I also want to add that azimuth adjustment is very important to make great reocordings because cassette shells introduce azimuth errors which has a significant effect on the sound of the recording. The DR-1 has a manual pb azimuth adjust which is great to play back tapes at optimum.
I am not aware of any problem with lower end Grados. What are they?
Your DR-1 might have issues with the reel motor. I don't think it's the capstan motor. Have the belts been changed recently?
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
I never use Dolby under any circumstances, and I do very well using my ears to judge and assess things, so I'm not worried about that.
Lower end Grados - first and most prevalent is the dreaded "Grado hum," which seems to happen with turntables that have AC motors, but the cause is controversial. Then there's the "Grado dance," during which the cartridge actually begins to wobble out of control (hasn't happened to me but a lot of people report it), and the generally poor tracking ability. I've had more problems with vocal sibilance using Grado cartridges than any others I've used. Another issue for many is how sensitive these cartridges are to proper setup, and I believe that's why many people write them off, because they never got theirs properly dialed in. With things slightly off, IME, the sound goes straight down the drain. On top of that, the Prestige Series cartridges take a ridiculously long time to break in, much longer than normal phono cartridges.
You'll find a lot of polarized opinions about Grado cartridges on AK, and that's why. Again, I think a lot of people never get to hear exactly what they're capable of. The Platinum, for example, is a very nice cartridge and has excellent imaging capabilities. Allegedly the issues with sound quality rapidly disappear when you get to the Sonata, so yours would be far removed from anything I've listed here, I would think.
jazzgene
Active Member
I just checked by cranking the amp high. No hum. I guess we're talking about the 60hz (or 120hz) hum right? Like a ground loop. That is weird. If that existed, how could you use the cartridge? I believe my table has an ac motor. I know Grado doesn't shield the cartridge for a musical reason.
I don't obsess with the setup. I do the best job I can and enjoy the music, pretty much. The Statement1 was not hard to set up at all. I got some pointers from John Grado himself as I just went to his shop in Brooklyn to buy it. He told me to stay away from test records and test gear. He recommends doing it by eye and ear. I have a bunch of test gear as well so I did it by eye and ear and then out of curiosity, I took bunch of measurements with all my test gear and some test records. It was spot on.
Anyway, I am listening to a great Keith Jarrett Trio recording and the sound is the best I've ever heard from this LP. I can adjust VTA on the fly and that is very useful.
I've had some other decent cartridges from Benz, Nagaoka, Sumiko, and Koetsu but I am set now with the Statement1. Although I've been eyeing some ZYX... Never ends.
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
I also try not to obsess over setup too much, and I do everything by eye and ear. However, you and I know what we're doing. I've come across a lot of threads in the turntable forum on AK about a person who's new to vinyl and never installed a cartridge. This person installs their new Grado and hates the sound and has all kinds of problems. To me this says they've done something wrong. My point is that I think it takes a little know-how to get it right with Grado, but again the case might be (and should be) different with your Statement. I've never read a negative word about the Statement, but can't say the same for any of their other cartridges, save, perhaps, the Sonata.
I also have a Benz Glider M2 that I got before the ZYX. Frankly, the two are neck and neck in performance, the ultimate last bit of finesse and refinement going to the ZYX, but the Glider handles macro-dynamics better, and has a way with instrument timbre that's highly addictive to me. I think very highly of both cartridges and look forward to really getting into them sometime in the near future when I get everything together over here and actually begin listening to records again.
EDIT: BTW I've located my DR-1, the whereabouts of which were uncertain to me a few days ago because of the move. It's at a family member's house and I plan to pick it up this week sometime.
jazzgene
Active Member
But don't you think if a person sets up a cartridge incorrectly, the problems would be with any brand cartridge? Or are you saying that with lower Grados, the tolerance for bad setups is less? I can't say as I don't have any experience with the lower end Grados.
Good luck with the DR-1. Just picked up a Audio Research VS60. It should arrive in a week or so.
I noticed the picture in your signature on another post and thought to myself "That's an interesting way for a CD door to open"
Also thinking that I'd like to know more about the player, I stumbled on this thread and now I seem to know quite a bit more than
I thought I ever would about the player.
Excellent write up and this has turned into a really great thread. :thmbsp:
Scott
Also thinking that I'd like to know more about the player, I stumbled on this thread and now I seem to know quite a bit more than
I thought I ever would about the player.
Excellent write up and this has turned into a really great thread. :thmbsp:
Scott
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
We both know how crucial setup is when it comes to phono cartridges. My point is that Grado cartridges seem to be hyper-sensitive to improper setup, more so than other cartridges I've used in the past. Since I know they're capable of very sweet sound, I have to wonder what went wrong when someone says their Grado Red, for example, sounded like garbage and they gave up on it. Of course, tonearm mismatch could be another issue.
What is your Audio Research, a preamp? All I know about Audio Research is that it's something to strive for in the future when my budget allows.
I noticed the picture in your signature on another post and thought to myself "That's an interesting way for a CD door to open"
Also thinking that I'd like to know more about the player, I stumbled on this thread and now I seem to know quite a bit more than
I thought I ever would about the player.
Excellent write up and this has turned into a really great thread. :thmbsp:
Scott
That's very nice of you to say Scott, I'm so glad this thread was useful to you. Please keep in mind I am always happy to answer questions sent through PM, if it's something you don't want to ask in this thread.
Mr. Lin
Lunatic Member
An important update:
I moved some things around last night (more on that in a moment), and there has been a dramatic improvement in the sound of my headphone system, with the MF and Naim as sources.
First, a bit of a disclaimer: Those of you who find yourselves in or around the camp of cable "non-believers" are not going to like this at all. I respect everyone's opinion (unless you're fmueller - just kidding ), but please don't turn this thread into a cable debate, or anything of that nature. TOL is a good place to discuss the controversy surrounding the sort of things I'm referencing here.
In fact cables are only part of the equation. By now you're probably starting to get irritated with my long-winded preface, so I'll get right to it. I'm ashamed to say that since I've moved to the house I now live in (back in March), and as I acquired the Musical Fidelity A3.5 and then the Naim, I could only get a convenient headphone system setup where I wanted it by using a short extension cord. This extension cord was attached at its female end to the male end of a Monster power conditioner (itself far from ideal), and to add to the shame, this was an extension cord of poor quality.
Still, as is obvious from the contents of this thread, everything has been sounded fantastic. Many months ago I purchased a Oyaide SWO-XXX wall outlet. This outlet, seen in the pictures below, features extra tight gripping contact plates, the latter being made of phosphor bronze that is plated with a relatively thick layer of gold, and then palladium. These parts are somewhat silver-ish in appearance, but with that deeper tone palladium has. In any case, it doesn't matter because you can't see them once everything is installed. :tears:
This outlet is very expensive, and I dare say most people here would never even consider spending this much on a wall outlet, counter-intuitive as the whole thing can seem - depending on your perspective. Yes.
So last night I decided to stop being lazy and move the Monster pc's cable from the extension cord, straight into the Oyaide outlet (which was previously only gripping the end of a Shunyata Research power cable that goes to my "speaker systems" current iteration - through a PS Audio Juice Bar. But that last part is another story.
I admit I sort of had my fingers crossed that something more than just subtle would be detectable. Until now I haven't been able to even say what, if anything, the fancy outlet does for my current main system. Too many new components in that one.
I already blew the ending at the start of this post, but the results were surprisingly good, and very audible. I was quite surprised, actually. Listening to CD after CD that I've been playing regularly in recent months on both these CD players, I immediately noticed a new sense of delicacy, or I guess you could say, refinement. The so-called image outlines of each instrument were more sharply defined, and timbrel accuracy was improved. I could hear the wood of violins resonating in Haydn's first string quartet (I've listened to that one constantly this past year). There was even more space around individual instruments, yet everything was totally coherent and together. Previously inaudible little details were revealed, and I could hear "deeper" into the recorded space (and this with headphones), as well as wider.
At one point someone had a TV on in the background and just for a few seconds I was convinced its volume had suddenly been cranked up as I was listening to the XRCD version of Franck's Symphony in D Minor. It was puzzling in that instant because it seemed as if violins were coming from speakers that were to the left of me, but it seemed to be part of the Franck piece too. Then I realized the illusion had been created that the violins were far outside the headphones, but in a very specific and identifiable space.
Further into the Franck CD dramatic changes in volume revealed what seemed to be a larger dynamic range than what I had been previously hearing. Things got really interesting around this point. I've never been so caught up in the intensity of parts of Franck's symphony, it was downright exciting. Like it should be. Not that it wasn't exciting before, but this was a new level indeed. Moving on to the XRCD of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe I experienced more of the same - that piece goes for somewhat quiet to very loud in numerous place.
After that I pulled out my Harmonia Mundi CD of Josquin Desprez' Chansons. Among all the classical music CDs I have that feature vocal components of any type, this one is easily my favorite, and a good recording too. Five voices and a group of string instruments make heart-wrenching, emotional music. Yet I was still taken aback by how much more emotionally involving the songs were.
There's now a greater degree of fluidity, tone color, micro-details, definition, and space to this little setup. Both CD players shined of course, but the Naim in particular knocked my socks off with some CDs.
We know a good power supply is crucial for a CD player to sound great. I'm not going to tell you all that I know exactly what happened here. I speculate that for months I've been choking the power supplies of both my CD players and my tube headphone amp, and it's no secret how destructive that can be to the sound. By plugging the power conditioner/outlet strip directly into the Oyaide wall outlet, perhaps it was akin to opening flood gates? Perhaps it wasn't. The important thing is that it turned out to be a significant step up in performance all around, and now I enjoy even more of the potential of my CD players (and I know I haven't heard all they can do).
Now, I'm very tempted to move the PS Audio Juice Bar over to this system just to see what, if anything, will happen. The Juice Bar, btw, it basically a bare-bones power outlet strip. It utilizes PS Audio's entry-level wall outlets, a heavy aluminum chassis, and thick nickel-plated copper bus bars internally rather than wires. It's an attempt to turn your wall outlet into six wall outlets, without any power conditioning, surge protection, switches, etc. Most of you probably have or know of many similar outlet strips. The Juice Bar also has an IEC inlet, allowing the user to installed whatever type of power cord he desires. In short, this would remove the entire Monster component (which isn't that great to begin with) and take all components of the headphone system even closer to being plugged directly into the wall outlet. I'll update again if I end up doing that.
So that's it, a significant development for me, and a nice surprise. I'd also like to point out to those of you who rightly question how much one's mood has to do with their perception of sound quality, that I am sick, and not feeling that great. I also have a headache. I probably shouldn't even be doing any of this right now. But just keep that little fact in mind.
The pictures are of the Furutech outlet, the outlet installed in the wall, the outlet on the hood of a new Corvette (ok that's a lie), and the PS Audio Juice Bar, even though it's currently in another system:
I moved some things around last night (more on that in a moment), and there has been a dramatic improvement in the sound of my headphone system, with the MF and Naim as sources.
First, a bit of a disclaimer: Those of you who find yourselves in or around the camp of cable "non-believers" are not going to like this at all. I respect everyone's opinion (unless you're fmueller - just kidding
), but please don't turn this thread into a cable debate, or anything of that nature. TOL is a good place to discuss the controversy surrounding the sort of things I'm referencing here.In fact cables are only part of the equation. By now you're probably starting to get irritated with my long-winded preface
, so I'll get right to it. I'm ashamed to say that since I've moved to the house I now live in (back in March), and as I acquired the Musical Fidelity A3.5 and then the Naim, I could only get a convenient headphone system setup where I wanted it by using a short extension cord. This extension cord was attached at its female end to the male end of a Monster power conditioner (itself far from ideal), and to add to the shame, this was an extension cord of poor quality. Still, as is obvious from the contents of this thread, everything has been sounded fantastic. Many months ago I purchased a Oyaide SWO-XXX wall outlet. This outlet, seen in the pictures below, features extra tight gripping contact plates, the latter being made of phosphor bronze that is plated with a relatively thick layer of gold, and then palladium. These parts are somewhat silver-ish in appearance, but with that deeper tone palladium has. In any case, it doesn't matter because you can't see them once everything is installed. :tears:
This outlet is very expensive, and I dare say most people here would never even consider spending this much on a wall outlet, counter-intuitive as the whole thing can seem - depending on your perspective. Yes.
So last night I decided to stop being lazy and move the Monster pc's cable from the extension cord, straight into the Oyaide outlet (which was previously only gripping the end of a Shunyata Research power cable that goes to my "speaker systems" current iteration - through a PS Audio Juice Bar. But that last part is another story.
I admit I sort of had my fingers crossed that something more than just subtle would be detectable. Until now I haven't been able to even say what, if anything, the fancy outlet does for my current main system. Too many new components in that one.
I already blew the ending at the start of this post, but the results were surprisingly good, and very audible. I was quite surprised, actually. Listening to CD after CD that I've been playing regularly in recent months on both these CD players, I immediately noticed a new sense of delicacy, or I guess you could say, refinement. The so-called image outlines of each instrument were more sharply defined, and timbrel accuracy was improved. I could hear the wood of violins resonating in Haydn's first string quartet (I've listened to that one constantly this past year). There was even more space around individual instruments, yet everything was totally coherent and together. Previously inaudible little details were revealed, and I could hear "deeper" into the recorded space (and this with headphones), as well as wider.
At one point someone had a TV on in the background and just for a few seconds I was convinced its volume had suddenly been cranked up as I was listening to the XRCD version of Franck's Symphony in D Minor. It was puzzling in that instant because it seemed as if violins were coming from speakers that were to the left of me, but it seemed to be part of the Franck piece too. Then I realized the illusion had been created that the violins were far outside the headphones, but in a very specific and identifiable space.
Further into the Franck CD dramatic changes in volume revealed what seemed to be a larger dynamic range than what I had been previously hearing. Things got really interesting around this point. I've never been so caught up in the intensity of parts of Franck's symphony, it was downright exciting. Like it should be. Not that it wasn't exciting before, but this was a new level indeed. Moving on to the XRCD of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe I experienced more of the same - that piece goes for somewhat quiet to very loud in numerous place.
After that I pulled out my Harmonia Mundi CD of Josquin Desprez' Chansons. Among all the classical music CDs I have that feature vocal components of any type, this one is easily my favorite, and a good recording too. Five voices and a group of string instruments make heart-wrenching, emotional music. Yet I was still taken aback by how much more emotionally involving the songs were.
There's now a greater degree of fluidity, tone color, micro-details, definition, and space to this little setup. Both CD players shined of course, but the Naim in particular knocked my socks off with some CDs.
We know a good power supply is crucial for a CD player to sound great. I'm not going to tell you all that I know exactly what happened here. I speculate that for months I've been choking the power supplies of both my CD players and my tube headphone amp, and it's no secret how destructive that can be to the sound. By plugging the power conditioner/outlet strip directly into the Oyaide wall outlet, perhaps it was akin to opening flood gates? Perhaps it wasn't. The important thing is that it turned out to be a significant step up in performance all around, and now I enjoy even more of the potential of my CD players (and I know I haven't heard all they can do).
Now, I'm very tempted to move the PS Audio Juice Bar over to this system just to see what, if anything, will happen. The Juice Bar, btw, it basically a bare-bones power outlet strip. It utilizes PS Audio's entry-level wall outlets, a heavy aluminum chassis, and thick nickel-plated copper bus bars internally rather than wires. It's an attempt to turn your wall outlet into six wall outlets, without any power conditioning, surge protection, switches, etc. Most of you probably have or know of many similar outlet strips. The Juice Bar also has an IEC inlet, allowing the user to installed whatever type of power cord he desires. In short, this would remove the entire Monster component (which isn't that great to begin with) and take all components of the headphone system even closer to being plugged directly into the wall outlet. I'll update again if I end up doing that.
So that's it, a significant development for me, and a nice surprise. I'd also like to point out to those of you who rightly question how much one's mood has to do with their perception of sound quality, that I am sick, and not feeling that great. I also have a headache. I probably shouldn't even be doing any of this right now.
But just keep that little fact in mind. The pictures are of the Furutech outlet, the outlet installed in the wall, the outlet on the hood of a new Corvette (ok that's a lie), and the PS Audio Juice Bar, even though it's currently in another system:
Last edited:
jazzgene
Active Member
Thanks for the insight. For me, I never heard much of an improvement with power cables, conditioners, etc... So I haven't really spent a bunch on them.
Right now, most of my audio gear is plugged into a PS Audio Quintet power conditioner. I did listening tests plugging my ARC VS60 in the conditioner or the wall socket and sounds exactly the same to me... But it is nice to know psychologically that my gear is protected from surges and things like that.
Perhaps, I should use headphones to really hear if there are any difference.
Right now, most of my audio gear is plugged into a PS Audio Quintet power conditioner. I did listening tests plugging my ARC VS60 in the conditioner or the wall socket and sounds exactly the same to me... But it is nice to know psychologically that my gear is protected from surges and things like that.
Perhaps, I should use headphones to really hear if there are any difference.