Functions well. I just need to figure out the tracking and antiskate settings for the cart.
Nice!
Yeah, it's beyond perfect now. It ranks up there with my Dual 1219.
The antiskate for this one is interesting. It's basically a piece of string with a little weight tied to it that you have to line up with the appropriate slots on the end of the tonearm. The Grado cart reads awesomely.
Demoing the Clearaudio Concept this weekend. Sounds great so far. It definitely has more attack and detail then my Project Debut Carbon with acrylic and 2m blue. It also tracks better on complex parts particular at the inner grove. Listening to Blue Train now.
Demoing the Clearaudio Concept this weekend. Sounds great so far. It definitely has more attack and detail then my Project Debut Carbon with acrylic and 2m blue. It also tracks better on complex parts particular at the inner grove. Listening to Blue Train now.
What's the price point? I believe I have $600 all in on my ProJect with the extras.
Demoing the Clearaudio Concept this weekend. Sounds great so far. It definitely has more attack and detail then my Project Debut Carbon with acrylic and 2m blue. It also tracks better on complex parts particular at the inner grove. Listening to Blue Train now.
What's the price point? I believe I have $600 all in on my ProJect with the extras.
I haven't negotiated yet. My store gives me deals because I'm friends with the owners and have bought gear for years there. My guess is the TT as configured is about $1800 retail. My Debut is probably the same as yours, upgraded platter and cartridge.
Demoing the Clearaudio Concept this weekend. Sounds great so far. It definitely has more attack and detail then my Project Debut Carbon with acrylic and 2m blue. It also tracks better on complex parts particular at the inner grove. Listening to Blue Train now.
Nice deck. Their carts are pristine. How is the surface noise with your vinyl setup?
If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done. - EV
With my current setup, surface noise is fine, although I think I have a tracking issue, which is why I'm going through this process. I did just replace the needle on the 2m Blue and it's not broken in yet, so that might solve my dissatisfaction with tracking in the inner groove. I know at some point I will upgrade my Marantz and the deck, but the question is when and what order. My shop is very liberal with me taking home things so I do that whenever they have interesting stuff on display.
Hello again. Haven’t posted in here for a bit but thought I would share my Gigaton listening space. The 803 D’s are out of commission with bad crossovers so our local stereo store let me demo the 803 D3s. First impression was an unbelievably wide soundstage with incredible depth and extremely accurate. I’ve been falling in love and dreaming of the 802 D3s but need to wait to see what B&W is going to do on the older 803 D’s. When the crossovers melted down it blew out both of the diamond tweets. Very sad night when that happened..
Hello again. Haven’t posted in here for a bit but thought I would share my Gigaton listening space. The 803 D’s are out of commission with bad crossovers so our local stereo store let me demo the 803 D3s. First impression was an unbelievably wide soundstage with incredible depth and extremely accurate. I’ve been falling in love and dreaming of the 802 D3s but need to wait to see what B&W is going to do on the older 803 D’s. When the crossovers melted down it blew out both of the diamond tweets. Very sad night when that happened..
Hello again. Haven’t posted in here for a bit but thought I would share my Gigaton listening space. The 803 D’s are out of commission with bad crossovers so our local stereo store let me demo the 803 D3s. First impression was an unbelievably wide soundstage with incredible depth and extremely accurate. I’ve been falling in love and dreaming of the 802 D3s but need to wait to see what B&W is going to do on the older 803 D’s. When the crossovers melted down it blew out both of the diamond tweets. Very sad night when that happened..
Hello again. Haven’t posted in here for a bit but thought I would share my Gigaton listening space. The 803 D’s are out of commission with bad crossovers so our local stereo store let me demo the 803 D3s. First impression was an unbelievably wide soundstage with incredible depth and extremely accurate. I’ve been falling in love and dreaming of the 802 D3s but need to wait to see what B&W is going to do on the older 803 D’s. When the crossovers melted down it blew out both of the diamond tweets. Very sad night when that happened..
Hello again. Haven’t posted in here for a bit but thought I would share my Gigaton listening space. The 803 D’s are out of commission with bad crossovers so our local stereo store let me demo the 803 D3s. First impression was an unbelievably wide soundstage with incredible depth and extremely accurate. I’ve been falling in love and dreaming of the 802 D3s but need to wait to see what B&W is going to do on the older 803 D’s. When the crossovers melted down it blew out both of the diamond tweets. Very sad night when that happened..
Beautiful! Love those Mc's!
If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done. - EV
Hello again. Haven’t posted in here for a bit but thought I would share my Gigaton listening space. The 803 D’s are out of commission with bad crossovers so our local stereo store let me demo the 803 D3s. First impression was an unbelievably wide soundstage with incredible depth and extremely accurate. I’ve been falling in love and dreaming of the 802 D3s but need to wait to see what B&W is going to do on the older 803 D’s. When the crossovers melted down it blew out both of the diamond tweets. Very sad night when that happened..
Hello again. Haven’t posted in here for a bit but thought I would share my Gigaton listening space. The 803 D’s are out of commission with bad crossovers so our local stereo store let me demo the 803 D3s. First impression was an unbelievably wide soundstage with incredible depth and extremely accurate. I’ve been falling in love and dreaming of the 802 D3s but need to wait to see what B&W is going to do on the older 803 D’s. When the crossovers melted down it blew out both of the diamond tweets. Very sad night when that happened..
Those are all class leaders. Not a bad choice in the bunch.
MM or MC? I haven't heard an MC firsthand that would make me consider retooling for it. Good MMs can sound glorious and very realistic, as I'm sure you can attest.
I'm interested to hear what you choose.
Post edited by dudeman on
If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done. - EV
If Thorens is still making TTs as nice as the late 80s/early 90s model I rescued, I'd toss them into your mix of considerations.
I was debating them. There's a website called Vinyl Nirvana and the guy takes either your Thorens or one he has and completely refurbishes the wood, replaces the tonearm with a Rega, etc. Basically rehabs and upgrades it. Like a 150 or similar would run about 1500-2k. It's on the list of possibilities. I know there are Thorens around me here and there, but they are usually in poor shape. You got a steal.
Looking for a new TT. Considering the VPI super prime with JMW 10 tonearm, Clearaudio Concept, maybe the Marantz, maybe MOFI ultra deck. Other ideas?
Also, what are thoughts of MC vs MM? Is it worth the pretty substantial price jump?
Is there anything specific that you don't like about your current setup?
Well I'm a tinkerer and an upgrader. So there's nothing I dislike, but I know a better table will sound better, up to a certain point. I am still using a Debut Carbon with acrylic and 2m Blue. I've had it for years. I have a second room that I would put the old table in, so sort of upgrade and add to a new room. There's a guy in NYC that I've been discussing his used VPI Aries 2 with and SDS (or without) for a pretty good price. I'm trying to figure out how that compares with the Prime, but it's not easy.
Here's a new toy... I use my Marantz as a preamp only, feeding to the Parasound 140x2. The problem with that is it bypasses the Marantz's headphone amp. Normally I don't care, but my wife does at times. So she was a big advocate for putting this Music Fidelity headphone amp into the chain. It's on sale at Audio Advisor for $199, which is pretty good. I also upgraded the wall wart to 24v which lights up the little EPS light (enhanced power supply). The sound is perfectly clean, quiet background, etc. It is a good match for the Senn HD600s. It also sounds much, much better than the amp in the Marantz which I found grating. Nice little unit, three gain settings, volume knob and handles both size jacks.
Nice! Good HP setup is critical for a happy domestic situation.
Interesting thoughts on the 2245 phones out. I use mine if I have to but I find the 2215b sounds much cleaner. The 2245 isn't bad but it's almost like the "Marantz warmth" isn't quite right for the headphone experience.
Congrats on the new gear!
If hope can grow from dirt like me, it can be done. - EV
Here's a new toy... I use my Marantz as a preamp only, feeding to the Parasound 140x2. The problem with that is it bypasses the Marantz's headphone amp. Normally I don't care, but my wife does at times. So she was a big advocate for putting this Music Fidelity headphone amp into the chain. It's on sale at Audio Advisor for $199, which is pretty good. I also upgraded the wall wart to 24v which lights up the little EPS light (enhanced power supply). The sound is perfectly clean, quiet background, etc. It is a good match for the Senn HD600s. It also sounds much, much better than the amp in the Marantz which I found grating. Nice little unit, three gain settings, volume knob and handles both size jacks.
I always see the Parasound brand offered in the Audio Advisor circular but though they were advertising for it. Is that an actual decent brand?
Here's a new toy... I use my Marantz as a preamp only, feeding to the Parasound 140x2. The problem with that is it bypasses the Marantz's headphone amp. Normally I don't care, but my wife does at times. So she was a big advocate for putting this Music Fidelity headphone amp into the chain. It's on sale at Audio Advisor for $199, which is pretty good. I also upgraded the wall wart to 24v which lights up the little EPS light (enhanced power supply). The sound is perfectly clean, quiet background, etc. It is a good match for the Senn HD600s. It also sounds much, much better than the amp in the Marantz which I found grating. Nice little unit, three gain settings, volume knob and handles both size jacks.
I always see the Parasound brand offered in the Audio Advisor circular but though they were advertising for it. Is that an actual decent brand?
Parasound is a good brand, I think. They have some very high end stuff, and then some middle of the road. I can't think of anything cheap that they sell. Their mid to upper preamps and integrated amps are pretty darn good, from what I've read. This particular amp is straightforward. It's 140x2 solid state. It has a nice loop and bypass feature along with A and B speaker outs which is handy. At the end of the day, a solid state amp should sound neutral and clean, and this one does. I can't get the Marantz 2245 past 12:00 without it being extremely loud, but never clips.
I'm not clear on your desire. Do you want to just rip them and then be able to stream, or stream from teh cd directly without ever having to rip? There are a ton of ways to stream, from dirt cheap (and mediocre) to out of control expensive and silly.
I'm not clear on your desire. Do you want to just rip them and then be able to stream, or stream from teh cd directly without ever having to rip? There are a ton of ways to stream, from dirt cheap (and mediocre) to out of control expensive and silly.
I'm looking for media storage for my CD's all in one place and somewhere to store my digital downloads from Vinyl and what not. This device should also be able to stream and be able to make a playlist and export said playlist.
I'm not clear on your desire. Do you want to just rip them and then be able to stream, or stream from teh cd directly without ever having to rip? There are a ton of ways to stream, from dirt cheap (and mediocre) to out of control expensive and silly.
I'm looking for media storage for my CD's all in one place and somewhere to store my digital downloads from Vinyl and what not. This device should also be able to stream and be able to make a playlist and export said playlist.
So I have accomplished this in three different ways. I'll detail them. They all take a bit of investment, but nothing in the range of what that digital transporter was. That's outrageous. First, everything is predicated on ripping the cds to FLAC. That will take some time if you have not done that. It's well worth it though, never having a cd player and cds taking up space in your stereo area.
1. Squeezebox Duet - this is an out of production streaming DAC. It supports 24/192 and has a pretty decent DAC installed. You can still buy them used on Ebay and they will last forever. It's straightforward. You store all your media on your hard drive, install the Logitech server, and stream it to the Duet. The Duet that connects either through optical or analog to your receiver/pre amp, etc. You're in business. It has a good aftermarket app called Ipeng which is top notch. Here's an Amazon look, but this is way overpriced. You can probably get it for about 200 today. https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Squeezebox-Touch-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B002LARRDA
3. Topping D30 - this is my last setup, and the highest quality. May also be the furthest from your plan. Topping is a company that makes really excellent DACs at a very affordable price. I have the D30 which is only $120 new, although I bought used as a test and it was only 60 bucks. It supports DSD and up to 32bit and a khz way over anything I have. It sounds amazing. However, mine is not a streamer. So I took an extra laptop I had sitting around and an external hard drive, and copied all my music to it. The laptop connects to the Topping using USB-A (like a printer cable) and then you set your JRiver/Foobar/whatever to Asynchronous mode. This is a bit perfect stream from the laptop to the Topping DAC. The Topping then decodes and sends analog to my vintage Marantz 2245. It sounds spectacular for digital. After that, use a third party app so you don't have to get up. If you have an extra laptop or desktop, this is both the cheapest and highest quality route. https://www.amazon.com/Topping-D30-Decoder-Coaxial-Optical/dp/B00A2QLD80/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=topping+d30&qid=1592243454&s=electronics&sr=1-1
Now if you're using a recent AVR, you probably have built in streaming using something DLNA compliant. I have that on my Yamaha AVR, but I think it sounds inferior. It could be as much the AVR vs the internal DAC.
Should also mention that I have vintage equipment so I don't stream through them, only through my Bose bluetooth speaker or the JBL clip.
I was hoping to delve away from a computer based backup and wanted to use a device like I mentioned above.
I have vintage as well. Everything I'm doing is analogue based into the vintage. However, not having a computer is debilitating, I think. You're going to end up spending much more than if you just bought a $400 laptop.
Comments
The antiskate for this one is interesting. It's basically a piece of string with a little weight tied to it that you have to line up with the appropriate slots on the end of the tonearm.
The Grado cart reads awesomely.
My Debut is probably the same as yours, upgraded platter and cartridge.
Also, what are thoughts of MC vs MM? Is it worth the pretty substantial price jump?
MM or MC? I haven't heard an MC firsthand that would make me consider retooling for it. Good MMs can sound glorious and very realistic, as I'm sure you can attest.
I'm interested to hear what you choose.
There's a guy in NYC that I've been discussing his used VPI Aries 2 with and SDS (or without) for a pretty good price. I'm trying to figure out how that compares with the Prime, but it's not easy.
Interesting thoughts on the 2245 phones out. I use mine if I have to but I find the 2215b sounds much cleaner. The 2245 isn't bad but it's almost like the "Marantz warmth" isn't quite right for the headphone experience.
Congrats on the new gear!
I want a unit to put all my CD's in that will save them and play them and be able to stream.
Anyone ever do this?
Not wanting to lose sound quality either.
Looking for something like this but not wanting to spend that damn much.
https://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AXACS10
Any thoughts to this?
First, everything is predicated on ripping the cds to FLAC. That will take some time if you have not done that. It's well worth it though, never having a cd player and cds taking up space in your stereo area.
1. Squeezebox Duet - this is an out of production streaming DAC. It supports 24/192 and has a pretty decent DAC installed. You can still buy them used on Ebay and they will last forever. It's straightforward. You store all your media on your hard drive, install the Logitech server, and stream it to the Duet. The Duet that connects either through optical or analog to your receiver/pre amp, etc. You're in business. It has a good aftermarket app called Ipeng which is top notch. Here's an Amazon look, but this is way overpriced. You can probably get it for about 200 today. https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Squeezebox-Touch-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B002LARRDA
2. Yamaha WXC-50 - I am using this unit on a vintage Pioneer SX-750. It's fundamentally the same thing as the Duet, but offers some more options. It uses DLNA protocol to stream from your computer to the unit. You would need to install a J River, Windows Media Center, Foobar, etc. to stream. Reviews are mediocre, but the negativity is about connection, and I have never had any problems with that. The internal DAC is good, but if your rip or source is meh, you're going to hear it. https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-Audio-Component-Preamplifier-Silver/dp/B01EI6DQS4/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=yamaha+streaming+dac&qid=1592242767&s=electronics&sr=1-3
3. Topping D30 - this is my last setup, and the highest quality. May also be the furthest from your plan. Topping is a company that makes really excellent DACs at a very affordable price. I have the D30 which is only $120 new, although I bought used as a test and it was only 60 bucks. It supports DSD and up to 32bit and a khz way over anything I have. It sounds amazing. However, mine is not a streamer. So I took an extra laptop I had sitting around and an external hard drive, and copied all my music to it. The laptop connects to the Topping using USB-A (like a printer cable) and then you set your JRiver/Foobar/whatever to Asynchronous mode. This is a bit perfect stream from the laptop to the Topping DAC. The Topping then decodes and sends analog to my vintage Marantz 2245. It sounds spectacular for digital. After that, use a third party app so you don't have to get up. If you have an extra laptop or desktop, this is both the cheapest and highest quality route. https://www.amazon.com/Topping-D30-Decoder-Coaxial-Optical/dp/B00A2QLD80/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=topping+d30&qid=1592243454&s=electronics&sr=1-1
Now if you're using a recent AVR, you probably have built in streaming using something DLNA compliant. I have that on my Yamaha AVR, but I think it sounds inferior. It could be as much the AVR vs the internal DAC.
Should also mention that I have vintage equipment so I don't stream through them, only through my Bose bluetooth speaker or the JBL clip.
I was hoping to delve away from a computer based backup and wanted to use a device like I mentioned above.