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First, I'm highly into vinyl with an excellent setup (Teres, Moerch DP-8, Zyx 4D, first rate phono stage).
I have a good SET valve system. Musical tastes are classical, folk, some jazz, some pop, and a special liking for good female vocals. I use CD for current music, mainly vocal, such as Athena, Laura Marling, Natasha Marsh, Rebecca Pidgeon, Niamh Parsons, Loreena McKennitt, Cecilia Bartoli, Luciana Souza (mmmm!), Clair Marlo etc etc. I have used an Astin Trew AT3500+ player for this and enjoyed it; it is really good for vocals.
A while ago I heard an Aesthetix Romulus against the AT and realised the benefits of a high end player, good though the AT is. The Romulus just didn't fit in my hifi unit; otherwise I might have bought one. So I started looking ....
I had a home demo of the MSB Analog dac and liked what it did well; but I wasn't convinced by female vocals, just didn't sound right to me.
I then got a Luxman DA06 dac which I enjoy. Then followed a good transport (Heed) but I can't hear any difference between that, or the AT or a Tascam CD200 both used as transports with the Luxman.
Some more listening to other things suggested that, good though the Luxman sounds, it misses some detail and resolution; perhaps some of its smoothness is due to the top end being somewhat rolled off?
I then got into headphone listening at night, with an excellent highly modded Cayin valve headphone amp and AT W1000X cans. So I wanted 2 good CD players.
Ebay provided me with a Resolution Opus 21 which I like a lot, a strong musical sound, and no digital nasties (that's true of all the above players). But it didn't quite match the Luxman for tonality and low level subtle details (both of which contribute significantly to the finest performance on female vocals).
All the above is my personal view; I'm sure many folks will have different opinions equally valid.
Now things got interesting. I found out something about Accuphase CD players and got a home demo of a used DP-510; it didn't get returned!
I'd say it has a sound which is pure *class*; gorgeous vocals with tonality, subtlety, delicacy, expression, clarity; a top end which is at the same time extended, clear, detailed and also silky smooth (a tough act!). Above all, emotionally persuasive, a total pleasure to listen to and get carried away. Very like good vinyl. I now understand good CD and accept it as equally as viable as good analogue! My opinion has changed . :-)
I've heard expensive Naim players and consider them *awful*; OK, perhaps I'm a bit harsh here but they don't suit my tastes in the least.
Though the Opus doesn't have digital nasties, its top end is nothing like as smooth, and tonality is not as good.
So I'm very happy with the DP-510, in that it is IMO a truly high end player and also seems to match my systems and my tastes very well indeed.
But my other players are, by comparison, almost unlistenable; so I'm getting a bit tired of carrying the Accuphase up and down stairs! :-)
I've read many glowing reports of the DP-720, with similar comments from the UK dealer, and I'm considering getting one for the main system; the DP-510 will remain in the headphone system and other CD gear will be passed to a friend or sold.
I'm pretty confident it would be a good choice as the Accuphase 'house sound' seems to suit me very well indeed. But I can't help having some doubts over such a major purchase ....
So I've been wondering about alternatives. Due to space constraints in the rack, it has to be front loading and preferably a player rather than transport/dac (some of which will fit, but Accuphase T and D definitely not). Contenders would seem to be Esoteric K-01, EMM, Bricasti dac for starters. The dealer suggests DCS would not suit my tastes.
It's almost impossible to get to hear all these, and I find an audition at a dealer of very limited value anyway; the Accuphase dealer is 200 miles away (and that's a long way in the UK).
Important to me are tonality, natural warmth, subtlety, emotion, transparency, detail with silky smoothness, general musicality. Reviews etc seem to suggest the DP-720 is at least a match for the above contenders for these factors, and hard to beat at any price.
Any comments? Am I mad to spend this much? Am I mad to agonise over this rather than just getting the DP-720 which I'm sure I will love to bits ...
Thanks for your input,
Mike
Follow Ups:
After looking at the price of the Accuphase DP-720 all I can say is I'm glad I like the sound of my Oppo BDP-105D. I'm sure it couldn't possibly sound the same as an Accuphase, but in my system it sounds pretty darn good. ;-)
Best regards,
John Elison
such silly advice; in your system it (Oppo) may sound "good" ... but considering the OP experiences with much higher-end digital players, it's beyond obvious that your definition of "good", in this particular case, is NOT nearly good enough.
MikeI made the same journey as you, from 100% analogue nerd to actually realizing a few CD players made Redbook sound magical, even though it's quite unfashionable to say so at the moment.
If you like Accuphase, no reason to change. DCS is not my cup of tea. At that price though I would also demo an Esoteric, they're really quite something. Bear in mind that whatever brand you choose, there is a law of diminishing return and you might already have passed the point where it kicks in. But you won't know until you upgrade :) We've all been there.
I personally don't care too much for the vintage-wooden-jowls look of the Accuphase... But I did hear a DP78 back in the day which I thought sounded great. I think Accuphase is a bit less neutral than Esoteric though. I think you're in safe hands with either brand.
Keep us posted on your choice.
JB
Edits: 04/27/15
Thanks!
In fact I looked up more about the Esoteric and it's simply too big for my unit, no way round this; a larger unit isn't really on (WAF is an issue).
It's a good point about diminishing returns but I'm not over concerned about this. The system is good, highly resolving and transparent in a nice way with tonality and a natural sound. It clearly shows the benefits of upgrades to my vinyl front end, I appreciate these and I'm sure I'll appreciate a further improvement to CD and the chance to try SACD. I certainly appreciate the improvements that Argento interconnects have made; expensive but lovely, worth it to me.
I'm rationalising the cost of a possible DP-720 by working out the cost of my TT etc; the Teres would now cost almost £10K, the arm about £3K, cart about £2K; and the phono stage is equivalent to about £15K's worth. About £30K / $50K in all; the DP-720 looks decidedly cheap compared to that lot! :-)
Does your YBA have the 'blue laser' LED bath? I've noticed my Lite transport does.
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Yes it did.
I'm not using the YBA anymore though.
Edits: 04/28/15
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
nt
with R2R, which shows no sign of abating! Eager to hear the latest round of ladder designs.
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
I could easily live w/ the Aesthetix Romulus Signature. However, there is a newer "Eclipse" upgrade that I can hardly await to demo!
DACs like the Romulus. Especially from manufacturers like Aesthetix. Would be happy to audition one but, from my experience, delta-sigma DACs and my ears don't get on.
Happy for those for whom they work well, though. Lucky them.
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Mike-
you have certainly spent some time w/ the best spinners. The Accuphase is on my must-demo list. From the players mentioned, I liked the Aesthetix the best.
Here's an impression of the Aesthetix Romulus vs Accuphase DP-510; it isn't a formal evaluation as they were heard in different systems, so use the info with care and don't base any purchase decision on this.
However, the Astin Trew was present and forms a good benchmark.
The system with the Romulus was all Aesthetix with hybrid monobloc amps and large Dynaudio speakers; £100k's worth in all. My system is valve pre (using excellent 27 triodes) and SET amp (2 45's parallel per channel) with sensitive MTM speakers. Surprisingly similar sounds! Mine has better tonality, delicacy, emotion, the other has more bass and drive but similarities are greater than the differences. By the way, my DIY pre and phono stage were better than the Aesthetix equivalents.
I'll compare both the Romulus and Accuphase in turn to the AT3500 'benchmark':
In the Aesthetix system: The AT3500 sounded good, lovely vocals as ever; the Romulus brought out more details, especially in terms of instruments and musical threads - quite a lot more of these things! Vocals on the Romulus were slightly more resolved with similar tonality and slightly better quality overall. Very good - but not more spine tingly or 'delicious' or compelling than the AT.
Rhythms and instrumental 'musicality' were definitely better on the Romulus. CD used was 'Breathe with Me' by Athena - *highly* recommended if you like subtle female vocals.
In my system, the Accuphase gave very similar results in terms of differences over the AT3500; the extra details in terms of instruments and musical threads; but the Accuphase gave more improvements eg tonality, focus, definition of individual things. Similar results re rhythms and 'musicality', with Accuphase again giving a touch more improvement than the Romulus over the AT. But on vocals ... I'd say the Accuphase is delicious and compelling, definitely more so than the AT3500 and hence more so than the Romulus. There are extra subtleties, delicate touches, things about 'how' things are sung, tonality, and above all realism and transparency. I notice these things on both the main system and the headphone system, so I don't think it's just due to differences in the systems used for the demos.
IMO the Romulus is a really fine player; very few players at any price do female vocals better than the AT3500! I'm confident I prefer the Romulus to the MSB Analog even though I didn't try them head to head.
All in my personal, biased, opinion.
As I type, Clair Marlo 'Let it Go' is playing via Accuphase and headphones, all sounding gorgeous and track 'Let it Go' is so lively, rhythmic, enagaging, foot-tapping, just great (mentioned in case my concentration on vocals suggests it's lacking in this musicality ... it isn't!).
Outstanding! information- Mike. Thank You.
I've heard plenty, but I've little experience with Accu's, so I won't recommend ... because ... the Accuphase "house sound" matches your high expectations, expectations you've developed based on your fine analog system.
I've been there, matching digital with high-end analog expectations - is a much harder process than many may think. I'd get the Accuphase, and enjoy the dance ...
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