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In Reply to: Re: Positive Feedback review of EMM Labs CDSA SE posted by Quint on March 6, 2007 at 09:16:47:
Who modified your Esoteric player and what was done to it? I didn't see any of that info in your AA system info.BTW: I agree with what you say about mods. I've heard the CDSA and must say APL's mods to the Esoteric players (and even the Denon 3910) are much more convincing in recreating the sound of a bona fide musical event.
Follow Ups:
Kyle at Reference Audio Mods (RAM) did the mods. I just reviewed it here a few days ago, and my thoughts are right below this thread. I list the high points of the work in the review.You're like the fourth person, not including me, I've encountered who didn't care for the CDSA. A lot of people seem to be going ga-ga over it, though, so go figure.
With my experience with RAM's work, I'm now FIRMLY on the mod bandwagon. It offers a truly viable alternative to the ever-escalating prices of a lot of high-end gear.
Sorry -- should have seen your review below.I heard a CDSA in my own system but it didn't have many hours on it and it had that "hard" sound I attribute to not being broken in enough. Still, my APL-modified Denon 3910 (also with very low hours on it) handily beat the CDSA in terms of recreating the drama, scale and involvement of real, live music. Compared to the APL Denon, the Meitner was a bit sterile & uninvolving, leaving the listener feeling somewhat detached from the event. The CDSA only bettered my Denon in terms of a more precise depth-wise delineation of instruments within the soundstage. But the APL-modified Esoteric players posses this characteristic, plus an even more palpable, lifelike sound.
Having said all this, I believe the Meitner is not the best match for my system. A while back I heard a Meitner setup consisting of Tenor (tube) amps and high-end Kharma speakers that sounded great. It still lacked the degree of involvement and realism that I attribute to Alex's designs but it sounded wonderful all the same.
you are getting into a bit of argument with yourself :-). At this level we are talking about minute nuances and preferences. Will you give up involvement for precision? I would not, but some others may feel the same about precision. Of course we want both, but at what cost? So how much of either will that money buy you will make you buy one or the other. I remember having this same discussion with Bob Crump at Musikmike's house, and it sounded like that old miller light commercial. "Tastes great! No, less filling!" There is no real answer to this because either one of the approaches can get you closer to a live performance experience except you are talking about different seats in the same hall.dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
Of course, nothing is cut & dried in this hobby but I can easily say the heightened involvement provided by Alex's designs compared to anything else I have heard is far from subtle. But what I was trying to say is that, to my ears, Alex's NWO 2.5 is just as precise sounding as the Meitner, while at the same time providing an even more involving musical experience than my APL Denon.
I know.
According to your System page, your Denon was modified by ALP HiFi. ;-)
And I think I chose with my ears wide open, but i admit i prefer that enveloping i am there big sound vs, being able to count the teeth of a singer in an ice cave. But if i can still count teeth i am happy camper. (There is a reason why i love my ESLs.) I know your taste in sound if you prefer Alex's design over others. The reason I brought up Bob Crump (I still miss the big guy) Because he had a different perspective on what is good sound. For Bob PRECISION was paramount even if at the expense of involvement, if in Bob's sound-stage you could not locate a singer down to seven decimal points Bob was not happy. Of course some of his designs turned out to be involving, but the ones that were not, were still ultra precise. Alex on the other hand designs things that are always musically involving, and some of them are very precise as well. As those two philosophies converge, one makes financial decisions.dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
When I attend a live performance I cannot normally pinpoint the precise location of instruments in an arrangement down to seven decimal points, as you say, but I've encountered such precision in some hi-fi system. This could be more of a result of multi-mic recording & mixing than anything else, however. And on some systems I consistently hear high frequency instruments more forward in the soundstage and lower frequency instruments farther back. Is that better 3D imaging or some kind of phase issue, or simply my ears playing tricks on me? Lots of variables involved.BTW: I wasn't being skeptical; I was merely making a joke since you had a typo in the name of Alex's company.
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