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I don't have time to go into detail right now, as I have to run, but I wanted to give a quick update. I had, at the request of a reader, updated my impressions of my new Rega Saturn. The detailed update is in another thread below. In short, it, indeed, had improved much over the few hundred or so hours I have been putting on it. But it had its limitations as a player, though very, very musical. I had memories of my CEC transport and Audiomat DAC in my head as my silver box player, so to speak. I had to sell that combo to free up financial flow.
In the interim, I had purchased the original Planet that had been circulated around the writers of the former Listener Magazine.
Anyway, I realized over this weekend that I had a JPS Labs digital power cord around. The Planet didn't allow for swapping out power cords, but the Saturn does. I put the JPS Labs cord in this morning, put a CD on repeat play for a couple of hours and returned to listen. While I think there is still going to be some settling in of the JPS cord for a while, immediately there is the no doubt about it the ability of the instruments and vocals to separate and stand out from each other that had not been there with Rega's own supplied power cord. Also, there is much more bloom. While before, in a passage on a CD where I knew the singer really opened up, the Saturn seemed to somewhat stunt the singer, with the JPS Labs digital power cord, it is now now much more how I remember the CD to sound.
I can't do too much listening this morning. I don't have the time, but the swapping out of the power cord is clearly going to elevate this player greatly to my ears, which is, actually, a breath of relief for me. I was thinking that that Saturn was still going to be a compromise for me. This may have done the trick. I will report back.
Follow Ups:
Hi all ! Yup , the old power cord trick works again . It still amazes me how a powercord changes the whole picture . I just reworked my system (new rack , new cd player) and when I fired it up , dark city . Took the Cardas powercord out , put the LAT in....voila ! Glad you are happy with the Saturn , alot of guys love it .
Yes, I laugh when I read posters who say that cables, power cords, or even breaking in a piece of electronics is superfluous.
I bought the same power cable due to the Art Dudley rave-iew, on my same player (SCD-777ES). I heard no difference on my modded player, so I sold it on A-Gon. It looked cool though. Apparently the guy that I sold it to felt the same way as he refused to respond to my queries if the cable made any improvements to him. Same player, although unmodded. I took a loss, as apparently did he. Glad to hear that it helped in the context of your rig. The reality of all of this is that AC noise can manifest itself differently in the contect of different homes and listening systems, hence why it worked out for you, and not for me / us. However, I find it odd that in all cases the higher costing AC cable tends to sound better to reviewers. I say this because for each installation, a particular L-C combination would most probably provide optimum results.
Hmmm...I know that it most helped the midrange, helping instruments and vocals stand distinct from other instruments, plus there is a more air and expansion. I'm sure it partly depends on the system and how sensitive it is to changes. And it also depends on what you are listening for. I have classical music trained ears, I listen for things and hear things not all hear. My wife sometimes has a difficult time hearing the things I hear, but I have been playing music seriously and sometimes not so much for about 45 years. I listen, for example, for if a vocalist sounds a bit emotionally strained, or whether a system is allowing an instrumentalist to convey a particular musical nuance that I know is there on the record. And hey, if you can't hear it, it's obviously not worth it.
A HUGE power cord difference I made last year was swapping out the OEM power cord from my Art Audio Vinyl phono stage with a used Shunyata Python Alpha. The sound just opened right up, with greater color and dynamics. Pretty much night and day. I put back in the OEM power cord and the soundstage and dynamics closed right down.
I can still hear that the Saturn lacks a little bit of delicacy and air on the top end than I know there to be on certain recordings, and colors are just a hair less vivid. We are talking small percentages here, and, again, it IS a $2500 retail CD player, not a $5000 setup. That $5000 setup I had is no longer twice as good as the Saturn is (I couldn't say that two weeks ago.). I paid considerably less than retail for the Saturn, so I can say that, at this point, I'm happy. Great bang for the buck, so if you can pick up one of these at clearance prices as they are, you'll be getting a really good deal.
What is the rest of your system?
Hmmm...I know that it most helped the midrange, helping instruments and vocals stand distinct from other instruments, plus there is a more air and expansion. I'm sure it partly depends on the system and how sensitive it is to changes. And it also depends on what you are listening for. I have classical music trained ears, I listen for things and hear things not all hear. My wife sometimes has a difficult time hearing the things I hear, but I have been playing music seriously and sometimes not so much for about 45 years. I listen, for example, for if a vocalist sounds a bit emotionally strained, or whether a system is allowing an instrumentalist to convey a particular musical nuance that I know is there on the record. And hey, if you can't hear it, it's obviously not worth it.
- I went the active loudspeaker route myself. I find differences easily heard and wholeheartedly agree, if you can't hear it, is it really worth the additional expense. Going fully active on my speakers, I heard substantial differences in transparency. With the digital AC cable, not at all. Perhaps the internal power supply of the mods done addressed any potential power issues. It sounds like your speakers provide good resolving power as well. Unfortunately for us all, our women sometimes do not hear the huge differences we claim to hear. They do however, provide some perspective though. Nothing that some nice jewelery and major appliances can't offset.
A HUGE power cord difference I made last year was swapping out the OEM power cord from my Art Audio Vinyl phono stage with a used Shunyata Python Alpha. The sound just opened right up, with greater color and dynamics. Pretty much night and day. I put back in the OEM power cord and the soundstage and dynamics closed right down.
- Yipes, sorry but I guess I expect a 4 K phono stage to have a tweaked power supply that should not need the benefit of outboard tweaking to sound it's best. Does the noise suppression of additional regulators, caps and inductors really cost all that much?
I can still hear that the Saturn lacks a little bit of delicacy and air on the top end than I know there to be on certain recordings, and colors are just a hair less vivid. We are talking small percentages here, and, again, it IS a $2500 retail CD player, not a $5000 setup. That $5000 setup I had is no longer twice as good as the Saturn is (I couldn't say that two weeks ago.). I paid considerably less than retail for the Saturn, so I can say that, at this point, I'm happy. Great bang for the buck, so if you can pick up one of these at clearance prices as they are, you'll be getting a really good deal.
- Regardless of cost, I see no reason why a lesser costing player just might sound as good or even better in anyone's system. Sorry to sound like Julian Hirsch here, but at the prices we are discussing, 2 grand on up, simple frequency response differences do come into play. In your instance the more costly one wins out. In mine it just might as well.
What is the rest of your system?
- It is posted.
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