Let's Help A Music Lover Make A Big Difference

Phelonious Ponk · Aug 15, 2014

microstrip said:
Tim,

Now I really see why the Oppo was included from start ... I could not understand why you had started with a $1200 source in such system!

Not the balanced outputs, which are easy enough to convert, so much as the value. In this system, that $1200 source is universal optical transport, top quality asynchronous DAC, headphone amp and preamp. A lot bang for $1200 worth of bucks. Tone control would be nice, but the Dynas have low/mid/high filters that will allow for enough tuning...

Tim

Audio_Karma · Aug 15, 2014

Phelonious Ponk said:
Not the balanced outputs, which are easy enough to convert, so much as the value. In this system, that $1200 source is universal optical transport, top quality asynchronous DAC, headphone amp and preamp. A lot bang for $1200 worth of bucks. Tone control would be nice, but the Dynas have low/mid/high filters that will allow for enough tuning...

Tim

Tim , Don't you just love it when Magic Happens....

Phelonious Ponk · Aug 15, 2014

Audio_Karma said:
Tim , Don't you just love it when Magic Happens....

That's design, engineering and value, AK, not magic.

Tim

Audio_Karma · Aug 15, 2014

Phelonious Ponk said:
That's design, engineering and value, AK, not magic.

Tim

Tim , It might just shock you what magic can be had with value gear, you just have to think inside the box to bring it out........

rblnr · Aug 16, 2014

I think 'he' needs to go listen to speakers up to $2600 or so (I'm getting here by selling the JBLs and Oppo at half price on Agon.). Now we have around $3400 to play with. He needs to figure out if there is another presentation he likes better than the JBLs. This is where major change can occur. He could go a little higher than $2500 if the Cambridge is up to the task of driving this new speaker. Point here is speakers are where it's at, and you have to find if there's something out there that is worth it to you to rebuild around. I can think of a few amp/dacs for less than $800 from NAD and others (possibly Cambridge) that have more power if necessary. Cheap out on the transport and Belden is fine.

The above, and of course, room treatment

LL21 · Aug 16, 2014

rblnr said:
I think 'he' needs to go listen to speakers up to $2600 or so (I'm getting here by selling the JBLs and Oppo at half price on Agon.). Now we have around $3400 to play with. He needs to figure out if there is another presentation he likes better than the JBLs. This is where major change can occur. He could go a little higher than $2500 if the Cambridge is up to the task of driving this new speaker. Point here is speakers are where it's at, and you have to find if there's something out there that is worth it to you to rebuild around. I can think of a few amp/dacs for less than $800 from NAD and others (possibly Cambridge) that have more power if necessary. Cheap out on the transport and Belden is fine.

The above, and of course, room treatment

Totally with you (speaking for my own personal tastes here of course)...I would go NAD + Apogee Stages + Velodyne DD12+ Sub...both 2nd hand. Darn close to 2K for the speaker set and then trading in the JBL for what someone was suggested as $500...to get a 2nd hand NAD...run the Oppo thru it...

FrantzM · Aug 16, 2014

LL21 said:
Totally with you (speaking for my own personal tastes here of course)...I would go NAD + Apogee Stages + Velodyne DD12+ Sub...both 2nd hand. Darn close to 2K for the speaker set and then trading in the JBL for what someone was suggested as $500...to get a 2nd hand NAD...run the Oppo thru it...

Not sure that the NAD would drive the Apogee very well.

LL21 · Aug 16, 2014

FrantzM said:
Not sure that the NAD would drive the Apogee very well.

Fair point...perhaps then with the $2K budget, you could spend just $1250 on the Apogee Stages (skip the sub) and have $750 + $500 JBL trade-in money...and $1250 probably buys a good CJ SS 2nd hand amp (the old 2500) or something with enough juice. The upper bass wallop of the Apogees was quite satisfying (even for me, a bit of a bass freak).

I wonder if the old Forte 4 Class A 50watt amp could drive the Apogee Stages? Those run about $900...and with $350 leftover, you could save it or put it elsewhere in the system.

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Let's Help A Music Lover Make A Big Difference

Phelonious Ponk

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