In hooking up my new Krell processor, I spoke to Krell engineers and my local dealer for advice concerning a few details.
One situation that was discussed is the best method to connect my CD transport (Denon 3800 Blu-ray player) to the Krell S-1200 for CD playback. Krell advised the use of the coaxial cable, stating that it is a lower jitter connection. My dealer stated that they had heard about the comparative jitter issue, but still preferred the HDMI cable for CD playback.
I carefully auditioned both connections, and agree with my dealer that the HDMI provides better CD sound quality. The coaxial sounded a bit more bloated in the upper/mid bass, with less frequency extension at both ends of the spectrum. The HDMI opened up the soundstage and allowed more of the unique timbers of instruments to come through. Since it is the same DACs in the Krell being used, the only difference was the cables used.
I am somewhat surprised at this result, but have no complaints about the resulting sound quality. Can anyone shed any light on why they feel there is such a not-subtle difference in sound quality between the two connections? Is this something to do with clocking, etc.?
The levels were matched as well as I could without measurement equipment, and the results were the same even when I purposely made the coaxial connection a bit louder than the HDMI.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I will be comparing the analog outputs of the 3800 for CD playback as well, but the DACs there and following analog stage are probably not up to the standard of the Krell's circuitry.
Lee
One situation that was discussed is the best method to connect my CD transport (Denon 3800 Blu-ray player) to the Krell S-1200 for CD playback. Krell advised the use of the coaxial cable, stating that it is a lower jitter connection. My dealer stated that they had heard about the comparative jitter issue, but still preferred the HDMI cable for CD playback.
I carefully auditioned both connections, and agree with my dealer that the HDMI provides better CD sound quality. The coaxial sounded a bit more bloated in the upper/mid bass, with less frequency extension at both ends of the spectrum. The HDMI opened up the soundstage and allowed more of the unique timbers of instruments to come through. Since it is the same DACs in the Krell being used, the only difference was the cables used.
I am somewhat surprised at this result, but have no complaints about the resulting sound quality. Can anyone shed any light on why they feel there is such a not-subtle difference in sound quality between the two connections? Is this something to do with clocking, etc.?
The levels were matched as well as I could without measurement equipment, and the results were the same even when I purposely made the coaxial connection a bit louder than the HDMI.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I will be comparing the analog outputs of the 3800 for CD playback as well, but the DACs there and following analog stage are probably not up to the standard of the Krell's circuitry.
Lee