Is that the serial number on the bottom right hand of one of your photos? 512059N
My Big system with Concert Fidelity DAC and Amplifiers
- Thread starter CFfan
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Is that the serial number on the bottom right hand of one of your photos? 512059N
Yes, it is right. 512059N. I think that the last “N” in the serial number means that it is NOS 16-bit DAC because my high resolution version has “HR” in the end.
Besides that, I just read the following information in the letter from Masataka Tsuda about Chris Sommovigo preferences in DAC choosing. Here's what he wrote:
“He also loved my NOS-DAC040 and used it for a long time.”
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I use Roon too. My self made music PC is the end point for ROON Nucleus. The signal then goes to the DAC. The signal then goes to the DAC. Even though my DAC is high-resolution, I use the ROON and QOBUZ settings to convert the hires incoming signal to Redbook resolution. I feel this gives me better sound quality than with high-resolution playback.
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Very interesting. So you down sample say 24/192 to 16/44 before sending it to the DAC. I'd never heard of that before. Why would that be better? I'm not doubting it is, I just don't know very much about digital audio and always thought higher bit/sample rates were better than 16/44, all else being equal.
There are actually many amazing things in the world of audio. For example, pressing pause and then playing will change the sound on any digital source, from CD to streaming. This happens because the absolute phase of the sound reverses. This is difficult to hear when playing on our audio systems because they are often not properly connected to the power supply and distort the original sound. This is easier to verify when listening to music on a device that is not connected to the power supply. Try listening to music with vocals through headphones on your smartphone. Notice how the sound changes after a pause, especially the vocal focus, the bass accentuation, and the sense of realism of the playback. I was very fortunate to meet an absolute guru in this matter, who taught me a lot in practice. This is one of his interviews. YouTube allows you to turn on subtitles and translate them into English. This is very useful to watch.
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Vladimir, do you know of any way to get dual output from the CF080 to run mains (Wilson Sasha Vs) and subs (Wilson LoKes)? I'm pretty sure you can't use XLR and RCA outs at the same time. Maybe the only way is a very high quality XLR splitter. I had a cheap one sitting around just to experiment and it was terrible. Can anyone recommend a good one that's not crazy expensive that won't degrade the signal? I love the CF 080 preamp and want to keep it.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
I used this splitter with CF080 in my main bi-amping system before I got ALIZE with two outputs. The sound was very good. Unfortunately CDV-2 splitter has only unbalanced RCA option. I think it possibly to order custom XLR version but it would be not a cheap.
On this video you can see the splitter under CF080.
Vertere acoustics with Grado Epoch. iPhone recording. Well known Satchmo.
Vertere acoustics with Grado Epoch. iPhone recording. Well known Satchmo.
Thank you Vladimir. I ordered a Pine Tree Audio transformer based splitter. I didn't need an electronic crossover per se because the subs (Wilson LoKes) have built in amps and crossovers. I just need to be run two XLR outputs from the CF 080 preamp. I'm hoping this is a quality solution. It wasn't cheap, especially considering I will need another very high quality pair of XLRs but nothing about this hobby is cheap.
This post is remarkable. It attempts to do something admirable and rare; namely try to compare live music to reproduced music in a meaningful way. The criticisms of the technique used are easy (i.e. an iphone recording with its inherently less than SOA quality, etc.) but it is nonetheless an ambitious effort and an even more impressive result as it does indeed demonstrate what we all assume to be true which is that no sound can effectively reproduce live sound accurately. But the effort deserves our applause and gratitude. Kudos! This demonstration reminds me of the legendary efforts by the speaker company Acoustic Research who set up a long running demonstration in Grand Central Station in NYC 50 years ago in which they featured live instruments playing music which was simultaneously recorded and then played back on their speakers to demonstrate the ability to achieve "realistic" sound reproduction in one's home environment using their products.
These comparative efforts would be exactly the sort of demonstrations that we should be hearing more of at the great audio shows we attend.
Remember the "Is it live or is it Memorex" ads of yesteryear?
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Nice system! I very much look forward to hearing how you compare the Wilson LoKe to the big REL Subs you have now. BTW, did you consider the even bigger REL Reference Subs?
Vladimir your system looks and I'm sure sounds as good as it looks, It's pretty neat that Concert Fidelity worked with you to modify their gear to your liking..
Pete
Pete
Thank you Pete for your kind words!
Our collaboration is currently ongoing. I can announce the implementation of a balanced power supply for all components of the system, an external 274-tube power supply for the DAC and preamplifier, and the final version of the ZL200, as stated by Masataka Tsuda. I don't know exactly when this will all be implemented, but it will be realized step by step. I promise to share my impressions and videos with you on this forum.
Patience my friend!
Looking forward to external power supply improvement thoughts..
Thank you!
Didn't really consider the bigger RELs. I lucked out in that the LoKes were available in the same copper finish as the Sashas. A gentleman in NC bought the Sasha Vs and the LoKes from the local Wilson dealer, kept them for a few months, and decided to trade them in and purchase Alexx Vs and a pair of Submerge subs. I bought his Sasha Vs from the dealer about 60 days ago and decided to go for the little brothers as well. A close friend has Alexia Vs and LoKes and he's been banging on me for the past 2 months that adding the LoKes would be a giant leap forward. I got a good deal on them but the LoKes in a custom finish are pretty expensive for subs (~$25k) so I had to think long and hard about it and be extra nice to my wife.
They're not hooked up yet but will be this weekend and someone local has agreed to buy my RELs.
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