Spectral SDR-4000SV

[bonzo75]

Appreciate any more comments on the Rossini and the spectral 30 SV, both excellent players, probably no clear cut one better than the other. VEry few have heard the 30sv, and the only down side, besides only being a player , is that it may be so accurate that a bad cd will sound bad vs a more euphoric presentation on the Rossini . A well recorded cd will sound good on either.

The Spectral CD player was too badly beaten by a Feickert Firebird with an Etna, and the Vivaldi stack was traded in for a Lampi

 

[microstrip]

The Spectral CD player was too badly beaten by a Feickert Firebird with an Etna, and the Vivaldi stack was traded in for a Lampi

A pity I was not in the neighborhood to get the Vivaldi - I would happily offer two Lampi's for a complete Vivaldi stack!

 

[bonzo75]

A pity I was not in the neighborhood to get the Vivaldi - I would happily offer two Lampi's for a complete Vivaldi stack!

That happens if you use price and not sonics for comparison

 

[PeterA]

Ack, I appreciate your review of the Rossini Player and am glad you had a chance to hear it in your own system. As this is a Spectral thread, do you think it makes sense to copy your Rossini write up and also post it in the Rossini thread? I think some people may not find it over here.

I would also be interested in your thoughts about a direct comparison between the new Spectral Player and the Rossini in your system. Are you planning to audition the Spectral at home?

 

[ack]

You can link to what I wrote in the Rossini thread - but I am not following that thread. I intend to audition the Spectral at home at some point soon.

 

[microstrip]

That happens if you use price and not sonics for comparison

Fortunately my decisions are taken on sonics and my preferences, not on forum opinions. But I highly praise forums for the information they make available to readers.

 

[Al M.]

Thanks a lot, Ack, for the detailed review. It is always good to see different viewpoints, especially when they are as well presented as in your review.

When I auditioned the Rossini at Goodwin's together with Peter A., I admired the natural sound from the unit. Yet I had also wondered if what I heard was euphonically colored. But then I decided against the idea, see this post:

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...win-s-High-End&p=380325&viewfull=1#post380325

It will be interesting to see if I feel compelled or not to re-assess my impressions once I audition at home.

Unlike you I thought French horns sounded amazing on the Rossini, as did brass in general.

Also, I found there was nothing polite about the sound. On one jazz CD that we listened to the French horn brutally shreds through the music at some point, and the violence of this event came through with much more rawness than on the other units, and than on my Berkeley Alpha DAC at home.

 

[ack]

The Rossini is plenty dynamic, and polite refers to rounded leading edges. It was quite obvious to me in a number of cases (like the piano hammer strikes I mentioned), but I also noticed it in unexpected places, like Rebecca Pidgeon's voice where there is a momentary growl/grunt in her voice, which was much more polite and subdued from the Rossini than my Alpha. Overall, I think this player will mate well with your system, and you will love the added weight in the bottom end. BTW, if you want to audition the player, do it now before it goes to another dealer.

 

[Al M.]

Great report! As for the Spectral's "closed, dead-end architecture," that's exactly what some of us are seeking! DSD? Who cares. Downloads? No thank you. Hi-rez? Good luck finding the music you want. So...based on what you've already said, I really look forward to what you're going to say about the 4000SV.

Agree. DSD, hi-rez do not interest me. Getting the most out of the digital standard medium CD does. That's where all the music is.

 

[Al M.]

The Rossini is plenty dynamic, and polite refers to rounded leading edges.

This assessment confuses me, because it is not what I heard, see for example my remark about the shredding French horn in my post # 87.

I guess other people need to decide for themselves when they get the chance to audition the unit.

 

[ack]

This assessment confuses me, because it is not what I heard, see for example my remark about the shredding French horn in my post # 87.

I guess other people need to decide for themselves when they get the chance to audition the unit.

Well, there are more contradicting opinions than that... I just read your last post in the Rossini thread, and I would agree that the sound is "Full", but "Natural"??? Not when I can't get voices to sound natural.

 

[Audiocrack]

Most likely we do hear differently or at least have different tastes Rudy, I can only speak about what I heard so far.

david

Sure David, and that is quite allright. Quite likely we will not like eachother audio systems. I for once have never liked any of the horns I listened to in my 35-40 years audio journey (Tommy Horning horns are the only horn loudspeakers I could more or less appreciate) but I love eg the Continuum Caliburn turntable when it is set up rightly. If I remember correctly you do not like the Continuum at all but you appreciate the Techdas turntable, a vinyl play back system that does not appeal to me (although I must confess I have never heard the latter under controlled circumstances). Luckily we are free to choose and enjoy are own audio toys!

 

[Audiocrack]

In part you make my point - you had to get a server and DAC from the same manufacturer to get a very good digital system. It seems that source synergy to the DAC (it is the only name I can find for this magic property is fundamental in digital playback. I have to say that my interest is mainly CD (redbook). Considering only redbook do you prefer this Lampizator system to the Trinity?

Hi Micro,

I cannot play redbook through the Lampi chain (my Lampi computer does not accept cd's). But I still love my Zanden cd-combo for red book replay, although my Zanden combo is not a regular Zanden combo anymore after Marcel Croeze's - former head of Goldmund's technical department and a famous name in the Dutch audio scene ( I refer to the thread on Henk's modified amps for playing with his Apogee Grands) - work on it. He installed inter alia a (much) better clock.

Trinity combo is for me still the one to beat for pcm replay and I really like what it is doing with red book in my Genesis set up.

You might be right about system energy as regards computer-dac combo's. Can only speak for the Lampi combo that I really like, although the latter is less 'honest' than the Trinity or - in other words - has more a sound of its own. But with really good files and top notch tubes (and a world class usb cable) the lampi makes me enjoy music for many hours in a row.

You might

 

[LL21]

Hi Micro,

I cannot play redbook through the Lampi chain (my Lampi computer does not accept cd's). But I still love my Zanden cd-combo for red book replay, although my Zanden combo is not a regular Zanden combo anymore after Marcel Croeze - former head of Goldmund's technical department and a famous name in the Dutch audio scene ( I refer to the thread on Henk's modified amps for playing with his Apogee Grands) work on it. He installed inter alia a (much) better clock.

Trinity combo is for me still the one to beat for pcm replay and I really like what it is doing with red book in my Genesis set up.

You might be right about system energy as regards computer-dac combo's. Can only speak for the Lampi combo that I really like, although the latter is less 'honest' than the Trinity or - in other words - has more a sound of its own. But with really good files and too notch tubes (and a world class usb cable) the lampi makes me enjoy music for many hours in a row.

You might

Hi Audiocrack - great to hear about your 'upgrade' to the Zanden clock...i have heard someone else having that done and it was a special version in his mind as well. Can you describe what was done, and what the improvements are? Most curious!

 

[bonzo75]

Hi Audiocrack, this is amazing - we both stumbled across Marcel, me through apogee search and you through your Zanden? Wow! He must be a genius. I think I am going to get some normal SS amp and send it to him to mod for my apogees. Thumbs up to Dutch DIY - Marcel, Henk, Judy Spotheim (SPJ Alba)...

 

[PeterA]

This assessment confuses me, because it is not what I heard, see for example my remark about the shredding French horn in my post # 87.

I guess other people need to decide for themselves when they get the chance to audition the unit.

Al, remember that we heard the Rossini DAC with Moon transport rather than the Rossini player, and it was in a system and room different from how ack heard it. What struck me most about the difference between the Rosinni DAC and the Berkeley Ref DAC and Spectral player was the Rossini's continuity and natural presentation of the notes. This effected timbral realism, dynamics, accuracy and everything else.

The Rossini may have exhibited some euphonic signature, though I did not hear it that day with our CDs, and you did not mention hearing it either. The other two units sounded distorted by comparison and much less convincing in what I thought was a very transparent Magico/Spectral/MIT system.

There is no substitute for hearing a component in one's own system, and I agree with ack that you should consider borrowing it before it moves to another dealership.

 

[ddk]

Dear Rudy,
Don't jump to conclusion so fast I'm sure that we can find many appealing things about our various systems. We are now talking about digital and specifically computer audio, there are many people who love it and probably just as many who don't. This is something with very specific character and qualities of its own independent of any equipment or system.

david

Sure David, and that is quite allright. Quite likely we will not like eachother audio systems. I for once have never liked any of the horns I listened to in my 35-40 years audio journey (Tommy Horning horns are the only horn loudspeakers I could more or less appreciate) but I love eg the Continuum Caliburn turntable when it is set up rightly. If I remember correctly you do not like the Continuum at all but you appreciate the Techdas turntable, a vinyl play back system that does not appeal to me (although I must confess I have never heard the latter under controlled circumstances). Luckily we are free to choose and enjoy are own audio toys!

 

[ddk]

David,

What was the resolution and sampling rate of the master on glass media?

I never asked, I assume it was either 96 or 192. Wish he had a 44.1 recording too, then we could actually compare the masters and CD transfers without downsampling in a meaningful way.


david

 

[ack]

So a while ago, I settled on volume setting 53.0 on my Alpha, because it sounded a little glassy and euphonic at the recommended 55.0 setting. Well, at times the Rossini reminds of the Alpha at max gain, 60.0, when it comes to presentation, though the Alpha sounds more congested at that setting

 

[Al M.]

Al, remember that we heard the Rossini DAC with Moon transport rather than the Rossini player,

Good point, Peter.

and it was in a system and room different from how ack heard it. What struck me most about the difference between the Rosinni DAC and the Berkeley Ref DAC and Spectral player was the Rossini's continuity and natural presentation of the notes. This effected timbral realism, dynamics, accuracy and everything else.

Agreed.

The Rossini may have exhibited some euphonic signature, though I did not hear it that day with our CDs, and you did not mention hearing it either.

Yes, because I concluded that it was not euphonic, and you obviously didn't hear such characteristic either.

The other two units sounded distorted by comparison and much less convincing in what I thought was a very transparent Magico/Spectral/MIT system.

Agreed again.

There is no substitute for hearing a component in one's own system, and I agree with ack that you should consider borrowing it before it moves to another dealership.

I don't know why it should move to another dealership. In any case, I just had a great, exhilarating music session at home, and I am happy with what I have right now.

The old tubes must have been shot badly (they measured disastrously according to my tube expert where the amp was for repair); with the new tubes my highs are back, and the bass is oh so tight! The fantastic rhythm of the Berkeley Alpha DAC 2 was just infectious today, I did a lot of foot-tapping (and other more crazy stuff).