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Hi everyone may i ask how much you think it will be a fair price for a used accuphase dp-65v cd player in pristine condition? thanks

So pretty soon I'll have an ECD-1 in the house, which means I'll be able to compare it to the North Star m192 mk2. I've heard such great things about the ECD-1 that I just impulsively pulled the trigger when I saw it on the 'gon. But I also have grown very fond of the North Star. It will be fun to compare. I'll save this space for my impressions...

John Westlake (formerly of Cambridge and Pink Triangle IIRC, though I am not sure of all of his history) posted a link to a DAC that he designed recently using the ESS Sabre DAC as the basis: Signal Path International - Era Speakers & Peachtree Audio - Introducing Nova Reference thread on diyaudio: diyAudio Forums - Da-capo issue (John W?) - Page 16 Might be a good option for those interested in the Sabre but not up to building your own. EDIT: John Westlake seems to know his shit from all I have seen from him on a couple of forums so I would think anything he is involved in would be worth a listen. I have not heard this DAC (and wouldn't be the one to judg…

I had occasion to open up my ECD-1 a few nights ago to dim the bright blue LEDs, and I thought I'd take some pictures. I didn't have the proper hex wrenches for the digital section, so the aluminum cover remains in place for now. Should anyone be dying to see it, I'll happily pop it back open. The external hex bolts were a bitch to get off, so I had to dremel two of them into flathead bolts. Having done that, the cover comes off easy now

Hey- Bit of a bummer. Got my Quad CDP-2 on Monday, and a problem manifested itself late Wednesday evening. Large amounts of distortion started coming out of the left channel. I tried everything: switching interconnects, switching inputs on my amp, different digital cables (even though the distortion is also present when playing a CD), different power cords, and different power outlets. The distortion is present out of both the fixed and variable outputs of the CDP-2. Its not the speakers, because my 840C and TT perform fine. The weird thing is the distortion doesn't show up until the player has been playing for 3-4 hours. I'm starting to feel crazy, because …

At Auriculares.org, the Spanish headphones forum a mate has posted a link to an Ebay shop in Taiwan. They sell a NOS DAC with USB and coax inputs, which doesn't look bad at all and is selling for USD180. I wonder if any of you have tried that unit or has some reliable third party opinions. I'd be glad reading them

Have you ever tried one? Looks like siriouse 20kg shit to me, isnt?

...to either replace or chain off of my 0404 usb. Music: Rock and Electronic, not much jazz or folk or acoustic, the occasional classical listen. Amps: aside from the 0404 are a Rockhopper M^3, a Gilmore Lite Headphones are: HD650, K601, DT250, K271. Long, wordy version: I'd need it to either have toslink or coax inputs, or if usb only be able to fully replace the I/O functionality of an 0404 usb - I make use of the analog in and occasionally the second digitial input (it will mix the usb and spdif inputs). This unfortunately rules out the duet, as it won't play nice with everything else. Keeping the 0404 is fine by me, though. I had an eye on the amp-le…

I have managed to score a Rega Planar 3 for about $US70 which I think ? is a good deal. It doesn't have a tonearm, but is otherwise is in good working condition. This was somewhat of an impulse buy, as bloody usual. And I am just about to prove my ignorance of all things vinyl. This will be hooked to a WOO 2. So I am going to need a tonearm, cartridge and a Phono stage of some sort. I am willing to spend a few hundred on each. So a few questions:- Is the Rega RB300 a good tonearm for the money?? I have seen different opinions here and on the other site. I could be very easily persuaded to look at other options. What is a suitable cartridge to go with the RB300 …

I've owned the VDA2+VAC1 for about a year now, and there are two criticisms from The Great DAC Search thread that I agree with: that the rendering of more complex passages can be somewhat "messy", and a little 'raw' sounding from my perspective; and that there is a bit of "shrillness" audible in the top end at times. It doesn't help that my speakers are not very forgiving either. I know the VDA2 is a good DAC--it wiped the floor with the OMZ DAC I owned--and I may be nit-picking a bit--but I was wondering if there is anything else at this price point (used or otherwise) that would be a better selection for my system. Admittedly I haven't compared the VDA2 to much else.…

AudiogoN ForSale: Nottingham Horizon with Benz I've never heard a Nottingham table in my life before, but this deal looks decent. I remember Mike and someone else here had Nottingham tables, but it's a table much higher up in the product line, but does Nottingham have a family sound?

Denon's DVD-A1UD: world's first universal (SACD / DVD-A) Blu-ray player - Engadget SACD, DVD-A and Blu-ray player... for the small sum of $6k

Bel Canto USB Link 24/96 Debuts

I've been looking for an external DAC and found this Blue Circle Audio. Haven't been able to find out much about it. One Soundstage review which didn't say much. Sketchy on detail. I haven't been able to determine the chip used. Not much info on forums regarding this DAC. Talked to a dealer yesterday and apparently it's not selling well. Introduced in March, 2007 so it's been out awhile. Has anyone heard this? Or maybe the BC501? Any thoughts other than it is butt ugly? BC owners seem to be a rabid bunch and repeat buyers, which is saying something. The dealer network seems pretty much composed of TV repair guys. Now there's an industry that's just about gone. Not…

It is probably fairly lame by most standards here, but there is an interesting article on PC audio that has just been published on my favourite PC tech site, Anandtech. It particularly caught my eye in that the test involved a Twisted Pair Opus in dual mono config......

Anyone have any experience with the Sony XDR-F1HD tuner? Lots of positive reviews: The Audio Critic Sony XDR-F1HD David's DX Website - Sony XDR-F1HD Radio Review ... but wondering if anyone here has one?

Universal Audio | 2192

I have searched but seems hard to find any professional review, however didnt find anything bad as well, but still not that much. Came acros used one and willing to hear more impressions, if possible please, especially in my system. Produkte - CD-Spieler 1 THX.

Can someone recommend something cheap I can use as an external USB Amp/DAC for testing purposes? Looking for something under 50 bucks.

So I've been thinking (with a little help from some of the discussions here) of seeing what vinyl has to offer and it turns out I can get hold of this table for less than the replacement price of just the Virtuoso cartridge it comes with. Financial considerations aside, though, would this be a decent place to plant a flag? I believe it's an upgraded and rebadged Clearaudio Emotion table and it comes with their Satisfy tonearm and aforementioned MM cartridge. Michael Fremer and Robert Greene both gave it good write-ups a few years back, for what that's worth.

Actual impressions to come later, only a pic for now. Plinius is less deep and slightly shorter, and the curves are sharper on it.

So here's my pickle. I am currently running my Apple Airport Express through my DAC1 using the AE's optical out. However, if I wanted to use a USB DAC, I would need a converter for the SPDIF--->USB conversion, correct? I'm aware that such things exist, but I'm wondering: a) Do they actually work well in practice, and Would such a converter work coming off the AE instead of directly out of a PC? In other words, most of the converters I have come across tend to have a PC in the mix, which indicates to me that maybe there's a driver issue. But I don't know shit, so help me out.

Has anyone heard the Esoteric D70? I'm thinking of buying one used for ~$1500. It seems like a nice deal to me, but I've heard that it is on the cold/analytical side. I'm a little worried that it might sound too cold/analytical/sterile with my Headamp KGSS and SR-007. Also, it seems that Esoteric isn't very well-liked here. What is the reason for this? Any information on this unit would be greatly appreciated.

I finally spent some time critically listening to my recently-modded (by a Head-Caser, who shall remain anonymous) CA Azur 640C V2 after putting it off for far too long. Mods to the CDP included: - caps on main power, secondary, filter input, filter output, and de-coupling rolled to Rubycon Black Gates (not sure what was in place before) - 5 filter op-amps socketed and rolled to National LME49720 (from stock TI NE5532) - WIMA 0.1uF C0G cap inserted across the rails Before: (click for larger) After: (click for larger) And How Does It Sound? I tried to replicate my original 2006/07 setup as best as I could. The original setup back then was:…

Listening to one right now... sounds excellent for the cost (~$25) and time spent building (~3 hours). I wish the position on the PCB where the coupling caps are could alternately accommodate a PCB mini-jack, as I'd prefer to use input coupling caps on each of my amplifiers (as opposed to the output coupling caps on the Bantam)..... this way I could tune the input cap values to the impedance of the specific amp I'd be using. Probably the output caps are more idiot-proof though. I've tried both the suggested Wima and Black Gate coupling caps and now prefer a pair of blue OS-CON caps that I stole off of swt61's old Opus More info: BantamDAC Overview