CA 650A + CA DACMagic + Mezzo 6

I am almost finalized my stereo setup...

Denon CDA 710AE CP player + NAD 325BEE amp + DAli Ikon 6.

Any suggestions especialy on the CD Player and AMP front???

Hi
Are you buying this in Bangalore? Can you tell me from where you are getting the NAD and the Ikon's?

thanks
sridhar
 
Miany - please do not expect a better CD player to make your MP3s sound better. In most cases, the reverse is true. Once you better your system, your MP3s may not sound better. If MP3s are going to be the most used resources then why not consider a DVD player such as CA DVD99 or Oppo?
 
Hi
Are you buying this in Bangalore? Can you tell me from where you are getting the NAD and the Ikon's?

thanks
sridhar

Off topic but Sridhar, I like your new signature. Makes it easy for people to go to the websites of the companies you are dealing with, in my opinion.
 
thevortex,
The quality of the DAC can always improve the sounding of MP3, right? Thats what i was referring to when i mentioned CD player. I dont know about CADVD99 or OPPO :(. Can u tell how different and useful that will be? Also, i am particularly interested in CD Players with USB input, where it will be easy for me to carry the mp3 music.

Sridhar,
I have not decided on the dealer yet. I will consult ARN also befoer finalizing the deal:). Whoever is giving me the best price, i will take the product from them :) I will send u a private message :)
 
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Hi Miany
I only asked since I checked with Ali at ARN Systems (the person who usually handles both Dali and NAD) whether anyone had come in for an audition for such a pairing as you seem to have decided without hearing this. Moreover, as far as I know we are the only dealers for these brands in Bangalore (unless you have heard them elsewhere ofcourse). There are other speakers in that price range which you may want to check out if you go to the showroom. I would highly recommend that you keep an open mind with regards to the components you want to buy.
As far as best price goes, I am pretty sure we dont fall into that camp. So if the best price is the deciding factor, we arent probably the ones to do it. If you want (and assured of) good service, then come on by

cheers
 
thevortex,
The quality of the DAC can always improve the sounding of MP3, right? Thats what i was referring to when i mentioned CD player. I dont know about CADVD99 or OPPO :(. Can u tell how different and useful that will be? Also, i am particularly interested in CD Players with USB input, where it will be easy for me to carry the mp3 music.

Sridhar,
I have not decided on the dealer yet. I will consult ARN also befoer finalizing the deal:). Whoever is giving me the best price, i will take the product from them :) I will send u a private message :)

There are two things about music, Miany - speaking from my very limited experience. There is equipment which try all the time to make music sound nicer than it is. Higher highs, lower lows, more of everything, bright and attention grabbing. And then there is equipment which tries to produce live music as far as possible and give the listeners a taste of the presence of the musicians.

Which one you like is upto you. I dont think a CD Player or a DAC will help make your MP3s sound nicer. And this is actually a function of your whole chain - not just your DAC.
 
thevortex,
so u mean to say that every CD player will decode the MP3 almost the same and feed to your amp??

I agree that MP3 is a lossy compression format and whatever circus u do, u cant make it back to the original WAV quality. But, Since majority of my music is in that format, i was wondering if using a superior CD player with superior DAC (24/192) can make it "NICER" ? I agree it wont be be still comparable to the original. But, will be better than listening to your normal 320Kbps stuff??
 
Sridhar,
Yes, I am yet to hear the combination. My brother did the audition (outside bangalore) and said he is really impressed with it. Thats y i am thinking of going for this one. I have also spoken to Mr.Ali and he said he wil give me a call once he has the stock.
 
Miany, I donno if a superior dac will make mp3s sound better. But DACs do make your mp3s sound better. I dont know whether the denon or marantz will do a better job.
 
MP3s - especially the low bit rate ones, I dont believe, can be made to sound 'better'. You throw more high end equipment at them, you are probably going to hear the sound, warts and all.

Perhaps you might get a smidgen more clarity, but what use is the clarity when it only reveals the flaws in the source file itself? I just feel that your expense in the new DAC or CD Player would only be wasted if you were to listen to MP3 files most of the time. There are other simpler ways to enjoy MP3 files per se - headphones, iPod, even a simple Creative Soundblaster sound card etc. Just my thought.
 
Bala, True, details lost in compression cannot be 'recreated' by a DAC. And as your set up becomes more revealing, any flaws in the source file would be transparent.
But somehow Rallynuts Keces DAC did do a good job with mp3s on Suri's rig.
 
Actually iaudio I understand exactly what you mean. When I got my first Creative sound card I had turned on a feature called 'Crystallizer' that they had. Believe me, my jaw dropped when I heard music on that with my MX5021 computer desktop speakers. But after one week of this, my ears could not take it. I switch back to normal mode (without any of the funky processing) and it was an absolute relief.

Some of these things become apparent only after living with the sound for sometime. What might be immediately impressive may not be what you want to live with :). As you know, this is applicable for all things human.

Nevertheless I have not heard the KECES DAC. So if you say it did do a good job, thats great. Then it should be a good value for money solution for people looking to setup a computer based system.
 
yeah. even i am not going for diamond 9.6. Auditioned it after listening to some other speakers, didnt like that at all!!!
 
yeah. even i am not going for diamond 9.6. Auditioned it after listening to some other speakers, didnt like that at all!!!

Hi,
Has anybody compared Wharfdale 9.5 with 9.6?

I heard somewhere that for rock music, its midrange and bass is better /tighter than 9.6. Please share your experience.

Regds,
 
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