psychotropic
Well-Known Member
to stoke up an old debate, is this 'musicality' perhaps euphonics?
Hi Vortex
I do not doubt that with respect to frequency balance and extension and reproduction etc. My concern is Musicality. Have you done A/B comparison of Xonar with a CDP known for it? For example the Marantz CD6002 is musical compared to CA 640V2 which is more sterile and I can vouch for it having heard both. Yes the CA is better in timing and separation but is thinner sounding. And the Marantz sound has a more rounder body heft and weight, besides musicality - in an A/B comparison with and without a tube preamp I found little difference in the tonality of Marantz<>SS pair and the Marantz<>Tube<>SS setup, except for the way the tubes flesh out the sound and 3-dimensionality. I also recently found a post somewhere in which someone modded the Cd67 to add a more expensive clock and the sound came out sterile compared to earlier. All other improvements were there like detail timing and separation but musicality took a hit!!
Likewise my concern is that while one can write paragraphs about the other superior qualities I see few references to these cards being praised for their Musicality and ability to portray Intimacy for example!!
Hence I am keen on the feedback on these qualities.
TIA
Regards