Rich's system (New Guy)

[FlyhiG]

Way better than a decent system. Top notch!

[New guy]

George and FlyhiG,

Thanks for the kind words.

Rich

[New guy]

Hello All,

I had the summer itch so I temporary cured it with upgrading. I have replaced the ARC CD 8 with the latest CD 9. I am also playing around with a Berkeley Alpha DAC 2 with the its USB converter. Both are sounding really nice

Here are photos of the new toys.





Rich

[cmalak]

Rich...very cool and congrats on the new digital toys Once the CD-9 is broken in, I would love to hear your compare thoughts with the CD8 it replaces. Also, I am assuming the CD-9 also has slits on the top cover to help with ventilation from the tubes, in which case I would not leave the BADA DAC on top of it covering the slits. Just my 2c

[New guy]

Cyril,

The BADA 2 is sitting on top of the ARC DAC8 which runs pretty cool. The CD 9 is way too hot and it's a top loader so nothing can be stacked on top of it.
The Cd9 has 500-600 hours on it so it should be broken in. I will do a comparison with the CD8 tomorrow when a few audiophile friends come over.

Rich

[cma29]

Originally Posted by New guy

Cyril,

The BADA 2 is sitting on top of the ARC DAC8 which runs pretty cool. The CD 9 is way too hot and it's a top loader so nothing can be stacked on top of it.
The Cd9 has 500-600 hours on it so it should be broken in. I will do a comparison with the CD8 tomorrow when a few audiophile friends come over.

Rich

Can I come over too? The system looks and must sound awesome. Congratulations.

[Ritmo]

Very nice Rich! How do you like the CD9 so far? How do the CD9 and Berkley compare to the DAC8?

Thanks!

[kfr01]

Rich --- beautiful, beautiful, beautiful system!

I can tell you have put a lot of thought into the ability to have a high performing system for two channel AND HT: Kick ass Krell for HT; Refined ARC Ref. 250s for the stereo front.

I am with Mike, how's the Berkeley relative to the DAC9, DAC8, and the Esoteric K-03 DAC section? Awesome to have access to so many top DACs in the same system.

Cheers

[New guy]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

The four of us did some comparison between the CD8, CD9 and K-03 as a CD player and it's DAC.

As for CD player, the CD9 was ranked first, CD8 - second and Esoteric K-03 third.

As for DAC - Berkeley DAC 2 - ranked first, CD9 second, K-03 third and DAC8 fourth.

CD comparison:
CD8 and CD9 sounded very similar except the highs were a bit more extended with the CD9. The K-03 has really good low end and highs but most of my friends didn't think the music was emotional involving as the CD8 and CD9. Maybe it's the tubes and synergy with all ARC equipment.

DAC comparison:
As for DAC comparison, everyone preferred the BADA. It just sounded a bit more natural with its slight laid back soundstage and leaner sound. The background seems quieter with the BADA. The instruments had a sharper edge or more defined, particularly with strings, but it was never too bright.
The CD9 DAC was pretty close to the BADA, but the overall soundstage is slightly more forward. The K-03 DAC and DAC 8 sound similar, both have big soundstage with forward imaging.
All four DACS are pretty good and there is very little that separates them. It comes down to preference and system matching.

Rich

[Ritmo]

Rich,

Sounds like it was a good time with audio friends. Thanks for sharing the observations.