APL NWO2.5 ?

11-01-06: Kelsey228
I find the APL NWO 2.5 very interesting, and feel it must be an awesome machine. But the fact that product is so expensive and info is so scarce, it seems remarkable to me that anyone would purchase one of these units to ever know how good it was. You talk about a leap of faith, a $20000 one at that.

That's a reasonable objection. Perhaps, APL HiFi might consider offering a refund of round trip economy airfare (...say up to $500?) for those who travel to APL HiFi in California to audition the NWO 2.5 player and who subsequently place an order.

I also owned an APL Denon 3910 with Crystal DACs and then with AKM
DACs. If 2 is 100% more than 1, and if the Crystal DACs were a one,
then the AKM DACs were a 1.25 or a 1.5. 25% or 50% improvement is an
enormous jump in audio terms. We are usually happy with single digit
percentage improvements. Were the AKM DACs 100% better than the
Crystal DACs? Not in my opinion.

As they say, YMMV, and everyone's continuum is different.

No problem Brainwater. You offered your perspective and I offered mine.
Your explanation of which AKM DAC revision I had certainly goes a long
way to explain the difference I perceived betweeen the Crystal and AKM
DACs.

Kumbaya.

When evaluating used APL Denon 3910 players, how does one determine
which AKM DAC revision is installed? And, how does one compare the
value of a used APL Denon 3910 with AKM DAC revision #6 versus, say,
a used APL Denon 3910 with AKM DAC revision #13?

I believe the revisions #2-#14 are on the AKM DACs from the AKM
factory. They are not APL modification revisions. Whether the AKM
revisions were made at the request of APL for use in the APL products I
do not know. Perhaps APL will comment.

:)

Which APL offering may be good enough to outperform the Capitole hands down. Also , is there any general feelings on XLR vs RCA for the APL.
Fjn04 (Threads | Answers)

APL Denon 3910 with Balanced Output option. Last I knew this player cost $6500 and the balanced outputs were at additional cost.

It will outperform your Capitole hands down, IMO.

Eureka!