"Old" vs. "new" digital equipment

Bigtree,Very well written

Hi, Bikecommuter.

You asked a question that has been on my mind as well.

I have a Gen II Theta DS Pre (not DSPro - the Pre includes a passive attenuator for our non-Theta brethren & cistern) fed by a Proceed PDT II. Should I move up the food chain to a Gen Va, & new disc spinner, etc.? So I added a few toys to play with in the interim(and to solve other problems)including:

* TaCT 2.0 RCS DAC (24/96 & well reviewed)to take out the bass humps in my room. It also functions as a preamp)
* Acurus 5.1 Preamp-processor for multi-channel / HT (not S-O-T-A & never really was, but OK for HT)
* Oppo 980H Universal player based on the reveiws.
* Plus two important tweeks I'll mention later.

Here's what I found
The Theta is still a slammin' good machine. While 'different' from the TaCT 2.0, it is every bit as good, especially 'tweaked' (see below).

The Oppo is far inferior as a CDP, especially in bass slam, timing & dynamics. It is quite good, though, on DVD-A & OK on SACD. The Oppo, however, is a wonderful transport, driving any of the other DACs.

Two things REALLY helped the theta (& the TaCT & Acurus for that matter)in the following areas:
*sibilance on female vocals,
*a certain hardness on upper registers of piano when played very dynamically / fortissimo
*Your massed strings :-)
They were:
* Camelot 5.1 Jitter reduction box used between either the Proceed or the Oppo and any of the DACs(Theta's linque & the Genesis Digital lens were also on my shopping list, but the Camelot does 5.1 for surround, so that's where I went)and;
* Musical Fideltiy V3 Tube buffer. (A note of caution here: since I am running the Theta passive pre directly into the amps, the MF may be helping the impedence matching between the Theta & amps more than would be the case with a 'true' preamp. Or maybe it's just cool).

So, not the newest or state-of-the-art, I suppose, but I've improved on the problems mentioned above, plus, added better imaging, more dimensionality & depth of soundstage to the Theta's orginal performance. Still on the 'accurate' side of things, but warmer, sweeter & easier somehow.

In terms of inertia & general laziness, the configuration I use most is the Oppo driving the Camelot & TaCT (for the remote control when watching films & sports on the front projector, passed through the Theta passive attenuator.

Now, shall we talk vinyl??? ;-)

Cheers,

Ken

I agree that the electronics or even cables can easily cause the grainy massed strings. I base my earlier opinion on the fact that I have heard the 3a sigs at the dealers place driven by top notch ARC tube or Rogue gear and state of the art digital. I heard superb sound with jazz and vocals. When I played classical that I am familiar with, this problem was quite evident. I also heard some Triangles at the same place with the same electronics. They were not in the same league as the vandys obviously but the strings were smoother!