2. digital
  3. 1228808396

dCS Puccini Clock

I had yesterday the oportunity to hear for first time the Puccini clock.

I must admit that I was a little sceptical. The system consisted of:

Howland preamp HP-200 SE
Howland amp RADIA SE
Avalon Indra
Transparent power cleaner / station ?
I can't tell which cables

Well the effect is quite amazing and you can easily recognize it in a blind hearing. If I have to describe it I would say, you become aware of the hall / the space in which the recording has been done. The difference is very noticeable when you switch the clock off, suddenly the music sounds dryer, shorter and the space all around the whole music desapears.

I heard:
Luiz Bonfa plays and sing Bossa Nova (Verve)
Bruckner 4th by Jaap van Zweden (bad SACD & interpretation)
Bruckner 4th by Günter Wand (the last recording)
Ports of Call by Eiji Oue (Ref. Rec. bravo Prof. Johnson you are a great sound engeneer!)

One of these days I will take it home and have a test on my system ... and will make some blind hearing with my wife ;-)

I will report then about the experience.
clavil
arthursmuck
447 posts
 
You have e-mail Clavil!
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,219 posts
 
Arthursmuck,

Definately. ARC CD-7 was already an improvement over the MBL 1531, and Puccini is even better. Another player worth considering with the digital in is Accuphase DP-700 - it is smoother, not as detailed, but overall it is a very good CDP.

Microstrip,

I already had Puccini in my system for a week or so, now I'm gonna have it again, this time with the U-Clock.

Compared to the ARC, Puccini has much better resolution, more air and better HF extension, the harmonic structere of music is better presented, image specify is better (CD-7 is a bit out of focus in comparision), bass is better defined, miscrodynamics and transcient speed are much improved and overall - it just sounds more like live music.

I personally hated the previous dCS offerings - the 8Pi integrated was the worst of them and absolute disaster, sounding very bright and mechanical, but Puccini is a real gem.
arthursmuck
447 posts
 
Thanks Elberoth2! I'm going to CES and have time set up to hear Puccini, Vitus, Stahl Tek and VAC DAC's (just convert the MBL to transport duty) and Lindemann 820S...I'll need to add the Accuphase to my list as well. Hope to narrow it down (show conditions and all) and have a couple in after that to demo down to a final decision, having already heard the Playback designs in my system....
clavil OP
254 posts
 
a british dCS dealer reports big improvements by using MIT cables between the Clock and the Puccini.

Had somebody a similar experience?
elberoth2's avatar
elberoth2
1,219 posts
 
I have been playing with the U-Clock for the past week, but unfortunately, did not hear the difference other ppl reported. The sound may be a bit more smooth and palpable, but differences are very small at best. To give you a proper perspective - I got a much bigger efect from swapping power cords.

I tested the dCS U-Clock as supplied by my dealer - with $2000 Shunyata Anaconda Helix VX PS and Stereovox VX2 BNC-BNC digital cable.

So if the U-Clock was to be judged purely as a clock, its value for money at +$6000 with the supplied cabling has to be regarded as poor. However, the U-Clock has an additional feature - USB->S/PDIF (on RCA) converter, which IMO is exceptional.

It allows to connect a computer through USB out to the Puccini (although due to a certain "soon to be fixed" bug in Puccini software, when in external source mode, Puccini cannot sync to the U-Clock - which, ironicly, is when it needs the external colck THE MOST).

More on the quality of PC-Audio through the U-Clock later. So stay tuned.
More to discover