JOB, BelCanto, Perpetual, MilleniumDACs?

hi subaruguru, perhaps ewe should try a toobed preamp - mebbe that's the key to why tubegroover is having better luck w/the belcanto in his system. i know a toobed pre helped my system tremendously - much greater than upgrading my $500 nad cd changer w/either a $1700 alchemist nexus, or a $3500 res-audio cd-55. regarding the belcanto, there's a local guy here that makes & sells tube equipment (really cool, czech out his www: http://www.bws-tube.com/), & he sez he has a mod for the belcanto that will make it smoke *any* dac under $4k - *his* words, not mine. good luck, doug

Suburuguru........whew.......I thought I was loosing my hearing. I'll try not to get distracted by the fact that my DAC 1 is changing Steinway models, (at least it doesn't sound like a Yamaha!) That was a spectacular evaluation and post. Amazingly thorough. I think your problem is those cheap Nordost cables [:)] Please let us know if your cord experiment makes a difference, this might be one of the best proofs for those that are proponents of power cords. I am using the bottom line Blue Circle cord, (about $100,) which is just slightly higher than that $8 job from Bel Canto. What are those guys trying to do? Save us some money? First, the DVD transport and toslink, now an $8 power cord? You have got to love that! Now, if they could just get the price of that SET amp down a little.......Take care and let us know. Charlie

SuburuG, great description of your audition of Bel Canto. I actually hope that you do _not_ experiment with a new power cord (or IC changes) too quickly, because I'd love to hear what you think about the sound you're getting after a week or two passes. That's 'cause I think the psychoacoustic theory about perceived tilting-up of spectral balance after increasing the resolution of the system holds water. I mean, I don't know about your situation in specific, but in general a system with lower resolving power might give mid- and high-range sounds a certain "thickness" that seems comforting when one is used to it and when taken away makes the new sound seem lean and "whitish". (I don't know why this would give a "smeary" sound, which you also mentioned, though.) This perceived effect might change, however, after the brain no longer hears the new sound as "new." Maybe the new sound will sound purer and more emotional, and the old sound will sound veiled -- stranger things have happened! For sure, it's tough to remain objective through this kind of listening process. Still, sometimes I think just leaving things alone and forgetting about the stereo for awhile yields these occasional realizations that, "hey, this is sounding different in such-and-such a way," that are truer to long-term listening happiness than focused A/B-ing, which also can drive one nuts. Anyway, it'd be interesting to see if your perceptual response changes with the passage of a little time.