Electrocompaniet EMC1 CDP owner's suggestions

Jm88439, this is probably going to sound like a dumb question, but what's the difference between an XLR-RCA cable and an RCA-XLR cable? I'm assuming you're going from the balanced outs of the EMC to RCA inputs of your preamp, correct? Thanks for your comments regarding the player. I wasn't aware of the cheap parts qoutient, but I do like the sound they make together. Regarding the Spider clamp, haven't I seen a dealer on Audiogon advertising the clamps @ $350? I assumed this meant they were available, but I have to confess that $350 is awfully steep for a glorified puck.

Agreed, it's the sound that counts, but the price tag does too when you're on the poorer side of audiophoolishness. Seems to me, it doesn't need to cost quite so much. But then, what does in this hobby? I have great admiration for companies like BAT. Their components aren't inexpensive by any standards, but one look under the hood and you can see why. To this day I miss the bloom of the D5. And what it did with voices was fantastic. I'm hoping the Spider (when and if) will coax some of that from the EMC-1 and take what the EMC-1 does better than the D5 (most things IMO) even farther.

jm88439 - are you using solid state or tube amplification? Is your preamp tubed? I lost much of the bloom experienced with my EMC1 when I swapped out my tube amp (Air Tight ATM2) with a Bryston 14B-SST. Don't get me wrong, the solid state amp and EMC1 are providing great sound - just a little more analytical and less emotional. I sure miss that midrange bloom, especially on vocals, but the accuracy and speed of the big SS amp brings out subtle details like never before. Thank goodness I kept the Air Tight - now I can enjoy the best of both worlds with a simple equipment swap. I just wish my bank account (or lack thereof) loved this hobby as much as I do!

My pre is tubed and my amp is a hybrid w/tube input and ss output. The slight loss of bloom has nothing to do with the pre and amp. The BAT D5 is simply a better performer where bloom and 3D voices are concerned. Especially with the NOS Amperex and Siemens tubes I was accustomed to using. In other respects, I prefer the EMC-1. Always the trade offs.

Today, I connected my EMC-1UP to my Bryston Preamp using a set of HT Truthlink XLR-RCA cables (from the EMC balanced outs to the Bryston RCA inputs), and another set of HT Truthlink RCA-RCA cables (from the EMC RCA outs to Bryston RCA inputs). I can report that an A/B comparison produces no difference in sound quality that I can detect between the EMC's XLR and RCA outs when both are run into the Bryston's single ended inputs. This would lead me to concur with other poster's conclusions that the perceived difference in sound quality between the XLR and RCA outs has more to do with the 6db level increase when using a truly balanced connection (and not cheated as I have done). This being said, given the choice, I'd run the EMC truly balanced because I like to occasionally listen at "live" volume levels, and I can take advantage of the added 6db's since the balanced conections allow me to reach loud volumes at 12:00 on the volume knob instead of 2:00 on the volume knob.

FYI, I'm using a Bryston 14B-SST to drive Aerial 7B louspeakers.