| System
description: For our
room this year, we ran the Brinkmann Balance turntable into the
Lamm LP2 then through 10 meters of Nordost Valhalla interconnect
into the Emm Labs DCC2 DAC analog inputs.
Similarly we ran the Emm
Labs CDSD transport through 10 meters of optical cable into the
DCC2,
Then, using the DCC2
linestage as a switching box only, we ran the signal out the
analog outputs - NOT the preamp outputs. This signal went
into the big Marten active crossover / bass amplifier box.
This box allowed us to both control the bass using a volume
control on the back, and sent the signal to the Audio Note U.K.
Ongaku - which is an integrated amplifier, with is own volume
control, which we used for the main towers (all frequencies above
100Hz).
This configuration allowed
us to use just two lengths of Jorma Design Prime
interconnects for digital playback - one of the best cables in the
world, and a bargain at $7K / meter. Did this make digital better
than analog, which had to travel down a 10 meter Valhalla cable
from the other side of the room? No.... but it helped make it
very, very close.
Ok, enough of that.
We'll talk more about this
on the Blog, but the upshot is that we learned a lot about how
bass affects the sound of the other frequencies.
On the first day, the system
was a little too lean, and too loud. (thanks Mike, and Rob and Ray
for helping point this out).
The next day we controlled
the volume much better - analog was 3 clicks softer than digital,
and we kept more or less within a reasonable SPL range all day. We
also turned up the bass which filled out the sound some, and added
some color. Sometimes it was a little too much bass, but hey, it
is a show and most people want a little too much bass [this is not
'too much bass' like Wilson or JM Lab bass, it is just a tad more
than what real instruments would have at the volume we were
playing the music at]. Then there is the Patricia Barber track
that one person brought in that just sets off our room nodes like
nothing else we have played there - the smaller Marten Coltranes
had the same problem with that track.
The last day we played with
adjusting the bass a little more often - so some songs were a
little lean, and some had a little too much bass (most people
probably did not notice, or rather, did not care overly much that
it was slightly off, though it drove Neli and Steve crazy, I
think) and some were P-E-R-F-E-C-T. In the last hours we got a
little bolder with the bass adjuster and learned to recognize
perfect and what it could do. Again, see the blog as we try to
describe this so perhaps other people can play with it a bit -
though being able to adjust the bass is not something all systems
can do, unfortunately.
The real question will be,
do some CDs (songs?!) like a certain bass setting and others like
another bass setting? Are CDs like LPs where each recording studio
has a little bit different expectation for how much bass the
listener's system will be using? Please no. |
