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Opera – A first review - Page 7

post #91 of 424
1/12/07 at 8:08am
I agree with your reasoning, but I'm sure that others will not; however, I can agree with them as well.

Initial reviews are good, but most likely the sound will change after burn-in. I look forward to hearing more reviews, especially initial ones such as yours. The final reviews will come in good time so it'll be nice to have these impressions around to compare thoughts.



Edit: Its very intriguing your comments regarding the DAC, among other capabilities of the Opera, I look forward to reading further developments regarding that function in particular.
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post #92 of 424
1/12/07 at 9:30am
Sorry Snacks.
I was not clear in my former post: with "internal DAC" I was referring to the internal DAC of my Arcam, not the Opera. I was not impressed with the internal DAC of the Opera.
I edited (added : <<of the CDP>>) my former post to avoid further misunderstanding.

Jan
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post #93 of 424
1/12/07 at 10:20am
Darn it... I hope the DAC "burns in" because I was hoping the Opera would kill two birds with one stone and save me some money. You weren't impressed, but it isn't bad per se?
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post #94 of 424
1/12/07 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nietzsche View Post
Sorry Snacks.
I was not clear in my former post: with "internal DAC" I was referring to the internal DAC of my Arcam, not the Opera. I was not impressed with the internal DAC of the Opera.
I edited (added : <<of the CDP>>) my former post to avoid further misunderstanding.

Jan
I see; I'm standing by for further developments and for thread linearity, I will edit my above post.
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post #95 of 424
1/12/07 at 11:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by milkpowder View Post
Darn it... I hope the DAC "burns in" because I was hoping the Opera would kill two birds with one stone and save me some money. You weren't impressed, but it isn't bad per se?
No, it's absolutely not bad (again, NO BURN IN AT THIS MOMENT), but at first sight not in the same (high) leage of an Arcam CD23.
It all depends on the quality of the internal DAC of your digital source.
I've had the later Arcam's CDPs from my hifishop because I wanted to "upgrade", but none of them were as good as the 23. I've read that Arcam was not able to continue the production of the CD23 because DCS was not willing to supply their Ring Dac anymore.

But at this moment I already believe that the Opera AS A HEADAMP is absolutely worth it's price even if you leave the Opera DAC unused.

Jan
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post #96 of 424
1/12/07 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nietzsche View Post
But at this moment I already believe that the Opera AS A HEADAMP is absolutely worth it's price even if you leave the Opera DAC unused.
That's definately a plus, in both regards. Do the instructions state anything in regards to burn-in, if so how many hours? I've received audiophile products in the past and some have stated the requirement for burn-in.
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post #97 of 424
1/12/07 at 12:31pm
Don't know about the manual, as my Opera hasn't arrived yet, but Meier has confirmed on a german forum that the Opera needs about 120h burn-in. That's what I'm going to do before to give it a first serious try. Things can change quite a bit after a burn-in, I already had the chance of noticing it in the past.
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post #98 of 424
1/12/07 at 1:39pm
I will not call my Aria the mini-Opera. =T Seems like the DAC's between them are similar in regards to the price of both items are worth it for the amp alone even if you don't use the DAC.
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post #99 of 424
1/12/07 at 1:48pm
That all depends...

I'd need it for the DAC/AMP equally, but it's really way to early to make any decisions at this point.
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post #100 of 424
1/12/07 at 2:02pm
Indeed.
As I said, first I found my Prehead SE II (when new) just a mediocre amp but after several months it seemed a VERY good amp.
The new Opera already sounds good out of the box, maybe with a different sonic print compared to previous Corda's.
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post #101 of 424
1/12/07 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nietzsche View Post
- PreHead has MUCH more power (Opera not able to drive and CONTROL a K1000 - sorry Reiner);
I agree on much more power of the Prehead. But for me the combination of K-1000 and Prehead sounded dull.
You are right, the power of one Opera is not able to drive the K-1000. Did you had the opportunity to listen to two (one as preamp, one as headamp)?

Come to our meet in Duesseldorf and you will porbably not only have the chance to listen to this smashing combi, but also K-1000 with big McIntosh and - as Carlos Candeias wrote me today - the new CEC Amp 53.

Here a photo of my setting and a photo of the Opera + Opera Prototype I.





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post #102 of 424
1/13/07 at 4:11am
Ouch! Seeing those photos I got hit with some serious head-fi envy.

The three headphone stands. Those three headphones. The CDP. The audio rack. Two Operas. What looks like a CD demag.

And Carlos Candeias contacting you (presumably in German, that cool-sounding and cool-looking language).

I asked them about a modified HD53R v8.0 for use with the L3000 and received no response.
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post #103 of 424
1/13/07 at 4:30am
If I understand Reiner right : are you using the pre-amp to "supercharge" (volume at nearly max) the second amp (head-amp)?

Interesting. I have no 2 Opera's.So I just connected the Opera as a pre-amp between my CDP and my integrate PrimaLuna tube amp. The PrimaLuna doesn't like high output from the Opera at all.
Lowering the volume on the (Opera) pre-amp and selecting the internal DAC of the Opera was a surprise. This DAC sounds (again :being new) darker (also has a bit less detail and stage) compared to the internal DAC of my CDP but removed that metalic touch the K1000 sometimes (depends of the recording) adds to the music. I like this sound (the AKG gives still details in overdose, and the stage is still huge, also with the tubed endstage (humm).
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post #104 of 424
1/13/07 at 6:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nietzsche View Post
If I understand Reiner right : are you using the pre-amp to "supercharge" (volume at nearly max) the second amp (head-amp)?
Perhaps not supercharge But the level is increased. I discussed this with Jan (Meier) beforehand ...

Quote:
> Könnte ich den Prototypen dann über den aktiven Vorverstärkerausgang
> des Opera per Cinch anschließen, oder sollte bzw. müsste ich das
> Digital-Koax-Kabel umstecken?

Das erste wurde gehen. Dann bräuchte man den Prototype sogar gar nicht zu modifizieren, denn der OPERA erhöht ja schon den Verstärkungsfaktor!
... as I was surprised that the Opera itself seems to go in the right direction to drive the K-1000 (but was still not powerfull enough). Jan himself recommended immediately Corda Preahead MKII SE or the RKV II valve headamp. As I allready tested the Corda Prehead MK II SE with the K1000, I insisted to find an Opera solution so he came up with the idea which I tested and found it quite good. The Valve


Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephas View Post
Ouch! Seeing those photos I got hit with some serious head-fi envy.
The three headphone stands. Those three headphones. The CDP. The audio rack. Two Operas. What looks like a CD demag.
No need. I will show the photos with my other cans later
Actually the RD-3 demag is great. It made me put away the BSE DisClear (wich was allready good).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephas View Post
And Carlos Candeias contacting you (presumably in German, that cool-sounding and cool-looking language).
Cool? I prefer English because it sounds much nicer and not so barking. But yes, my contact with Candeias is in German. And I assume, that him answering my (sometimes stupid) questions might have something to do with his interest to keep some German contacts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Elephas View Post
I asked them about a modified HD53R v8.0 for use with the L3000 and received no response.
To my knowledge the modifications needed for the HD 53R to drive the L3000 in the best way were never tested by Candeias (due to his time constraints).
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post #105 of 424
1/13/07 at 7:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richter Di View Post
Jan himself recommended immediately Corda Preahead MKII SE.


Which isn't sold anymore.
Not a problem for me, having a GS1000 and a HD650...still waiting for my Opera...
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