john_jcb
This is a customized witticism.
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2002
- Posts
- 5,684
- Likes
- 17
We tested the following 3 players today with some surprising results.
The setup we will be using is as follows:
Players: Philips DVD-963SA Redbook & SACD
Marantz DV8300 Redbook, SACD, DVD-A
Ayre CX-7 Redbook
Interconnects: Audio Quest copperheads to a
Krell Showcase Processor
Interconnect: Audio Quest Corals (balanced) to a
Amp: Theta Dreadnought
Speaker connections: Bi-wire oxygen free copper 10ga
Speakers: Martin Logan Requests
Velodyne Subwoofer
Philips 963SA ($400) and Ayre CX-7 ($3000)
We started out listening to the Norah Jones CD Come away with me. This is an excellent CD and very well recorded. With the Ayre he voice seemed to float between the two speakers with instruments on either side. Every nuance in the performance was accurately reproduced. I think this contributed to the tremendous soundstage.
We then switched to the Philips. There was a small decrease in detail and the soundstage was a little less defined. I did find that the CD was more pleasant to listen to. I felt that the detail took away from the musicality of the CD. We listened to the CD several times and I came away preferring the Philips.
We repeated the same tests using a Chesky recording Sara K, No Cover. On this CD the highs and low were more defined with the Ayre. On track 7 there is a string bass section at the end and the Ayre was more accurate. You could hear his fingers slip from each string. Here I gave the Ayre the nod.
Next we put in Led Zeppelin BBC sessions. This was probably the poorest recording of all we listened too. With this recording the Philips was overly bright especially during the guitar riffs. We switched to the Ayre and the harshness disappeared. It was a pleasure to listen to.
I would say the Ayre was the winner here but not by as much as I would of thought. I want to spend some time with the Cosmic and the 963SA with headphones listening to Led Zeppelin.
We repeated the tests with the Marantz ($1400) against the 963SA.
These 2 were far closer. He uses the Marantz for SACD and DVD-A and DVD. The SACD we tried was from the Indigo Girls. To my ears it was very close. The Philips does not play DVD-A. The redbook was also too close to call with the time we had.
Well I came away quite pleased with the Philips player. I need to do some more listening with rock music. His system is fantastic one of the best I have ever heard. To top it off he has a HD projector onto a 100" screen. Better than anything I have seen in the stores. We watched some hockey and I have never seen the puck so clearly.
The setup we will be using is as follows:
Players: Philips DVD-963SA Redbook & SACD
Marantz DV8300 Redbook, SACD, DVD-A
Ayre CX-7 Redbook
Interconnects: Audio Quest copperheads to a
Krell Showcase Processor
Interconnect: Audio Quest Corals (balanced) to a
Amp: Theta Dreadnought
Speaker connections: Bi-wire oxygen free copper 10ga
Speakers: Martin Logan Requests
Velodyne Subwoofer
Philips 963SA ($400) and Ayre CX-7 ($3000)
We started out listening to the Norah Jones CD Come away with me. This is an excellent CD and very well recorded. With the Ayre he voice seemed to float between the two speakers with instruments on either side. Every nuance in the performance was accurately reproduced. I think this contributed to the tremendous soundstage.
We then switched to the Philips. There was a small decrease in detail and the soundstage was a little less defined. I did find that the CD was more pleasant to listen to. I felt that the detail took away from the musicality of the CD. We listened to the CD several times and I came away preferring the Philips.
We repeated the same tests using a Chesky recording Sara K, No Cover. On this CD the highs and low were more defined with the Ayre. On track 7 there is a string bass section at the end and the Ayre was more accurate. You could hear his fingers slip from each string. Here I gave the Ayre the nod.
Next we put in Led Zeppelin BBC sessions. This was probably the poorest recording of all we listened too. With this recording the Philips was overly bright especially during the guitar riffs. We switched to the Ayre and the harshness disappeared. It was a pleasure to listen to.
I would say the Ayre was the winner here but not by as much as I would of thought. I want to spend some time with the Cosmic and the 963SA with headphones listening to Led Zeppelin.
We repeated the tests with the Marantz ($1400) against the 963SA.
These 2 were far closer. He uses the Marantz for SACD and DVD-A and DVD. The SACD we tried was from the Indigo Girls. To my ears it was very close. The Philips does not play DVD-A. The redbook was also too close to call with the time we had.
Well I came away quite pleased with the Philips player. I need to do some more listening with rock music. His system is fantastic one of the best I have ever heard. To top it off he has a HD projector onto a 100" screen. Better than anything I have seen in the stores. We watched some hockey and I have never seen the puck so clearly.