Audio-gd c-500 consultation - Page 2

I should've said this in my last post, audio-gd's upper-mid and upper tier neutral gear give something different than their entry level gear or musical line. Imo a lot of imprecise detail is perceived as musicality by the mind, especially when technically limited low/mid-fi gear are tweaked to sound good. The fbi-500 is tuned to sound monitor-like, so really it only stands on its technical ability, not sound signature or coloration, since it doesn't really have a conspicuous signature or color. It's a different kind of enjoyment from low/mid-fi, with different goals, not necessarily better or worse. Kingwa gives the analogy of soda vs water. You can add just about any flavoring in soda and it'll taste good, but you have to be more careful flavoring water, even more careful if you decide to keep the water like water throughout an entire audio chain. And possibly you wouldn't even like plain pure water!

C-501 ?

haloxt has it right...the C 500 is likely an upgrade over the few areas the FBI-500 could stand to have improvements targeted. Is the 501 designation an updated version like the ACSS section of the RE7.0 being replaced with a 7.1 rev per chance ? I'm in the dark on such developments.

Peete.

Those Toshiba transistors are top shelf as it is....the likely difference between the two is a matter of voicing with small changes between models, nothing night and day I would imagine. It might help to look up the two types (exact part numbers) at diy.com for a possible in depth explanation of each.

Peete.

Well the C500 and the NFB 8 turned up today!.  So its out with the Rotel 1080 amplifier and the Beresford Caiman preamp/dac and in with the new.

To be honest I was gearing up for a small sonic improvement, perhaps to avoid any disappointment if there was none.

Setting up was a breeze, plugged the squeezebox touch in (coax) along with the airport express (optical) into the nfb -8.  I bought the ACSS leads to connect the NFB -8 to the C500.....

Well, Well I don't often get jaw drop but this is one of those moments.  What came out of my speakers was fantastic.  The difference and it is a big difference is all the music sounds live and really organic.  No hint of digital which is pretty impressive.  Will need more listening time to come up with more flowery audio prose ;)

Whether it is the dac or the amp that is the main contributor I would not know but no further upgrades required!.  My speakers are these (mark 1 version) if anyone is interested.   http://www.imageloudspeakers.com/products/revelation.asp f  

So a big recommendation from me for the c500 and nfb -8 combo

You described it well- things sound real and alive without harshness with their amps/dacs

why not you bring the gears and compare it with some dac/int amp 3 times its value.

ccshua if you are asking me with regard to this I really don't know anyone in my area who has any hi end gear to compare.  Would be interesting though I agree.  Macrog who posts on here may be able to give you more idea about this.  He has more experience with audio-gd but I see you have a full audio-GD setup!

Superb would sum this amplifier up!  Noise floor is extremely low. Dynamics and control of speakers superb.  Oodles of power, in fact I can not get the power above 35 (goes up to 70) without my ears starting to hurt. 

Yes I have read John Darko's review which I agree with.  In my case I have the NFB-8 which gives a slightly smooth sound and  with the amplifier being of a neutral/accurate bias it seems to all add up to hours of fatigue free listening.  He uses the ref 7.1 dac which is a more accurate/neutral persuasion and is giving it his seal of approval.

I suppose you need to decide whether you want the amp to influence the sound or the dac or the preamp.  I like the int amplifier but if I had the funds I would of have gone for the master series separates but the price triples etc.

I would love to see this unit with headphone outs (balanced and SE). That would be a killer combo.

Pair this amp with a set current hungry Maggies or a set of wattage dependent ET LFT VIIIbs and you have a perfect match IMO. The FBI-500 (the predecessor to the C500) drove both of my planar mag speakers with great realism, authority and finesse. It's an impressive amp if you are thinking of going with planar speakers FWIW.

Peete.

if u like organic sounding and sweet female vocals, consider a grover huffman cable.