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Anything in particular you've learnt that facilitated your decision to order the CSP3?
Well, a couple things. Okay a few. I tend to be long winded so hang on.
.....But I think this info may be useful to others so I'll post it. There was a lot of info passed along so forgive me if I botch something or misunderstand.
1) Speaking with Steve, I got a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using the CSP3 paired with the Taboo in a system that is 90% headphone use. The advantages are several. Better punch and weight to the music with an overall sonic improvement. A wider degree of adjustment overall to "tweak" the system to your liking. Other than rolling tubes on the Taboo, you have tubes to roll in the pre, all the trim settings, etc. One thing he mentioned that I thought was interesting was this: Have you had a listening session that just wasn't grabbing you? For whatever reason - the music track, the gear, tubes, headphones combo just wasn't doing anything special for whatever reason. Well since the CSP also has it's own headphone out, try plugging into the other output and you have another window into the music. Then "oh yeah, that's it!" .....Or something along those lines.
He also mentioned that the CSP in the system will make 9 out of 10 DAC's sound much much better. Basically getting all the tube goodness as the analog stage, and creating a stronger signal for the Taboo gets you a good jump in overall sound quality. An interesting thing we discussed is this - My DAC (Audio-gd SA-1.32) has a low and high gain setting, 1.25 and 2.5v. This was kind of speculation on Steve's part, but he mentioned that possibly the low gain stage is more pure than the high gain stage, which may have additional circuitry, etc to boost the signal. So using the low gain setting and having the CSP do the "heavy lifting" may add a bit more. Again, just speculation depending on how the low/high gain in my DAC is handled.
Basically, if you like the sound of their amplifiers, the system that has both CSP and Taboo in it has enough tweakability to optimize for any headphone you may have. And speakers too. All good stuff and looking to be an end game setup for me. Lots of good information shared.
To balance all the upsides, there is one downside to adding the CSP..... A slight loss of transparency. Steve mentioned that since their gear is so transparent to begin with, this is a pretty small consideration. The loss of transparency can be mitigated by using proper silver interconnects, careful tube selection, using stepped attenuators in the units. Also possibly by using low gain in my DAC as mentioned above.
2) Now the other thing that helped cement my decision on the CSP3 is the manner in which my questions about the hum issue with the Taboo were addressed. It is a big deal for me to have a company that stands behind their products. Even though my unit was bought second-hand, DeVon assured me that it would be repaired, no question about it. Just as part of the warranty transfer. That is if it is indeed faulty and needs repair.
Had I heard a response such as, "Uh, well hum may be normal, blah blah, maybe there's nothing wrong with it...all people hear differently" or "sure, we will charge you a whole bunch to look at it and repair it, blah blah" ...some sort of run-around....Well if I heard that kind of thing, I would be questioning if I even wanted to keep the unit, let alone expand the system with more of their products. But the response I got was reassuring and helpful and friendly. Pretty much, "don't worry we will fix it" My kind of company I want to deal with.
Sorry for the long winded response, but there was a lot of good info shared and I figured it's good stuff to pass along.
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Let us know how the filter goes.
Will do! Should be here Thursday
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Another good example of why Decware is so good. The product and the service are top notch!
Yup!