[tom hankins]

Has anyone had the chance to audition or hear one of these players yet? Impressions?

 

[Garbz]

Yes. Without commenting on the SACD (since i don't use em) playback I can only say that the NAIM CD5x sounded better, and at the time was cheaper too.

But don't take my word for it. My experience in this range of sources is limited.

 

[1UP]

*mini-rant* I have heard lots of MF gear here in the UK. I cannot understand for the life of me why this brand gets so much hype from magazines in the UK and US, cause without fail, every single piece I've heard of theirs sounds bad.

I've not heard the kW, but I'll tell you this, I had an Archimedes-moment when this month's Hi Fi News revealed the £1,000 A3.5 amp and cd's analogue output stages were full of NE5532 opamps.

I've heard the tube-output from the A5 and Trivista and they were also bad,bad,bad.

No vendetta here, just confused as hell why this gear is hyped.

Please be sure to audition this kW before you buy!

 

[Garbz]

Actually I kinda liked the A3.5 CDplayer. Nicely detailed and sufficiently rythmic. I've stopped actually bagging equipment based on their chipsets given that a bad chipset in a good implimentation seems to sound much better then a good chip in a bad implementation.

I won't say the A3.5 is good, but it's a surprising gem to my ears from a company which makes an amazing amount of crap.

 

[Guss2]

Hey Tom,is your SCD-1 modified?If not,why not take your machine to the top of the food chain(or so I've heard).It would be nice to get some feedback on the subject from someone whose opinion I respect.I may do the same when my warranty runs out next year.Gary.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guss2 Hey Tom,is your SCD-1 modified?If not,why not take your machine to the top of the food chain(or so I've heard).It would be nice to get some feedback on the subject from someone whose opinion I respect.I may do the same when my warranty runs out next year.Gary.

I've considered this but until I get a new transport I will be needing the SCD1 to stay here. After that the Richard Kern mods seem like a possible cure to my sacd upgrade. I hate to sink alot of money into the player and find out it still cant compete with the Audio Aero (redbook) on most recordings.

Also, 1UP... FWIW I have always enjoyed the NuVista and Trivista CDPs.

 

[Guss2]

Something else to may want to consider since your only using it as a transport and for SACD playback is the Modwright SACD only upgrade.Allan Wright has mentioned this a few times over at AA,but the only player he has done it to was his own.If Redbook is'nt a priority,and it appears that it 's not,you can have just the SACD modded.He says it takes SACD up a level from the all in one mod,but nobody is willing to disable their Redbook playback as a tradeoff.You could probably have the transport mod and the SACD mod done,giving you the best of both worlds.Just something for you to think about.Good Luck,Gary.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guss2 Something else to may want to consider since your only using it as a transport and for SACD playback is the Modwright SACD only upgrade.Allan Wright has mentioned this a few times over at AA,but the only player he has done it to was his own.If Redbook is'nt a priority,and it appears that it 's not,you can have just the SACD modded.He says it takes SACD up a level from the all in one mod,but nobody is willing to disable their Redbook playback as a tradeoff.You could probably have the transport mod and the SACD mod done,giving you the best of both worlds.Just something for you to think about.Good Luck,Gary.

Thanks for the info! I have an email in to modwright.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1UP I cannot understand for the life of me why this brand gets so much hype from magazines in the UK and US, cause without fail, every single piece I've heard of theirs sounds bad.

I disagree -- I've owned the A308 CD player, and it's right up there with the Meridian and Wadia equipment that I've heard. Best I've ever owned.

 

[Rob N]

I don't have any complaints about the Trivista SACD