After setting up my system in the new house recently, my friend (who
knows a lot less than he thinks about audio) wanted to know exactly why
I'd spent £1,000 on a DVD player. (Actually I spent £530 on it, but
that's another story. It's still a £1,000 DVD player.) And he was
insistent that there was no way it could be worth the £900 price premium
over the Technics 590 player.

Firstly I pointed out that the Technics is a CD player, it doesn't do
DVDs like the Arcam. Therefore a fairer comparison would be the CD92.
Which I believe uses the same DACs as the DV79 for its analogue outputs.

So I rigged up a little test, and played Duelling Banjos from Hayseed
Dixie's "Hot Piece Of Grass" CD. (Don't ask, if you don't already
know... just... don't!)

Started on the Technics. Intro sounded fine, but when the acoustic
double bass kicked in the sound just went muddy and confused.

So I switched over to the Arcam and played the same track. Much better.

Switched back and forth a few times, the Arcam wiped the floor with the
Technics.

Which is to be expected.

My friend's comment? "Oh, but you're using a Cambridge Atlantic
interconnect on the Technics and a Chord Cobra III on the Arcam, of
course it's going to sound better."

Just thought I'd share that with people. For the record, while you can
hear a difference between the freebie rubbish cable and the Atlantic on
the Technics, nothing above the Atlantic makes any audible difference.
On the Arcam it does make a difference, but for the purposes of that
quick test it didn't matter. (No, I don't want to go into the "it's all
in your mind" arguments here so don't even bother, it's not relevant to
the point above.)

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Glenn Richards wrote:

After setting up my system in the new house recently, my friend (who
knows a lot less than he thinks about audio)

Funny how similar people seem to find each other.

So I rigged up a little test, and played Duelling Banjos from Hayseed
Dixie's "Hot Piece Of Grass" CD. (Don't ask, if you don't already
know... just... don't!)

Started on the Technics. Intro sounded fine, but when the acoustic
double bass kicked in the sound just went muddy and confused.

snip

(No, I don't want to go into the "it's all
in your mind" arguments here so don't even bother, it's not relevant to
the point above.)

It's all in your mind, unless you were doing something stupid in the test
such as feeding the Arcam into the tape-monitor input and the Technics into
a line input that was being overloaded.

You could try to demonstrate the effect you think you hear. You have a decent
soundcard so put two short wav files on your website of the intro and bass from
each player. 16/44.1 will do, just keep the gain the same and use the same
leads. You will probably want to use the same mains filter and let them warm up
for a day or so. Perhaps you should get each player aligned, for a fair test,
by your local Feng Shui consultant. Have you checked for ley lines?

--
Eiron

No good deed ever goes unpunished.

Eiron wrote:

It's all in your mind, unless you were doing something stupid in the
test such as feeding the Arcam into the tape-monitor input and the
Technics into a line input that was being overloaded.

The Arcam was being fed into the DVD input, the Technics into the CD input.

We're comparing a £99 CD player to a £1,000 DVD player (roughly
equivalent to a £600 CD player). If you want to convince yourself
there's no difference then fine - go and spend the £500 change on CDs.

Ironically if I stick my iPod into its dock and connect that to the same
system it sounds clearer than the Technics when the sound gets "busy".
And that's using the same cable (Cambridge Atlantic) albeit with a 3.5mm
jack on one end.

You could try to demonstrate the effect you think you hear. You have
a decent soundcard so put two short wav files on your website of the
intro and bass from each player. 16/44.1 will do, just keep the gain
the same and use the same leads.

If you're really that bothered (and I can actually be bothered) then
I'll make an analogue copy from the Arcam and the Technics onto CD-RW
using my CD recorder, then rip that. You'd be able to hear the
difference with the soundcard, but the S:N ratio is a bit pants.

Anyway... my friend blames the cable (his argument was that the Arcam
was a "waste of money"), but that's like saying a Ford Fiesta is the
same as an Audi A4, and it's only the tyres that make the difference.

Then again, I drive an A4, and he thinks that was a "waste of money" as
well. Typical Socialist really.

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Glenn Richards wrote:

Anyway... my friend blames the cable (his argument was that the Arcam
was a "waste of money"), but that's like saying a Ford Fiesta is the
same as an Audi A4, and it's only the tyres that make the difference.

Then again, I drive an A4, and he thinks that was a "waste of money" as
well. Typical Socialist really.


Out of interest, are you as condescending about all your "frends"?

--
Nick

Nick Gorham wrote:

Then again, I drive an A4, and he thinks that was a "waste of money"
as well. Typical Socialist really.
Out of interest, are you as condescending about all your "frends"?

Only those that keep saying for example "why didn't you buy a Japanese
car, it's cheaper?" (Answer - because I wanted an A4, it's that simple.)

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

Glenn Richards wrote:


The Arcam was being fed into the DVD input, the Technics into the CD input.

Is the amp your Arcam with switchable input sensitivity?
Do you have the inputs set up to match the players?

If you're really that bothered (and I can actually be bothered) then
I'll make an analogue copy from the Arcam and the Technics onto CD-RW
using my CD recorder, then rip that. You'd be able to hear the
difference with the soundcard, but the S:N ratio is a bit pants.

Thanks, it would be amusing. Many of us want to hear what your golden ears can.

Then again, I drive an A4, and he thinks that was a "waste of money" as
well. Typical Socialist really.

Try explaining to him about the total cost of ownership over several years
of high mileage motoring. What is a socialist car these days now that Longbridge
is gone? Any Chinese Rovers available yet?

--
Eiron

No good deed ever goes unpunished.

Eiron wrote:

Try explaining to him about the total cost of ownership over several
years of high mileage motoring. What is a socialist car these days
now that Longbridge is gone? Any Chinese Rovers available yet?

Already explained about TCO. Makes no difference, his socialist
attitudes are too firmly ingrained.

He drives an L-reg Astra estate, the 1.7 diesel...

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation

On Sat, 12 Aug 2006 00:25:48 +0100, Glenn Richards
wrote:

After setting up my system in the new house recently, my friend (who
knows a lot less than he thinks about audio) wanted to know exactly why
I'd spent £1,000 on a DVD player.

Are you sure you're posting to the right group? Not many audiophools
here.