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RichW
Senior Member Joined: 21 Jan 2013 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 1471 |
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Thanks for coming back with your opinion on the AG500 Lawrence. Glad it has improved
CD listening. |
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Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.
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Baflar
New Member Joined: 29 Jul 2017 Location: Leeds Status: Offline Points: 39 |
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A final verdict... perhaps surprising.
Summary - there were two improvements, both slight, involving better sound stage and bass reproduction. I decided that I had to explore this feeling (mentioned in my initial feedback) that treble was much 'sweeter' on vinyl; and pin down whether that was intrinsically due to vinyl superiority or whether the CD reproduction was adversely affected by the re-generator. After several comparisons, (involving a lot of unplugging and plugging-in again!) I reluctantly had to come to the conclusion that the regenerator was actually introducing a relative lack of focus at the treble end, and the CD reproduction of simultaneously-playing treble sources was preferable without the regenerator. Conclusion - I don't mind paying £275 + mains cable for a small improvement that comes without any detrimental effect, but I can't convince myself that, overall, I can justify the expenditure when I know I shall forever be aware of the less-good treble reproduction. So, reluctantly, I'm now arranging to return the unit for a refund. So I haven't yet achieved the objective of (unreservedly) improving the CD reproduction ... |
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rantalot
New Member Joined: 03 Jan 2015 Location: Lancashire Status: Offline Points: 20 |
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Hi Baflar, maybe I should have described my CD then things might have been more meaningful. In the distant days of fourfold oversampling my CD was well respected but much water has gone under the bridge since then. The improvement on mine was quite dramatic, maybe your ac is cleaner than mine as I live close to the winter hill transmitter (line of sight).
Sorry if I gave you false hope and put you through a lot trials only to discover a negative improvement. |
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Norman
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Baflar
New Member Joined: 29 Jul 2017 Location: Leeds Status: Offline Points: 39 |
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Not to worry. This seems a mysterious field. While I can't explain why I had the results described, I trust my ears, which have had many years of practice on high 'mid-range' equipment (the stuff where you have to spend hundreds (or thousands) more to get any genuine improvement!) to know that it turned out in that rather odd way. I was wondering whether your AG500 Regenerator puts out a rock-steady 230v? Mine changed every second or half-second, usually at points between 229.6 and 230.7v. I'm now wondering if that phenomenon had more effect on higher-pitch sounds than on bass... but if so, I've no idea how that could be! I'm now trying to think of a Plan B (or C really). I still have, packed away, an old Micromega Stage 2 (which was later re-launched as Stage 5) CD player, but it developed an awful noise when the drawer opened/closed, and an increasing fussiness on which CDs it would deign to play! But I remember the sound being excellent. I now wonder if it's possible to get it fully repaired so that I can feed it into my Mojo DAC... If that raises my CD sound to new heights, it should turn out cheaper than the AG500! |
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RichW
Senior Member Joined: 21 Jan 2013 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 1471 |
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After recommending a piece of kit it is disappointing when it doesn't deliver the improvement hoped.
Sorry it didn't work for you but at least you had the chance to try it. I do think CD will always struggle to match well reproduced vinyl - & not only for a sweet treble quality. Hopefully the Micromega CD player repair will help. |
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Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.
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Baflar
New Member Joined: 29 Jul 2017 Location: Leeds Status: Offline Points: 39 |
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I'm still grateful for the recommendations. At least I learnt something - and as someone observed in this thread - it was always going to be one of those 'suck it and see' cases, having established that there was no way to get a free trial. The crucial discovery was that the treble end on CDs had clearer focus without the regenerator than with it, for some unknown reason! I tend to agree with the thought that "CD will always struggle to match well reproduced vinyl" My vinyl set up, including Ortofon 2M Bronze and a Slee phono pre-amp is clearly better than my CD playing. But it does strike me that there may be a gap in the market for a separate CD Upscaler. After all, it seems to work for TV. People (like me!) who are using a CD transport and a separate DAC might benefit from a CD Upscaler between the two - or am I fundamentally misguided?! In passing, I note that the new, and ludicrously expensive Chord Blu CD player has gone for a built-in upscaler. Wonder if Graham thinks there might be an opportunity for new product development here...?..! |
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RichW
Senior Member Joined: 21 Jan 2013 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 1471 |
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Doesn't the Chord upscaler use bespoke programmed FPGAs for its processing?
Apologies if I'm wrong but I don't think that is Graham's thing. |
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Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.
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