Listening experience + Questions
Precisely with Norah's debut album I started a blind (or at least wearing shades) test on SACD. Equipment is Pioneer DV565A to Marantz AR 4300 to Bose 201 MkIV (do not puke, they fit well with the rest but will be next upgrade) and Audio Pro C1 for surround. Cables compared were Profigold (15 EUR) against Supra RCA Dual (75 EUR). 2 channel and 5.1 mains were used in parallel, interchanging cable pairs between them several times to avoid bias.
Supra victory of course. Proved it's reputation for linear frequency response. Bass punchier but not louder. Their weak point was a surprise revealed on DSoTM SACD layer: some high frequency (cymbals) nearly disappeared. On the other hand, this album confirmed a Norah experience: vocals, especially female, were smoother, more natural with Supra. And this leads to the clou: on Christus am Ölberge ( Harmonia Mundi) there was occasionally a wooden flavor over a violin! Vinyloholics would know what I mean, it was stolen from us by CD inventors.
All these differences from Profigold were maintained with Supra on 2ch or 5.1, but slightly lesser on the latter output. (Cannot tell if bias caused by DV565 or AR4300, wife arrived home and cross-test was cancelled.)
After sharing these findings, I would like to ask if somebody could please advise on 5.1 bundles? At present, upgrades have to be invisible to female eyes. So I might invest some $ in copper wire, either 4 more Supras for 5.1 and some better ones for 2ch, or keep Supras for 2ch and buy a full bundle.
With Supra as reference, I would like to maintain the natural sound. I also value the linear frequency responce, but slightly louder 100-200KHz is acceptable since it is a weakness for DV565A. Regarding high frequencies I am not sure. Maybe the 201s are falling off quite fast above 20KHz and the Supras would perform better on SACD compliant speakers. Or are the Supras really weak above 20k?
Cheers
FA
