One thing I have noted is that the differences between my two Pioneer Elite blu-ray players, the 09FD (Wolfson DAC) and 88FD (ESS Sabre DAC), are more apparent with the new setup. Before, the only thing that caught my ear was the 09 being more solid and weighty on the bottom; that was with Kimber 12TC and Venom HCs in place. Now, with Transparent Plus and Venom V10s and using the Santana: Greatest Hits Live at Montreaux blu-ray, the 88 is more open on top and a bit more forward, except for the bottom end; you could say it sounds a bit cleaner, even.
The 09, for its part, is noticeably more impactful and weighty on the bottom, and the difference is less subtle than before. The sound seems more laid-back overall, not quite as forward by comparison, though everything's still there. But Cindy Blackman's drum solo on the 09 was noticeably more powerful than on the 88; Benny Rietveld's bass solo sounded about the same in terms of articulation on both players, but with a bit more bottom, again, on the 09. I can't be 100% certain, but I attribute most of these differences to the Venom V10s.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks
Last edited by prepress; 01-08-2022 at 07:09 AM.
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