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  #31  
Old 12-25-2015, 04:53 PM
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chessman chessman is offline
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Merry Christmas to all!
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  #32  
Old 01-01-2016, 06:02 PM
Swelfelo Swelfelo is offline
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I now have about 100 hours of dedicated listening time with the VK-53SE. In the meantime, several changes occurred in the rest of the system. I finished upgrading my interconnects so that the entire system is connected by Shunyata Anaconda Balanced Ztrons. Also, I rebuilt my Ncores NC400s with better cases, connections and grounding--I have ferrite chokes and HiFi Supreme Tuning fuses on the way. Some of my improvements in the other areas of the system seem to allow the preamp to shine more as the fundamental sonic character has not shifted.

My initial impressions of the preamp in the earlier postings above have not been altered much, except that there is more detail, better definition in the bass, more treble extension and the midrange is just liquid. The sound is quick and fluid, supremely musical and powerful when the material warrants, and intimate for softer pieces. When the preamp was burning in I would say that the cohesiveness was not all there altogether and there was spotlighting of the treble and bass. Now it is completely cohesive. The sound is just organically beautiful top to bottom.

Last edited by Swelfelo; 01-02-2016 at 11:03 PM.
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  #33  
Old 01-01-2016, 06:22 PM
nc42acc nc42acc is offline
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I would like to know more about your Ncore amps please. Thanks.
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  #34  
Old 01-01-2016, 10:10 PM
Swelfelo Swelfelo is offline
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That would really belong in a separate thread about Ncore amps. I started this thread in the BAT section to compare two of their preamplifiers.
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  #35  
Old 01-01-2016, 11:05 PM
nc42acc nc42acc is offline
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Sorry I tried to PM you but your profile doesn't allow them. Thanks.
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  #36  
Old 01-01-2016, 11:48 PM
Swelfelo Swelfelo is offline
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I seem to have no ability to send or receive private messages in my settings. I also cannot find a way to PM you. Perhaps some administrator will address this problem.

Last edited by Swelfelo; 01-01-2016 at 11:56 PM.
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  #37  
Old 01-02-2016, 08:03 PM
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chessman chessman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Swelfelo View Post
I seem to have no ability to send or receive private messages in my settings. I also cannot find a way to PM you. Perhaps some administrator will address this problem.
You have to be a "Subscriber" to enable private messaging.
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  #38  
Old 01-02-2016, 09:29 PM
Swelfelo Swelfelo is offline
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Chessman, Well, that explains it. Thank you.

Marty, I am feeling expansive tonight so ask your question(s) about the Ncores and we will just let my thread take off on a tangent, since I am pretty much done with comparing the preamps in my system.

Before, we veer off on that tangent, the bottom line is that the VK-53SE is a significant improvement over the VK-52SE, especially in the area of dynamics and well worth the coin to upgrade. As much as I like the VK-42SE, I preferred the VK-52SE. I have not heard the VK-43SE and am unable to offer any comparison where that preamp stands in the hierarchy.

Although I have my VK-42SE up for sale, I am very seriously considering holding onto it and creating a secondary system with it for my boob tube. The VK-42SE is just that good.
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  #39  
Old 01-02-2016, 10:26 PM
nc42acc nc42acc is offline
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Any chance of putting into perspective the difference I would get from a VK50SE which I have to the VK53SE?
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  #40  
Old 01-02-2016, 11:16 PM
Swelfelo Swelfelo is offline
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I have never owned or heard a VK-50SE or VK-51SE, but I can tell you that the VK-53SE bettered the VK-52SE in my own experience, and it is a fairly safe bet that the VK-52SE was an improvement over the VK-50SE. Therefore, I would expect the VK-53SE to be a substantial step up from the VK-50SE. The areas of improvement I heard between the VK-52SE and Vk-53SE were primarily in dynamics, then size of the sound stage, localization of instruments in that sound stage, detail or resolution, and bass and treble extension.

I do not believe that there is a direct upgrade path from the VK-50SE to VK-53SE.
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