Frenchmon&Peabody have a meeting of the CDP's

Conrad Johnson feature the theater bypass so I would also bet McCormack does as well. Several brands offer the bypass but it may be called by a different name. CJ sounds great for 2-channel but to be honest it probably wouldn't blend sonically with whatever you used for an HT processor. I have to get to bed, I'll try to find more preamps later.

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Originally Posted by harley .guy07

I was hoping I was thinking the right way about which path to take with my system since it has been a while since upgrading stuff. Frenchmon there are several people on this forum that run those speakers and love them. I have read reviews saying that they are very good especially for the price, and they can be driven by a wide range of amps or at least from what I have read. Yeah I have been looking at preamps and speakers myself. I am looking real hard at usher speakers since they seem to have the sound that I am looking for from my system. As far as preamps I have not made a firm choice on this. The Emotiva preamp is real enexpensive and has the simple features and build quality I am looking for and the magazine reviews I have read on it online seem to be real positive. But I don't want to sell myself short just to save a few bucks if I could find a real good preamp with the theater bypass function at a good price. A Krell would be great since I do like their clean accurate output. Any other preamps with the theater bypass feature? I have not seen any others at this point. then after those things I could start looking at CDP's with more confidence.

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Just an fyi regarding Usher speakers.....Usher and D'Apolitto have parted ways and D'Apolitto is now working for Revel. My local Usher dealer is trying to wash his hands of the Usher line as the says the Usher still looks great but the SQ has now taken a dive. So, if you are going for the Usher it's wiser to get a used model in great condition.

LeRoy

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Originally Posted by LeRoy

Just an fyi regarding Usher speakers.....Usher and D'Apolitto have parted ways and D'Apolitto is now working for Revel. My local Usher dealer is trying to wash his hands of the Usher line as the says the Usher still looks great but the SQ has now taken a dive. So, if you are going for the Usher it's wiser to get a used model in great condition.

LeRoy

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Thats my plan from the begining is to find them used. The fact that they pulled most of their models from the US kind of told me something was going on so I will be looking at used Ushers or possibly building some custom speakers using usher drivers since I have built and modified several speakers and know crossover and cabinet design. I hope their drivers remain the same because their drivers are of really good quality.

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Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

Frenchmon, how about something like this:
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....o-Audience-72-

There was another pair on there as well.

I love these: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....s-110-Rosewood

Now here's a deal if you can live with the reason they are a 6: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....-1.3-MkI-aston

There were another pair of the 110's for $995.00 and a pair of Excite at $700.00. I've yet to hear the Excite series to comment but I've heard they are very similar to the Audience they just have specially designed drivers to be easier on lower powered amps and ample powered receivers.

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Mr.Peabody...I have stand mount speakers. I want floorstanders. The Catons are a ver good speakers that are just a tad brighter than Dynaudio Focus 140's. But listening to your towers, I've decided to either get some Dynaudio's , Canton, or Paradigm Studio's.

Heres my Canton's..

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1447/pict0647.jpg

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/6090/pict0514.jpg

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/2935/pict0544q.jpg

My opinion if you like the Dynaudio's is stay with them or the cantons. the Paradigms are very good but I do own Paradigm and had to do several modifications to them to tame them on the brightness. They are brighter speakers by the design. the higher end reference series or signature series are the only ones I would take seriously since I had to do major mods to mine to make them what they are. Just my 2 cents

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Originally Posted by harley .guy07

My opinion if you like the Dynaudio's is stay with them or the cantons. the Paradigms are very good but I do own Paradigm and had to do several modifications to them to tame them on the brightness. They are brighter speakers by the design. the higher end reference series or signature series are the only ones I would take seriously since I had to do major mods to mine to make them what they are. Just my 2 cents

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Harley...I've read where many have claimed Paadigm as being bright. I dont happen to think the are bright at all. I bought Paradigm Monitor 7v3 back in 2002 and they are still going very good.

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/7396/pict0477.th.jpg


frenchmon

Well I think when they came out with the v3 version they changed the tweeter to a much better unit so the ones you have probably don't have the bright sounding character that mine did. That is why I modified them. the newer signature series might not be too bright as well. I was just going off of what I have heard from selling Paradigm years ago.

If you can, pick up a copy of the latest issue of Stereophile Magazine or just go to Barnes&Noble and read a copy. Kal Rubinson does a nice review on the New Studio v5's. He even mentions how some of the earlier Studio's has a brighter tweet. He says the new models are not bright at all. I think one of the local stores here in St. Louis has them on display. I'll have to go over and listen to them. So what are you listening to right now? I've been listening to music for about 5 hour straight now and now have Paul Desmond playing...sounding good.

frenchmon

Frenchmon & I met again, he brought his Rotel 1090 preamp and 1055 CDP. We put the 1055 in the main CJ system for a bit. I could tell it wasn't as detailed as the T+A but didn't really expect it too. It was pleasant but not as sluggish as some of the Rotel gear I've heard. We hooked up the 1090 to my Adcom gfa-5500. I used Transparent entry Wave speaker connects. Frenchmon brought Monoprice cables which we soon disposed of in favor of better BJC, see my thread in the "Cables" forum.

The 1090 did not seem overly laid back and had very good synergy with both my 5500 and ERC-1. The ERC-1 won a unanimous decision over the 1055. The 1055 is an older model but retailed aroundd $699.00. The ERC-1 had better detail and sound stage. The match up was over quickly so we settled back to do some listening. The 5500 drove my
t2.5's to loud levels without making the distortion light come on. However, I placed my ERC on top of it and caused the heat light to come on. I didn't think it would get that hot in the open but I guess the Dyn's sucked the current out of it. I was pretty impressed with how good the 1090/5500 and ERC-1 sounded as a system. And, indeed, Frenchmon has been vendicated, the 1090 turned out to be a good preamp. Really good considering it's original retail. I don't know which component to contribute it to but the ERC displayed better than usual bass response with the 1090/5500. If any one was putting together a budget system with proven synergy the above mentioned would be it. I have to give the 5500 it's props for driving the Dyn's so well and matched with a good preamp like the 1090 sounding better than an amp in it's original price ought to.

My Audio Note 1.1x was sitting around so I hooked it up to the ERC's digital out to see how it sounded in the system. The 1.1x for the most part was better as it should be for the much more expense. The ERC-1 I preferred when Frenchmon asked to hear my Chick Corea and I accidently on purpose dropped in Pantera. The ERC's speed and neutrality is appreciated on Rock. When we finally did listen to Chick I thought the 1.1x made vibes and the stand up bass sound much more natural.

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Originally Posted by frenchmon

If certain wine goes with different food, Then I'm convinced certain music can go with different gear. If sports cars and luxury cars serve a different purpose, then I'm convinced serious audio manufactures have a purpose in mind when they design their gear. Krell, Conrad Johnson, Emotiva , T+A, and Musical Fidelity.... Sports Cars and Luxury Cars, Fine wine and Good Food. Thats how I feel about our hobby.

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I 100% agree. Audio Manufacturers have different sonic and design priorities. Maybe the focus is dynamic range or PRAT or detail retrieval or neutrality or midrange sweetness, etc...

Since I have varied tastes in music I find that I can appreciate many different priorities, depending on what kind of music I listen to... I can enjoy a 200 watt Rotel Amp/pre combo and also a 50 watt Musical Fidelity integrated equally... despite both sounding very different...

It does make upgrading a challenge, since I need to pick a priority and buy based on that...

Very Good Thread!!! Thanks to Mr Peabody and Frenchmon for taking the time to share their thoughts with us... I love hearing the experiences of Forum members...

Mr Peabody, I'm glad you got to hear some of the Rotel 10 series gear... as Rotel has moved for a far more lively sound that what you're used to from them... I believe the 15 series is even more exciting... Also, it's good to hear your opinions on affordable CD players in comparison to some of the high quality gear you own... it helps give us all some additional insight...

IF any one is looking for a good midfi system the Adcom gfa 5500 is listed at audiogon at $400 and the Rotel RC 1090 at $525. The ERC-1 can be had at new at $399. For a little over $1300 some one could have a great system. Thats a bargan for the system.

frenchmon