Dynaudio Owner's Thread - Page 413

I agree, from what I have heard the Super Black box doesn't get you much more considering it's price point.

I'm not exactly the best to ask about this. The only difference I noticed is it helps at the louder volumes keep the detail where the v70 would cut out on detail without the black box. There might be more refinement overall but my listening critique on nit-picking differences isn't very good. I would say the Octave black box is to their amps to what naim's products are to their power supply boxes but don't hold me to that either as I haven't had a chance to demo Naim products (I will soon). Would I have got the black box if I listened to lower to moderate volumes? Yes. Now if it was the C1's or some other Dynaudio bookshelf...I probably would have just got the V70 without the black box.

I can't tell you as I've never owned any. But increasing power supply capacitance is always beneficial.

I've been working on my panels most of this weekend. The room is 20 feet x 20 feet and I have a lot of work to do yet still. This room will probably see a surround sound/projector setup also (the Sapphires will remain 2 channel only). Where the table is I'm building a bar and I'll have 2 couches (one in front of the computer lounge area...few pages back I have pics of that) and one to the right of the lounger.

Thanks for your insights!

I guess for me if I had the v80 and I was digging it I would hate to try to make it better and have it sound worse. I find audio is a balance, in attempts to get more dynamics you might give up warmth or tonal colours. My policy is when I'm paying top dollar I want to have my cake and eat it too

It will definitely not make it worse, getting the black box will only make it better. You won't be giving up warmth or tonal colors, the black box will not affect that.

If you want warmth, Octave may be more neutral than what you're looking for, and you might consider Conrad-Johnson instead, which is just on the warm side of neutral. Octave sits between C-J and Audio Research on the warmth/neutrality/cooler scale. So: slightly warm/neutral/cool = C-J/Octave/ARC

Coming together nicely, Sean. Good to see the Octave gear in the rack, too.

Great info!

Where is Naim or Burmster on the continuum?

I guess you can warm it up with a warmer CD player?

I haven't heard Burmester with Dyns, but heard it with GamuT, another Danish loudspeaker, and based on that, I think Burmester might be the solid state manufacturer of choice with Dyns, so if it's in your budget, I would be seriously considering Burmester. It would also preserve that warmth and tonality you're looking for.

In general I don't think of CDs as warm, at least the standard Redbook CD, most of them sound thin and hard compared to the equivalent LP. I don't buy standard Redbook CDs except on rare occasion; the only Redbook spec CDs I will typically buy are XRCD, XRCD2, and XRCD24. So, either XRCD or SACD or hi-res downloads (24/96 typically) in the digital realm.

But LPs and a Koetsu, baby, now, we're talkin'!

Thanks. I've had the Octave V70 and black box about 6 months now. The apple cube is going to house my current mac mini and getting a diy project. Going to be my new music/music video server. I lined up an Oppo 93 for cd/dvda/sacd playback, naim ndac, and a nordost quantum qb8 power distributor with Tyler. I will either take possession of these items in a couple weeks or mid-September. I'm going to build a huge NAS setup for video and music streaming (all ethernet hard wired). I'd keep the apple tv but the playback is limited to 16/48 so the mac mini is taking its place so I can take full advantage of 24/96 songs I have. I have hundreds of music videos also so sometimes I do music video playlist playback. I control it all by an iPad. I'm going to get a cheaper cartridge for my Sony tt and a bellari phono stage. If I like the vinyl/get into it I will get a higher end turntable setup later down the road.

My take is a little different. When I first get the black box I immediately noticed a lower noise floor and with that was a slightly more forward presentation. I have the V70SE with Dyn C1 signatures. I never paid attention to the higher volumes because for me I don't play too loud and I have C1's. Never tried a super black box but to me in theory the extra capacitance isn't necessary for a 2 driver speaker. Maybe if I had Sapphires or C4's (multiple driver speaker) it would again in theory make a difference. Was it worth it - to me Yes for it added no color and only improved the entire sound spectrum due to the lower noise floor. Now there is only 1 condition where I prefer no black box. Since I love to roll tubes I found with the EAT KT88 diamonds I prefer the sound without the black box. Why - because the EAT's have a lower noise floor and are very detailed and with the black box the sound is too solid state sounding. Those are my tastes and I'm sure there will be others that disagree.

And yes (it's a long story) but the HiCap p/s on the Naim XS integrated and CD5XS makes a difference and worth it again in my opinion. It is subtle but an improvement. By the way the Naim has a really nice sound for solid state - great prat. Not as good as the Octave again to my tastes.

Next up Naim Octave and Burmester. To me there are 2 different paths in music sound quality. First would be extremely detailed and the other would be more musical (a little less detail and a bit warmer sounding). As much as I like detail I personally find myself not listening to music as much and listening more toward the instruments and vocals. With musical systems I get my toes tapping - head bobbin etc but I listen to music again. For it's price point I think Naim is an excellent value but more in their entry level. Octave takes it a step further by a tad more detail and to me more important is control - more money. Burmester is my hands down favorite - lots more money. Best detail and control but yet musical.

Incidentally, when I home auditioned the NaimUniti and UnitQute I also had a Nait XS to audition. Although I wasn't using an external power supply on the XS, both Unitis sounded better (with the Qute having the edge over the NaimUniti).

Now that I have a NAP 250.2, I may think about getting a 202/Hicap sometime in the future and then just use the Qute as a DAC/Streamer/Tuner (or maybe even sell it & not bother with digital at all).

Hey Sean Looking good. The Sapphires should be sounding real good in there. They have a little more room to breath.

.

Really??? I love the the Qutes (I personally own 5 of the units and 2 Unitis) but find the XS as a far better performing INTEGRATED. Now talking source, pre, or overall value may be another discussion...

250.2 is amazing btw...congrats!

I'd really need a "switcher" to use the C1s with two different amplifiers (AVR & stereo). But those buggers, even the few ones that I can actually find (like a Niles Audio DPS-1), cost a pretty penny and then some. Bah.

Bryston makes a pretty good one too and sometimes they show up on AudiogoN for 250 -300 USD.

Hey, I heard what I heard. It was at home, in my own system, and with my stuff.

I really wanted to get the XS because I'm all analog, but the Qute is more musical. It's probably moot now, because I have no doubt the Qute + 250.2 slaughters the XS.

I wouldn't mind hearing the XS again with the 250.2 this time. I haven't been using the digital features of the Qute all that much.

Do you want to integrate your C1s into your surround setup?
Just keep in mind that they'll have to match with your center and rear speakers.

I had my stereo speakers once integrated into my surround setup too (the easiest way of doing this with an integrated amp is using one that has HT-passthrough), but if your other speakers don't match, you don't get a good surround sound experience.

I now have 5 identical speakers in that 5.1 setup and the experience is much better.

Just saying this because maybe your efforts to combine the 2 amps for this purpose will not be worth it in the end, if your other speakers don't match.

Hey Puma Cat,

What CJ gear would you recommend for the Dyn C1, C4 or sapphires?

Cary makes tube equipment also (I used them with 3.4s) that is on the warm side like CJ. The Cary 120 tube amp at 120x2 is a beast which I owned. Pair that up with a Cary solid state preamp or tube preamp (slp 03 or 05 I'd recommend on the tube preamps) and you'll get impressive results. As far as the used market goes the Cary runs cheaper usually and you get similar results.

Did u ever try it with your sapphires? The SLI80 can't compete with the v70? Guessing haven't compared.

Any comments?

Good question as I have always liked Cary products, one would think it would be very compatible to the Octave.

Another company that I think that makes some decent tube gear for the money is "Rogue Audio" Very nice stuff as I am using
there Metis Pre/Amp which I think I am going to send it in for a upgrade.

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/rogueaudio_metis.htm

Ok everyone calm down, the Confidence center that he received is a MKII as verified by the factory but of course as all of you know this mistake is not acceptable in out eyes so of course we will take care of him. Mistakes happen, rarely do they happen from us but from time to time something comes up. What shapes a company is how they deal with the mistake and I don't think anyone here can say that our customer service isn't on the top 1% of the manufacturers in this industry.

No. I sold all my Cary equipment to get the Sapphires. I wish I had the Cary 120s tube amp to compare it to the Octave V70. If I were to guess I would get a Cary tube amp with at least 100 watts per channel to drive the C4s or Sapphires adequetely. The C1's could do with less. I think the Octave drives speakers easier with less watts than Cary does but I haven't been able to do side by side comparisons. If I recall right the Sapphires are easier to drive than the 3.4s were. So it is like comparing apples to oranges as the saying goes. I've toyed with the idea of buying another Cary 120s tube amp to compare to the Octave but I doubt I'll do that.

I didn't get it. I'm calm. If I did get it I'd be calm as well and I know Dynaudio would take care of it in a heartbeat. Dynaudio's customer service is top notch and hard to beat that is for sure!

Oh, so not true!

Looks great Sean, that will be a great party space!

My experience with Dyn so far has been very good. I have a Sub500 that for while kept breaking. They must have replaced the amp on it 3 times, but they got it right for me in the end. It's now long past it's 5 yr. warranty, but still cranking away.

What's your budget and are you willing to buy used?