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| Letters -- March 2008 Affordable alternative to the ARC CD7? March 21, 2008 Editor, I listened to the Audio Research CD7 and liked it very much. But, it is a lot of money. Do you have any tips on what comes close to it and is less money? Have you heard the Primaluna Prologue CD8? Ron Dijkstra The Audio Research CD7 is still the best standalone CD player I’ve heard, and I’m not sure you can match it with something much less expensive. However, that doesn’t mean that such a product doesn’t exist. There are a number of units coming out that are based on generous hard-drive buffering of the CD’s data and then a low-jitter connection with the DAC -- PS Audio’s new transport comes to mind; there are also a number of music-server-based products and USB/Firewire DACs on the market as well. As an early adopter of a hard-drive-based system myself, I know that these types of products hold immense potential. I’d suggest investigating such devices. I have not heard the Primaluna you mention….Jeff Fritz Paradigm and Reference 3A March 17, 2008 To Albert Bellg, I enjoyed reading your review on the Reference 3A Grand Veenas. I am about to purchase a pair of Paradigm S6 v.2s, which was reviewed a few months ago on Ultra Audio. Is the 3A that much better or better at all for the difference in price of over $3000? Pat Del Sordo Interesting question. I haven't heard the Paradigm S6 v2, but I do find some useful comparisons between Jeff Fritz's review of them and my own review of the Reference 3A Grand Veenas. We considered the speakers we reviewed to be benchmarks at their prices and potentially competitive with more expensive speakers. Both speakers had some minor issues with their bass performance, and both do well (the Grand Veenas extremely well) from the midrange on up. Aside from price, I think there are two main things to consider. First is the quality of your other gear. The Grand Veenas are revealing and not very forgiving; what you hear from the rest of your equipment is what you will get. That could potentially be a problem. Second is your room. The Grand Veenas are hard to set up right, and I believe they need to be positioned out from the short wall (at least 12' wide) of a rectangular room in order to maximize bass performance. In comparison, Jeff thought the Paradigms were "not all that sensitive to placement," which could make your life much easier and listening more pleasant. If those issues can be successfully addressed, though, and you have the cash, I'd go for the Grand Veenas. If you want what sounds more like a sure thing, I'd stick with the Paradigms....Albert Bellg Cables for Verity speakers? March 10, 2008 To Jason Thorpe, I enjoyed both your reviews of the Verity Audio Parsifal and Rienzi. I recently purchased the Parsifals, but I have not received them yet. I am now in the market for interconnects and speaker cables that will complement the Parsifals. Can you recommend a few specific brands and briefly explain the reasons for your suggestions? I prefer my sound on the warmer side and my budget is $4000. The rest of my system consists of a First Sound Presence Deluxe preamp, Audio Valve Challenger monoblock amplifiers, and a Resolution Audio CD player. Matt You've made an excellent choice with the Parsifals. They're stunning speakers, and I feel confident that you'll enjoy them. I know I did. As far as speaker cables go, I'm afraid that I won't be of much help to you. Or maybe I will. You decide. Over the years I've purposely not worried about which cables I'm using, as I feel that it's a slippery slope that will inevitably cost me more money than I'll be comfortably able to spend. So I turn a blind eye to which cables I'm using. I have been running the same set of Acoustic Zen Satori speaker cables for about ten years now, and I find that they work just great for my application. If I never change them, then they'll always sound good, right? And I'll never have to spend money on new ones, right? Aren't I clever? The same goes for interconnects. I've been using Acoustic Zen for single-ended and Analysis Plus for balanced runs for just about forever now. They work great! I realize that I'm being somewhat flippant here. I have, in the past, futzed and worried about cables, and I've heard distinct differences in them. However, I am not willing to worry about them any longer. The cash spent and back pain endured in the cable hunt just aren't in my game plan any longer. So, I suggest that you receive your new Verity speakers and plug them in with the cables that you're currently using, and just enjoy them. I know that they'll sound fantastic. Thanks, sorry, and good luck!...Jason Thorpe Player options March 4, 2008 Editor, Thank you for your enjoyable review of the Audio Research Reference CD7 CD player. I know some companies like Audio Research do not offer a CD/DVD player, because they think the audio performance suffers. That belief, and your interesting comments regarding the CD7 and the Esoteric UX3-SE, make me wonder if I should consider buying two players. I don't have many CDs or DVDs, but I love the idea of excellent audio and video playback. Quality over quantity. Do you (or anyone else at Ultra Audio) have an opinion of the Arcam DV139, Esoteric DV-60 or Naim DVD5? I like to think I could appreciate differences among models, but maybe nothing would look or sound any better to me than my Sony DVD player, purchased on sale at Target for $49 (please try to control your laughter). I will, of course, try to arrange some comparison demos. Mark Lombardi I think you would hear and see some specific improvements when going from your Sony to any of the above-mentioned players. But you’re right, the proof only comes from actually doing the comparisons and determining for yourself whether those improvements are worth the considerable cost involved ($49 to thousands is a huge jump!). If you find that you appreciate the improvements garnered from a much better source player, then you should decide on what route to take. Personally, now that Blu-ray has won the format war, I’d look at buying one of those players for your DVD player so that you could start watching Blu-ray Discs. A good-quality CD-only player makes sense for some people, and for others it doesn’t. For some, an iPod and a docking station is a better move. Frankly, I’m in favor of what gets you the most enjoyment from your music, and only you can decide on that….Jeff Fritz
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