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Matching a CD Player to Klipschorns


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Hi, I am new to the Klipsch Forum. I have older McIntosh solid state equipment. Recently, I bought a McIntosh MDC-201 CD player and had to sell it because it was just too detailed and distracting. The 201, though it sounded sublime, added too much decorum and separation: everything felt like it was being presented on a platter instead of in a musical stew; instruments and vocals were too singled out and set apart from the "whole." The 201 also took the edge and emotional rush off the speaker's front-row dynamics, and softened the vocals and that in-your-face, K-Horn sound. (Through the 201, KD Lang, though her voice never sounded better or more melodic on my speakers, felt like a wild horse that had been broken.) Although I could tell an immense difference between my cheap Sony CD player and the 201, in the end I preferred the huge drawbacks of the Sony. (I know that this may sound crazy to others.) But I am looking for a CD player that will give me detail without driving me to distraction and sacrificing K-Horn dynamics and emotional involvement. I would be interested in hearing from other K-Horn owners regarding good CD player matches to these extremely sensitive speakers. Eventually, I plan to upgrade to a McIntosh tube preamplifier. One dealer suggested I go backward and buy an older McIntosh CD player, such as a MCD-7007 or 7009. Another suggested I buy a new Rotel, which is supposed to have an analog sound. The thing is, I loved the MCD-201 in the store (smooth, warm, analog sound), but it was too great a shock to my system. Thanks.

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You may want to consider a Rega Apollo or Eastern Electric Mini Max. I have vintage McIntosh and newer Balanced Audio Technology amps and pre-amps and both the Rega Apollo and Eastern Electric Mini Max meld quite well with both systems.

BTW, I have Cornwalls for both systems but I have experienced both CD players with K-Horns. Very nice!

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I think Boomac is right on target. The tube EE Mini Max sounds very nice with his equipment, so I hope you get a chance to listen to it. Your complaint is puzzling but well described IMO; it sounds like an elusive incompatibility somewhere in your electronics setup.

Finding a CD player that melds with the rest of one's system is sometimes a crapshoot.

Whereabouts do you live?

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Thanks gentlemen for your replies. I knew I was going to feel at home here on the Klipsch Forum. I think it is only fitting that Tarheel was the first to reply to my post, since I have been a fan for many years, especially when Dean was at the helm. I will look into the Rega Apollo and Eastern Electric Mini Max CD players. I have homes in New York City and central PA. My setup includes vintage McIntosh solid state amp, preamp, and MR-78 tuner. I upgraded with ALK Trachorns, Beyma tweeters, and ALK extreme slope xovers, but they, like the MCD-201, softened the dynamic edge of the K-Horns in my listening room and setup, making the speakers too laid back. The K-Horns have the cast aluminum horns and had AA xovers, but I am not sure how old they are (serial numbers are stamped in the tailboards), and they are not a matched set. Now I have Bob Crites xover and tweeter, and although I miss ALK's smooth, liquid sound, the K-Horns are closer to what I fell in love with at the beginning. KD Lang sounded great with the ALK xovers and horns but she no longer gave my wife and me goosebumps. Goosebumps are back.

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. I think it is only fitting that Tarheel was the first to reply to my post, since I have been a fan for many years, especially when Dean was at the helm

If you like the Heels, Dean Smith (and Roy Williams) then all I can say about you is that you are a scholar and a gentleman and welcome to the forum[:)]

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Thanks gentlemen for your replies. I knew I was going to feel at home here on the Klipsch Forum. I think it is only fitting that Tarheel was the first to reply to my post, since I have been a fan for many years, especially when Dean was at the helm. I will look into the Rega Apollo and Eastern Electric Mini Max CD players. I have homes in New York City and central PA. My setup includes vintage McIntosh solid state amp, preamp, and MR-78 tuner. I upgraded with ALK Trachorns, Beyma tweeters, and ALK extreme slope xovers, but they, like the MCD-201, softened the dynamic edge of the K-Horns in my listening room and setup, making the speakers too laid back. The K-Horns have the cast aluminum horns and had AA xovers, but I am not sure how old they are (serial numbers are stamped in the tailboards), and they are not a matched set. Now I have Bob Crites xover and tweeter, and although I miss ALK's smooth, liquid sound, the K-Horns are closer to what I fell in love with at the beginning. KD Lang sounded great with the ALK xovers and horns but she no longer gave my wife and me goosebumps. Goosebumps are back.

From what you are saying I don't think that you like the audiophile stuff. The changes that you gains are usually what is sought. You may be throwing money away buying an expensive player.

You like the edge or cut of horns, stay away from equipment designed to give detail and smoothness.
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I'm with tigerwood, it sounds like you didn't like extra detail but the music has lost something but you also like smoothness. I'm not sure if that's what you are saying. It sort of sounds like a problem I had where I had too much detail but lost dynamics and livelyness. If that's what it is, I've been there and it's an easy fix. If that sounds about right, let me know.

Thanx, Russ

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Recently, I bought a McIntosh MDC-201 CD player and had to sell it because it was just too detailed and distracting. The 201, though it sounded sublime, added too much decorum and separation: everything felt like it was being presented on a platter instead of in a musical stew; instruments and vocals were too singled out and set apart from the "whole."


That's a complaint I've never heard before. Most good sound systems will project the music as a virtual soundstage, where you can hear where every performer and instrument is placed, so you can visualize the music actually being performed right in front of you. Most people think that's a good thing.

"A musical stew" sounds a bit like what you'd hear when listening in mono. Do mono recordings sound better to you? A number of people prefer mono, with certain recordings, at least.
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"... in the end I preferred the huge drawbacks of the Sony. "
Hornylicious,
Your complaint is utterly fascinating.
I'm wondering if the true dynamics, authority and almost dangerous sounding power and energy that are often NOT captured in our recordings (due to inadequacies in micing or the media and equipment) are somehow compensated for by certain kinds of (probably nameless) distortion. Take that distortion away, and the music is flatter, less complex, less cortically arousing. I have noticed that some "high end" audiophile equipment sounds bland, compared to the upper middle occupied by our beloved Klipshorns .........
But you have to feed them with something exciting. Perhaps the subtle distortion (not necessarily IM, Harmonic, TIM, or any of the forms we measure) in your older, cheaper CD player simulated the uncaptured cues we would get in loud & live music.
Here, per\haps, is another side of the same coin. In comparing the same recordings on my old vinyl stereo Lps (with a variety of older Ortophon cartridges) and on CD, I found that, in addition to the usual differences (the vinyl seems warmer anf\d more "there," but sometimes not quite as clear) I have noticed that there was a subtle and quite musical sense of strain, especially in the climaxes, on the vinyl that tends to be missing in the CD versions. I seem to like this strain. In playing in a live orchestra I have heard a similar (but not identical) sound when the French horns, cello and basses are playing at the top of their loudness range. I have never heard this in a digital recording, but, again, the sense of strain that I attribute to the phono cartridge/ record/cutter system puts back some excitement. It certainly makes the music sound more complex. Complexity is one of Berlyne's arousal increasing variables.
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