Jump to content

CORNWALL IV, an integrated amp and a streamer


Julien D

Recommended Posts

Hello one and all,

Happy Monday.

Im also looking for a pairing also here...

Would these be over kill. Heard the Cornwall's dont need push power :

 

Hegel H390 Integrated Amplifier

Mcintosh ma252 integrated amplifier

PrimaLuna Evo 100 Tube PreAmplifier

 

Then..

ARIES G1 or ARIES G2.1 
VERTERE PHONO 1 MM/MC PHONO STAGE/PREAMP 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/7/2020 at 10:25 AM, salbake said:

Lol did you just quote me and then completely change my quote, and then agree with “me” (yourself)?? That’s weird, man. Doesn’t have to be McIntosh. And some people might disagree w my advice...”best” is pretty subjective. But to my ears, if your heart is set on an integrated paired w heritage, high S/N and low distortion sounds great. The IVs don’t get “dry” “analytical” or “bright” or whatever other adjective people worry about.

I just seen this and thought, wow did he just " fake news " a quote on an audio forum lol

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Julien,

 

If your source is to be streamed audio, your Integrated amp choices are wide open.  The quality of streamed audio is not normally high enough to challenge even mid-level audio gear. 

 

Still, I will recommend the best quality Yamaha, Marantz, or NAD and any Luxman, Parasound, Acurus and perhaps Rotel.  You don't really need more then 50 watts/channel, as long as it is clean and has a relatively high damping factor (say 150 or more).  McIntosh sells a 50 watt headphone integrated amp that just might be the BOMB for your setup

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

The quality of streamed audio is not normally high enough to challenge even mid-level audio gear. 

 

Not sure what streamed audio you are talking about. But Tidal and Quobuz offer lossless and hi rez streaming that is pretty much indistinguishable from the CD variant or original files.

 

I am at about 50/50 my music/Tidal for al of my digital listening. Both offer exceptional SQ.

 

Shakey

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/7/2020 at 1:35 AM, Julien D said:

the Lumin was somehow noisy (tiiiiiiii once in a while in the upper horn which was very annoying).

 

Then I added a dedicated DAC in between the streamer and the amplifier (DENAFRIPS ARES II bought 2nd hand) and...the sound is SO MUCH better. That's insane how everything improved dramatically. And no more noise, the speakers are now silent. I think the Cost/Performance ratio of ARES II is very high.

 

 

 

 

 very interesting ----

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/8/2020 at 11:24 AM, ILI said:

 

Thanks for that input. BGW makes professional gear of the highest standard and they build extremely powerful amplifiers.

https://www.bgw.com/about-bgw

It makes me wonder why PWK would build highly efficient speakers and use them with extremely powerful amps... I still have a lot to learn.

PWK's  amp  at the Factory was the BGW 250D/E  rated at 100 Watts per channel 8 ohms ------- 

 

I would not say that this was an extremely powerful amp ,  but the rated power of 100 watts per channel  was  also  the nominal  Power Handling  Rating of the  entire Heritage series /  Heresy-Forte-Chorus-CornWall-LaScala-Belle-KHorn--

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/8/2020 at 12:56 PM, dwilawyer said:

That's what he used in the lab, not at home. He used pro amps because they are balanced is my guess.

PWK used 2 SS  -amps at his home in 1985 ,  these were the Crown D-60   35 watts per channel and the BGW 100 -30 watts per channel 8 ohms  -this was confirmed by @ClaudeJ1   -  

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, RandyH000 said:

 very interesting ----

 

 

Interesting but not surprising. The D2 is basically the same streamer as the U1-mini, but the mini doesn't have a DAC. So 300.00 more gets you a DAC with the D2. I'm not surprised that the quality is sub par. You'd be better off buying the U1 and an outboard DAC.

 

 

Shakey

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said:

 

 

Interesting but not surprising. The D2 is basically the same streamer as the U1-mini, but the mini doesn't have a DAC. So 300.00 more gets you a DAC with the D2. I'm not surprised that the quality is sub par. You'd be better off buying the U1 and an outboard DAC.

 

 

Shakey

I was referring to this unit he mentionned , and that is made in Singapore -------------DENAFRIPS ARES II   ---first time I hear of this product and brand -

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/8/2020 at 12:56 PM, dwilawyer said:

That's what he used in the lab, not at home. He used pro amps because they are balanced is my guess.

Not balanced. Because of their low TIM distortion, he used a BGW 100 and half of a Crown D-60 for his center Belle.

 

He was using the inferior RCA connections, which he complained about in the the Dope From Hope. He called them "nameless" so he wouldn't swear in the written form, but he was disconnecting them live when I was at his house and swearing about it, which made me realize precisely why he was using back to back Big Zener Diodes to protect the K-77 tweeters in the AA networks of his Klipshhorns and center Belle.

 

RCA connectors disconnect the ground before the hot between pre amp and power amp, so there is a momentary input SLAM to the power amp, which responds by putting our a square wave impulse that can fry a tweeter without adequate protection. The more watts in the power amp, the easier the damage can occur because of the higher voltage power supplies. Tweeters are delicate and can't handle this kind of abuse.

 

Everything PWK wrote about he actually did for himself, including false corners, resistor boxes, referring to the Klipsch Papers with classic tech papers written by his heroes.  IOW, the practiced what he preached without compromise. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said:

 

Oh, ok. Well check out the Denafrips Terminator. That's the big boy.

5k$ +   - Proprietary R-2R and DSD architecture- /  anything goes wrong , it's factory repair only -

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/19/2020 at 2:08 PM, Shakeydeal said:

 

Not sure what streamed audio you are talking about. But Tidal and Quobuz offer lossless and hi rez streaming that is pretty much indistinguishable from the CD variant or original files.

 

I am at about 50/50 my music/Tidal for al of my digital listening. Both offer exceptional SQ.

 

Shakey

 

Absolutely. I moved to Quobuz and it sounds better than Tidal and is less expensive. I'm using this as a streamer. https://www.allo.com/sparky/digione-signature-player.html

 

You have several different choices of spftware and they can be easily changed. The unit is future proofed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/21/2020 at 8:45 AM, Shakeydeal said:

I think Quobuz sounds slightly better than Tidal too. However, their catalog is lacking in depth and there is no provision to sort titles by artist. If they ever resolve these two issues, I'll come back.

 

I'm not sure when you tried Qoubuz but is now much improved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/21/2020 at 2:45 PM, Shakeydeal said:

I think Quobuz sounds slightly better than Tidal too. However, their catalog is lacking in depth and there is no provision to sort titles by artist. If they ever resolve these two issues, I'll come back.

 

Don't know where you live, but  here in Europe, the Qobuz catalogue is phenomenal in depth. 

In Europe there is no 'family account', though, and that's the only thing keeping me from joining them again. In the US, the do have a family account (up to 6 members). So this difference may suggest their catalogue is different too. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, ILI said:

 

Don't know where you live, but  here in Europe, the Qobuz catalogue is phenomenal in depth. 

In Europe there is no 'family account', though, and that's the only thing keeping me from joining them again. In the US, the do have a family account (up to 6 members). So this difference may suggest their catalogue is different too. 

 

 

Maybe they have gotten better. They kept saying they were adding new titles all the time. But a lot of the stuff I would search for I couldn't find. Even Tidal doesn't have everything, but their interface is better. I might have to give Quobuz another try. I'm too cheap to have them both 😁

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...