CORNWALL IV, an integrated amp and a streamer

[Khornukopia]

13 hours ago, salbake said:

okay...but it’s kind of weird that it displays as “salbake said”...and I said absolutely none of that. And all of “what I said” is at the discretion of another poster? 🤷‍♂️

 

That does appear to be a distortion of the facts, as it pertains to you. 

 

I believe the software allows us to edit a quote so we can isolate a specific point we want to reply to. Sometimes things go wrong, like the cursor hovers over "your" quote, a reply is typed in and sent before the person realizes the overlap. I also notice that the display and layout are different on the laptop and cellphone displays, leading to some posting errors.

 

I don't know what happen in the situation you referenced, but the best thing is to stay positive and keep sharing your thoughts about speakers, amps and music. 🙂

[Travis In Austin]

1 hour ago, 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.

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

[Travis In Austin]

34 minutes ago, Khornukopia said:

 

That does appear to be a distortion of the facts, as it pertains to you. 

 

I believe the software allows us to edit a quote so we can isolate a specific point we want to reply to. Sometimes things go wrong, like the cursor hovers over "your" quote, a reply is typed in and sent before the person realizes the overlap. I also notice that the display and layout are different on the laptop and cellphone displays, leading to some posting errors.

 

I don't know what happen in the situation you referenced, but the best thing is to stay positive and keep sharing your thoughts about speakers, amps and music. 🙂

Concur with that. If someone made a malicious misquote they would be banned.

[avguytx]

On 9/6/2020 at 8:59 PM, salbake said:

The title of this thread describes my stereo, and it is a great combo. Just set a budget and go for highest signal to noise ratio and lowest harmonic distortion you can afford and enjoy. The Heritage stuff is so sensitive, do not sleep on a power conditioner, or a weight/clamp on your turntable. Happy hunting/listening!

 

Ok, trying to wrap my head around the above part in red.  I definitely don't sleep on a power conditioner or a weight clamp.  Did you mean "skimp" per chance?  Asking for a friend...  lol

[Shakeydeal]

17 minutes ago, avguytx said:

 

Ok, trying to wrap my head around the above part in red.  I definitely don't sleep on a power conditioner or a weight clamp.  Did you mean "skimp" per chance?  Asking for a friend...  lol

 

 

I think he means you should buy one each of these things post haste.............

 

 

[mustang_flht]

On 9/8/2020 at 6:56 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.

Hi @dwilawyer

 

Can you tell us what he used at home, thank you 

[EmilC]

Here's something nice for the CWs and get it with the remote volume control.

 

https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/products/zotl10-mkii

[Panelhead]

  The latest integrated/dac/streamer to catch my eye is the new Lyngdorf TDAI-1120. About 2200.00. Very functional. 

  Not as pretty as the Mac.

[Dawson's Ridge]

20 hours ago, Panelhead said:

  Very functional. 

  Not as pretty as the Mac.

Kind of like Timex and Rolex.

[Julien D]

Dear all, many thanks for your precious feedbacks. I have received the Cornwall IV and they are HUGE haha. I plugged them on and spent the entire days playing tracks (basically fused with my chair). A note on the burning period, I can hear from running them how the sound gets better if I compare to a week ago. For now I am driving them with a cheap Denon AVR with Spotify connect and cables I would be ashamed to display. But even so, sound shows potential.

 

The next step is to decide what will be the rest of the system. I came up with this list of potentials, considering:

 

- Music first, meaning how "practical" it could be to just have a easy to use system (I am mostly on Spotify Connect at the moment)

- TV on speakers too! Cause why not using these cool speakers for everything if that's possible?

- "It's good enough" feeling, or how it makes sense to buy and keep for years as I would rather not planning to buy and look for the next best things in the coming years

- As less components as possible, homes in HK are small, it's just wiser to go for an integrated amp

 

So here is my list, feel free to share your opinion if that makes sense to you:

1. CV4 + Naim Uniti Atom with HDMI
2. CV4 + AURALiC VEGA G1 / Bluesound Node 2i (Optical input for TV) + Option to add a DAC (DENAFRIPS?) + Primaluna EVO 300 Integrated
3. CV4 + AURALiC VEGA G1 / Bluesound Node 2i (Optical input for TV) + Vinnie Rossi L2i SE with DAC

[Shakeydeal]

31 minutes ago, Julien D said:

Dear all, many thanks for your precious feedbacks. I have received the Cornwall IV and they are HUGE haha. I plugged them on and spent the entire days playing tracks (basically fused with my chair). A note on the burning period, I can hear from running them how the sound gets better if I compare to a week ago. For now I am driving them with a cheap Denon AVR with Spotify connect and cables I would be ashamed to display. But even so, sound shows potential.

 

The next step is to decide what will be the rest of the system. I came up with this list of potentials, considering:

 

- Music first, meaning how "practical" it could be to just have a easy to use system (I am mostly on Spotify Connect at the moment)

- TV on speakers too! Cause why not using these cool speakers for everything if that's possible?

- "It's good enough" feeling, or how it makes sense to buy and keep for years as I would rather not planning to buy and look for the next best things in the coming years

- As less components as possible, homes in HK are small, it's just wiser to go for an integrated amp

 

So here is my list, feel free to share your opinion if that makes sense to you:

1. CV4 + Naim Uniti Atom with HDMI
2. CV4 + AURALiC VEGA G1 / Bluesound Node 2i (Optical input for TV) + Option to add a DAC (DENAFRIPS?) + Primaluna EVO 300 Integrated
3. CV4 + AURALiC VEGA G1 / Bluesound Node 2i (Optical input for TV) + Vinnie Rossi L2i SE with DAC

One thing I would suggest is to ditch Spotify for Quobuz or Tidal. Not quite the same depth in their catalog but far better sound.

 

Shakey

[Julien D]

Hello everyone,

 

Just a quick update, I ended up with the following => Cornwall IV + Lumin D2 + Primaluna EVO 200 Integrated

 

And the sound was good. Like very good when using Tidal. But 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. And the DAC inside the Lumin D2 (Wolfson8741) ultimately cannot be compared (it's a streamer so not big surprise).

 

Also I must add one last thing: I do not know how the Lumin app works on Tablets, but on smartphones...UX is terrible when using Tidal. The buttons are tiny, the app does not quickly display what matters, the volume isn't pair with the phone's physical buttons...I will be interested to know your experience when it comes to this app cause just for that I am considering Roon...

 

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Julien D

[pbphoto]

Roon is fantastic - been using it for 3 years now.  Great UX experience and integration with Qobuz (or Tidal if you prefer.). I run the Roon Core on an iMac and stream to a bunch of devices throughout the house.  Give it a try.  If you end up going with Roon, your Lumin D2 becomes a very expensive digital pass-thru streamer to your Ares II.  You might consider a less expensive Roon endpoint to pass digital to your Ares II, or buy a Roon Ready DAC/streamer all-in-one.  Good luck.

[Shakeydeal]

I had a Bluesound Node 2i running into an MHDT Pagoda DAC. But when I upgraded to a Lumin U1 mini, the sound took a noticeable leap. Still using the same DAC,

 

As for the interface, I tried the Lumin app on an 8" Samsung tablet and it worked ok. But what you really want is something the size of an ipad. I am using an old ipad now and the app is much better on this device. I can't imagine using it with any phone.

 

Shakey

[EmilC]

6 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:

I had a Bluesound Node 2i running into an MHDT Pagoda DAC. But when I upgraded to a Lumin U1 mini, the sound took a noticeable leap. Still using the same DAC,

Shakey

 

and that was with a streaming service such as Tidal?

 

[Shakeydeal]

That is streaming from Tidal/Quobuz and also streaming files from a NAS drive.

[Travis In Austin]

9 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:

That is streaming from Tidal/Quobuz and also streaming files from a NAS drive.

Help, what's NAS drive?

[Shakeydeal]

3 hours ago, dwilawyer said:

Help, what's NAS drive?

 
It’s a headless computer with storage bays. Just a fancy hard drive.

[CAMike]

Congratulations on the set up!  I run the Integrated PL EVO300 with LaScalas (now Eliptrac 400/LMAHL V2 LaScalas)  Personal preference always rules in these situations.

[rockhound]

Congrats on the new setup I bet it sounds amazing. Curious @Julien D what steered you away from the NAIM Uniti Atom?