Alright, Tim's post about his new DAC motivated me to write this up.
My brand new
Audio Experience Symphonies tube preamp arrived yesterday from Y-S Audio, picked up new via Ebay for $400 including shipping from Hong Kong. As soon as I got home I opened up the Symphonies, put in the one tube they leave out of the innards during shipping, yanked out my old Rotel RTC-950AX preamp/tuner, and fired up the Symphonies.
COMPLETELY different sound. Must've listened for a good 2-3 hours last night. While still not burned in, I could easily tell how much I preferred the Symphonies to the RTC-950AX. Relative to the RTC-950AX, the Symponies to my ears provides:
- Far superior detail across the range. I'm hearing details I've never heard before - much smoother attack, lengthier decay, much broader dynamics both at the micro and macro level.
- Better bass. My sub has absolutely come alive, delivering richer, deeper, meatier lows with greater definition than ever before. The crossover between speakers and sub seems more integrated, too - not sure how to account for that, but my ears sure hear it.
- Soundstage, soundstage, soundstage!! The soundstage is a bit wider and allows easier identification of L/R separation and placement, but it is waaaaaay deeper than before allowing me to really place the instruments' depth within the space.
I'm stunned at what a difference this preamp has made. Now I have to decide what's next - new power amp, subs, DAC, CD/DVD transport, or Maggie 1.6s. Decisions, decisions. 8)
FWIW, my current playback setup:
Crappy Toshiba DVD/CD player (coax out)
Sony TA-E9000ES (coax in, acting as DAC; pre-outs to preamp)
Audio Experiences Symphonies preamp
Adcom GFA-555 power amp
Magnepan MMG (x 2)
Pinnacle Baby Boomer (dual bipolar drivers)