Jump to content

kerkula

  • Posts

    5
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Country

    country-ZZ

Retained

  • Member Title
    Newbie
  1. kerkula

    Nad d-7050

    I have one and like it, but if you surf the web you will find some pretty polarized opinions of this device: No analog inputs; funny case design; NAD made it so it can't be good; etc. If you decide to take the plunge try to get a reasonable amount of time for the amp to break in before returning it if it turns out you don't like it. I purchased a d7050 in December. It has replaced my amp, DAC, Passive/active preamp, and sub-woofer crossover. I'm not the best at describing the "sound" of amplifiers but I can say the 7050 is: 1) very very quiet 2) neutral 3)has great dynamics 4)imaging is excellent 5)sound stage is wide and natural. The 50 wpc (into 4 ohms) is plenty for my 90db 6 ohm ACI Sapphire II speakers, and with the sub-woofer crossover this only gets better. I have spent some time comparing the quality of the sound with and without the crossover and I can detect no downside to using this feature. I am feeding this amp from my tweaked squeezebox touch as well as the s/pdif output of my CD player and the s/pdif output of my computer. At long last I am able to switch seamlessly from one to source to another. I only wish there was a better way to control the features of this amp. I ended up borrowing an ipod to set up the crossover. It took me a couple hours to figure out how to get this app working. The documentation is next to none and it only works (for me) with the amp connected via wifi - not when using a wired connection. This seems odd since the manual recommends wired over wireless networking. Since that time NAD has added an Android app for those of us who don't own an Apple product. I am hoping someone will come up with an aftermarket app. I think there's more to control in this amp than NAD is giving us access to. One word of warning, there's no level control for the subwoofer out, it is assumed you will control that some other way. After having the amp plugged in and turned on for over a month, it now sounds much much better. I know some folks believe that electronics "break in" and other scoff at this notion. Actually I was in the scoff category. But the amp sounds better after a month and a half and the improvement wasn't gradual - it was almost overnight. (Please don't ask me to explain or defend this observation, it's just my observation). What's different? Two things stand out. First the sound stage has become much wider. Second, the presentation of dynamics is vastly improved. It's as if something finally "clicked" in this amp. I don't get it but I hear it. Finally, I haven't had a chance to explore the UPNP capabilities of this device, and I understand this feature doesn't stream hi - def. However there's one feature that I didn't expect to ever use but now I love. This is the Bluetooth capability. It's great and here's why. Friends and family come over and everyone has music on their smart phones. With the Bluetooth input I don't have to wire them up; they just play the music they want to play. You should see the looks on their faces. I know it is "inferior audio quality" but actually sounds pretty good and the convenience can't be beat. So in summary I am enjoying this amp. My only consternation is that this technology will surely improve and I will want to buy something new some day. I am definitely sold on full digital amps. cheers, Kerkula
  2. Recorded live over two days in 1972 in the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, backed by the Southern California Community Choir and a great group of musicians. Aretha is a national treasure and this album is a wonderful document of her talent. She holds back on many songs and then unleashes the power of her voice when it counts. (listen to "you'll never walk alone").
  3. I also downloaded this album taking advantage of the offer of a discount. I've examined the spectral and frequency graphs in Cool Edit and while it isn't brick walled per se, it sure doesn't look like a 96khz file either. Kerkula
  4. You ask an important question but first I think the music industry has to answer some questions about how it's going to do business in the 21st century. 1. The future of physical media: Vinyl has a bright and obvious future in the physical world but not so for digital media. Much of the recording business is stuck with the notion that the way to sell music is to sell a physical thing. A decade ago Apple (a computer company not a music business) proved that selling downloadable music can be profitable. 2. Coping with piracy: For much of the last decade the recording industry has tried to put the genie back in the bottle with various legal maneuvers. In my opinion they accomplished little. Again going back to the iTunes model, Apple proved that if given the opportunity to buy a legal download, people are willing to do so. This isn’t the answer to piracy but selling what people want to buy is an important way to cope. 3. No more format wars: The fight over the successor to the CD killed hi-res as a commercial product for the masses and relegated it to something only we – the obsessed audiophiles – are interested in. How sad. 4. Define hi-res: Right now hi-res is defined only as the bit depth/sample rate of the file being sold. This is meaningless. It has led to numerous oversampled files being fraudulently offered as hi-res which they are not. This is bad for consumers and will kill this fledgling industry. Hi-res needs to be redefined in a way that describes the full provenance and quality of the file. 5. Prove quality matters: People need an opportunity to hear the difference between an MP3 and a full res (16/44) file. And then they need a chance to hear the difference between a CD and a proper Hi-res file. I accept that not everybody will hear the difference. Not everybody will care even if they do hear a difference. But if the difference can be demonstrated many people will want to buy quality. The common thread to all of the above is that the music industry has been so consumed with stopping the changes of the last decade that they have overlooked and alienated a lot of new customers. I believe the future can be highly profitable to those companies that stop investing in the past. Kerkula
  5. I can't speak to the quality of the two hardware modifications you are considering. But suggest you also look at software mods as another way to get the most out of the SBT. You should try this even if you spring for one of the hardware mods. A good place to start is here: http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/2011/11/touch-toolbox-30.html The great thing about these changes is they are totally reversible if you don't like the results. Chances are you will. good luck, Kerkula
×
×
  • Create New...