rjohn79395 wrote: Thanks again, eiffel62! Keep 'em coming! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

So glad you liked it.

For me, it is truly a pleasure listening to these great recordings on capable systems, and now with the help of GET speakers and a little help from the Oppo and Emotiva amps, I can say I finally hear it! I have had that recording for a couple of years, but until I recently upgraded my speakers and amp, could not really hear it.

A system is only as good as the weakest point, and that includes the software. I first started collecting multi-channel music late in 2004/early 2005 due to my first, new car purchase of an Acura TL. Elliot Scheiner collaborated with Panasonic to create the ELS Surround premium audio system for Acura. He has received multiple nominations and won Grammy & Emmy awards in surround music. As many did back then, I purchased DVD-Audios' at Best Buy, many of which were less than desired low resolution recordings, often the same exact bad recordings from CDs transferred to Dvd-Audio or SACD, from the likes of Silverline Label and others.

Fast forward, now I rely more on online resources such as the Steve Hoffman forum , a mastering engineer who became famous with Mobile Fidelity (MoFi) and Analogue Productions. I also visit the Dynamic Range Database to see if I have some older, supposed high resolution recordings, that are bettered by another source. This is why I have recently re-purchased some acclaimed albums, such as "Eat a Peach" after others have indicated a substantial difference in recording quality high-rez release.

Last night I finally got around to listening to another re-purchased album from long ago, The Rolling Stones "Beggars Banquet". First purchased some ten years back from Amazon, I thought it was a SACD as other ABCKO SACDs from Amazon. But this was actually a CD where the source was DSD before being down converted. . Amazon back then, and still does to a lesser degree, confuse SACD with CD. As you might expect, the SHM SACD is an improvement over the CD.

Yes, Rick, I have the Van Cliburn, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I got it for the Tchaik and the Rac is an added bonus!
I have the old SACD EAT A PEACH, and am hugely dissapointed in it. Glad there is a good one now.
Just back from a week down at Phuket, it is HOT here!
God bless, Wayne

Finished up the rest of Mingus Dynasty today, and track #2 (Diane) may be the star of the show...Excellent use of bass, flute, and piano. My second pick is "Song with Orange"...great tune.

T Cobe: Mood Indigo sounds rather distorted, especially the opening sax notes (has a ghosting effect going on) and when he yells (yeah) in the middle of the song, it scares the crap out of me. The entire cd can be very hard for most any system to get right. I personally don't think this a top notch recording, and on a scale of 1-5 I give it a 3.

I might add that bonus track 10 (Srollin') with female vocalist Honey Gordon, should not have been included on this cd...sounds out of place.

Wayne, it's great to hear from you! I hope you and the family are well. I think I ran across some of your posts regarding the XMC-1 and the Oppo 103 on another forum where the folks are not so nice... I hope we start hearing more from you! I still need to get into some of these living stereo 3-channel recordings.

Anthem, I agree on the SQ of the Mingus Dynasty CD. While I didn't find anything too distorted or objectionable, there is certainly room for improvement. That's not unusual for older recordings. The record is actually a bit better. Regarding brass, I have definitely heard better recordings but the variety of instruments and the arrangements are great. To me, the spot this album really shines is Mingus himself on the bass. The tone is more rich on the record but it's great either way. I also found myself skipping the bonus tracks. They definitely add nothing to the album.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Update:

After dinner I decided to have another Dynasty listen. This time I used the Emotiva xpa -1 monoblocks > Primaluna Premium Preamp > Oppo 105 > Military Silver / Copper Interconnects & Speaker wire.
I'm happy to report that the Emotiva combo had a better grip/better control on the music. The sound was more open and was somewhat more delicate in the high frequencies.

Mood Indigo did sound better, but still with a slight emphasis on the sax edges.

The Zen Torii is not an end all amp. There are times when other amps/preamps can outperform it...this is one of those times.

Sonics & Music...4 star's. Again, thanks for the recommendation T Cobe...Dynasty will get a lot of play.

Got my first Mingus album in. Ever since Anthem, T Coby and others have been playing and discussing his music, I put a few of his albums on my wishlist under Acoustic Sounds website . They are out of Salina, KS and since I live in Shawnee, KS, have opted to buy from them in many situations as the shipping is free when buying $89 or more, which is about 3 SACDs. The orders usually arrive the next day, so along with Amazon, are my go sites.

So yesterday I got


And today, this should arrive


The former album is my first Mingus and it was really, really good to hear. I have also been picking up some Henry Mancini including the following