Quote:So I went through almost exactly the same thing, except I was sure my speakers were sufficiently broken in. Decware + Omega told me I wasn't getting my monies worth with my old digital front end, the difference between it and LPs was just too big. So long story short now I have a Denafrips Terminator 2 DAC + Gaia DDC and a Jay CDT Mk3 and no regrets at all. I feel like after almost 40 years of chasing digital no longer sounds like a compromise. The only thing that could possibly be better is replacing my UFOs with the 25th anniversary edition I ordered last Black Friday but they are still a year or more away from my listening room.
I had to pull the CSP3 out of my system to send it to Decware for repairs. I hooked up the UFO25 to the ZR2 and the rest of the system and it became very obvious what I will be doing next. Exactly what you did CAJames for exactly the same reason.
Not the the ZDSD is a poor component, it's not and depending on a persons end goal it may be all that one needs. But its limitations were evident relative to my end goal which crystallized after the responses to my post.
It started with Steves comments:
Quote:The better the speaker is, the better the amp will mess you up. Or put another way the better the music will mess you up as the amp steps into a high dimension and takes itself out of the direct path between music and listener.
The CSP3-A, UFO25 (both with a full Cryotone tube complement) along with the Omega Vintage 8HO speakers were now able to produce what Steve describes and what Lon summarized as:
Quote: I think of this as "You are the microphone."
This well describes what my ultimate goal is. This is what got me into this hobby many years ago when I heard a system that to this day I cannot forget. I can't remember all of the details but what I do remember is that "I was the microphone".
Take out any one of the downstream components, including the Cryotone tubes, and I am no longer "the microphone". The ZDSD was able to get me close to my goals. Now for the rest of the way. CAJames I may not end up with exactly the same upstream components as you have, regardless, your comments were very helpful. In fact, today I was researching the Denafrips GAIA DDC!