System really feels dialed in now. I’d call it an excellent if humble mid-fi system.
75% Qobuz streaming and 20% hi-res, DSD, and Flac files and 5% little silver disks. It all works flawlessly and has never sounded better. Qobuz has been a huge improvement over Spotify. I’ve moved the speakers out about thirty inches from the rear wall, which helped also. Speakers are about 8 feet apart and 10 feet from me. Very holographic. Center image is locked in. Sound stage is very good left to right, ok wrt to height and front to back not so much.
It all seems well balanced and allows me to focus on music (for now) not equipment upgrades. Certainly the SACD player can be improved but I don’t use it very much since I ripped all my CDs and went to Qobuz and began purchasing hi-res downloads.
Used primarily as a transport for SACDs, CDs, and for the occasional movie or concert videos. Digital out to the 851N (Kimber D-60), analog to the preamp (Morrow MA4). Sits on Isopucks. Had this unit in storage for years. Brought it out recently to replace the (also very old) Cambridge BD650.
Kimber Kable D-60 digital cable
Use this from the OPPO 83 to the 851N. My old ears can’t hear the difference between this and the analog output to the preamp, but my son in law says the difference is not subtle and the digital wins.
Morrow Audio MA-4
MA-4 (RCA’s) from the OPPO 83 to the Preamp. Wonderfully balanced sound, more resolving and more presence than the Nordost Frey’s they replaced. The Frey’s (series 1) were also very good.
AudioQuest Carbon USB 3.0
Replaced the stock cable from my hard drive to the Cambridge 851N. Major sound improvement—resolution, timbre, soundstage.
Cambridge Audio 851N
This has been in my system a long time. Got it when they first came out. I use it to play hi-res files from a hard drive, Qobuz, and internet radio. Sits on Isopucks.
Morrow Audio MA5
XLR interconnect from 851N to the preamp. Big fan of the Morrow approach—relatively inexpensive, great sounding, and so flexible and easy to route. Always a safe bet and a clear upgrade path.
Bel Canto Design Pre5
New preamp from Bel Canto. Dead, dead quiet and very musical. Love it. And then, and then, at 150-200 hours, the whole system suddenly went to a new level. More lifelike vocals, more natural soundstaging. Amazing. It was the preamp or the KS1116 (changed both at roughly the same time) or both. But it surprised me. And I was quite pleased before this improvement. Sits on a maple plinth.
Morrow Audio MA5
Interconnect between the Cambridge preamp and the monoblocks. Excellent sound. Went from the MA4 to the MA5. Immediately noticed more resolution and 3db louder. After a few weeks soundstage improved, including depth.
Morrow Audio MAP-3
I replaced Nordost Vishnu’s with the MAPs from Morrow for the OPPO 83, 851N and the PRE5. The Vishnu’s were great, but the Morrows seem to resolve a bit better, at least in my system. And importantly, they are so much more flexible and easy to route. I still use stock cables the the Bel Canto monoblocks—different power cables don’t seem to make any difference to these class D amps.
Bel Canto Design ref 500M
Effortless. I leave them on all the time. They hardly even get warm. I switched to these after several non class D amps and never looked back. Sit on maple plinths.
Morrow Audio SP-5 speaker cables
Replaced my long-standing Acoustic Zen Cable’s after listening to Morrows in friends system also with Bel Canto monoblocks. Decided to give Morrow a try primarily because of their flexibility. I’ve always used big ole snakes for speaker cables and was pleasantly surprised at the Morrow sound given the flexible and small nature of the cable. These are the new series—all copper. Also, for the first time I went bi-wired and this really opened things up!
DALI Mentor 6
Great floorstanders. These do everything I expect from a speaker. Really opened up when I made the the switch to Morrow SP-5 bi-wired.
IsoAcoustics GAIA III
Wow, wow, wow. What a difference these made when placed under my Dali Mentor 6s. My biggest tweak ever, I think.
I used the 851N as a preamp until recently. we moved house, and in the new set up, I added a TV and wanted to run the sound thru the stereo. I picked up a used Marantz AV8801 and now use it as a preamp. When changing between preamp—no preamp, I would say there was a slight difference in sound but both sounded good. The 851N gave a balanced and probably more accurate sound, the Marantz gave up some highs and lows but presented a slightly more midrange. I preferred (Slightly) the Marantz on vocals and strings but the 851N on woodwinds and horns. Having said that, the system does sound much better now 1. A much better room with much better acoustics and 2. The audyssey multi eq in the Marantz really balanced the room and the sound. Especially the bass. Overall I’d do it again but not purely for the preamp sound but for the other benefits. I hope to update my virtual system soon. By the way, I’ve used “lesser” EQs in my second system and have never been impressed.
