Adventures in amplification

[Diapason]

Gentlemen I was off the grid for most of the weekend, but it gladdens my heart to see such fine amps going to forum members. I'm especially relieved to see that Air Tight getting some love! It deserves it.

Dave, any further thoughts on the pre? Does it bring anything to the table for CD playback?

[DaveF]

Gentlemen I was off the grid for most of the weekend, but it gladdens my heart to see such fine amps going to forum members. I'm especially relieved to see that Air Tight getting some love! It deserves it.

Absolutely! The ATM2 has recieved some negativity here, mainly from myself but it was all really down to speaker/amp matching at the end of the day. That Airtight really needs the correct speaker to let it show what it can do.

Dave, any further thoughts on the pre? Does it bring anything to the table for CD playback?

I think it has changed the sound a little alright. I'm now using single ended cables from the Opus 21 to the pre. My gut feeling is that I prefered the Opus driving direct into the monos via balanced cables. Now, several comments on the net have said that the Opus performs better in balanced mode, not because of cable nonsense but rather down to the implementation in the player.

I may try the direct route again some evening and borrow another pair of XLR's too so I can have all XLR's from CDP to Pre to Monos.

Vinyl playback is just fine I'm glad to say.

[Diapason]

That's all good.

I also find that some components are just "better" via one or the other set of connectors.

[HiFiFan]

Dave, I switched from single RCA to XLR balanced between an Opus 21 and my mono blocks and sound improved a little. I can't tell you if it was the balanced outputs or cable though as the RCA manufacturer differered from the XLR.