Detail, delicacy, build quality

Headphone output

This SCD-2 was ordered from New York Sound and shipped directly from China. The player came with a free Xindak PC-03 power cable and a Naxos sampler SACD. I received the Xindak one month ago. It's been playing more or less continuously, alternating between CDs and SACDs. There has been some discussion at audioasylum.com about differences between different versions of the player. Just so we know what's in this version: 1) No copper coating on chassis. 2) Transformer has a cover, the same size as shown at http://www.bertrandaudio.com/Images/Products/XINDAK/scd_2.jpg. But the transformer cover is not copper. 3) The transformer is as big as it could be and still fit under the cover. 4) Caps and everything else look quite similar to the above image. 5) The vacuum tubes for the buffered output are E88CC from JJ Electronic (Slovak Republic). 6) 1 pair of AEON caps, 9.1 uF. 7) A Sony board with chips including: CXD1882R, CXD2752R. My system: Emotive Audio Erato preamp (type 27 tubes). Emotive Audio ETA amp (6SN7 and KT88 tubes, 64W). Magnepan 1.6 speakers with the 1-ohm tweeter attenuators installed. Hsu STF-2 powered subwoofer, fed with speaker-level signal. Earmax headphone amp, Sennheiser HD600 headphones old SACD player: Sony DVD-NS500V. Straightwire Chorus interconnects used for both SACD players playing simultaneously for comparison of CDs. speaker cables: XLO PRO 600. ears: 53 years old. The Xindak is big, heavy, well-built, and impressive-looking. The Sony is very light and small with mass-market styling. I compared redbook sound on CDs I had duplicates of, so I could play them simultaneously on the two players: Patricia Barber's "Modern Cool," Cassandra Wilson's "Blue Light 'Til Dawn," and Barbara Bonney's "Diamonds in the Snow" (songs by Grieg, Sibelius, et al.) Volume levels were matched by ear, using the volume control on the Xindak. With the volume setting of “0 dB” on the Xindak, they sounded about the same. I compared SACD using Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Litton, Dallas) and “Ella and Louis” (Verve 314 589 598-2) (switching disks back and forth between the players). When I first got the Xindak and compared it to the Sony, it sounded mellower, with much less emphasis on the highs. The Sony sounded much more forward. Now they sound pretty similar. The Xindak now sounds slightly cleaner, more delicate, more detailed. Sometimes the music sounds a little “smeared” on the Sony. Sometimes the loud, high-pitched vocals sound a little more distorted and unpleasant on the Sony. However, both players sound great. Comparing SACD to CD on the Xindak, I had to switch between the two layers on hybrid disks. Jazz, classical, and rock sound more natural and realistic on the SACD layer; the timbres of voices and instruments sound truer. Low level detail, as in quiet passages in classical music, or in the trailing ends of Diana Krall’s vocal phrases, is more apparent in SACD. A very important benefit for me is the lessening of unpleasant distortion in the loud high notes of female vocalists and strings.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVD-NS500V