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SEPTEMBER 2007—KITCHEN CABINETS AND THINKING
ABOUT SOURCE COMPONENTS
I have spent most of the month of August re-facing my kitchen cabinets.
Not something I would necessarily recommend doing.
Our kitchen upgrade involved covering the old cabinets with a stick-on
veneer that gives the appearance of solid wood. The results look pretty
nice, actually, but the time and hassle involved in achieving them far
exceeded the “weekend” the sellers of the refacing materials estimate that
it will take. Along with this and other criminally optimistic estimates of the
work involved, I would not be anxious to do this again.
This remodel left me with thirteen unneeded cabinet doors, all of them an
ugly dark plastic wood finish (think 70s Mediterranean) over a particle
board center. Ugly as they were, I had a hard time just throwing them
out. I ended up keeping a few doors that I thought might be “useful.” No
doubt they will end up in the trash when the day comes that we move. I
did reuse one door, though, to make an amp stand for my VTL 50-50.
I cut the door in half and glued and nailed the halves together and then
covered the result with some of the left-over stick-on veneer. Click here
for a photo. There are tee-nuts on the underside that allow ¼-20 screws
to be used as legs. As you can see, the wood grain is not right but that
will not show once the amp is sitting on it.
So why do I need an amp stand for the VTL?
The answer is that I am going to reorganize the living room system and
base it around the VTL and Audio Experiment preamp. I would also like to
move the Sony SCD-C333ES into the living room system, creating the
opportunity to upgrade the front end of my main system.
And therein lies the rub. A worthwhile performance upgrade will not be
easy. The current Sony SCD-C333ES/Perpetual Technology pair is
sounding extremely good. The PS Audio power cords and Vampire RCA
plugs have revealed subtleties in the sound that were previously
obscured. I have hit that point where the cost/performance curve is
starting to go asymptotic relative to the cost axis.
And yet, I continue to form plans, all of which assume that the sound
quality will be improved and that I will somehow come up with the money
to implement them. God help me.
THE PLANS
My primary plan, Plan 1.0, is to find a used upscale one-box CD/SACD
player for the main system. This allows me to sell the Perpetual Technology
pair thereby simplifying the system overall. Financially, I do not see any
way that I can hang on to the PT pair, as much as I would like to, and
make this upgrade happen. I have been reading reviews for players like
the Marantz SA-11S1 and McIntosh MCD 201. It appears that these are
the sort of players that should produce the upgrade I want. Finding the
money for a component at this level may be simply impossible, however.
Pros: Upgraded front end, simplified system. Cons: Will be expensive,
maybe impossible to do, even buying used, refurbished, or B stock.
Plan 2.0 is to find a second used SCD-C333ES for the living room at a
reasonable cost. The 333 now in my main system is then used for SACD
playback only. I purchase a new/used high end CD only player for CD
playback. Possible candidates include used players from Musical Fidelity,
Meridian, Cary, and Primare as well as new players like the Cambridge Audio
Azur 840C.
Pros: CD playback upgrade with the right unit, while being potentially less
expensive than Plan 1.0. Cons: CD player has to be better than Sony
333’s CD playback, which will not be easy. Combined cost of second 333
player plus CD player may approach/exceed cost of used one-box player in
Plan 1.0.
Plan 3.0 involves adding a second 333 as well plus a new or used DAC that
is an upgrade over the PT pair.
Pros: Potentially least expensive route. Cons: Maintains present system
complexity. DACs in the present marketplace seem to fall into under
$1,000 category or over $4,000 with little in between. Possibilities include
a modded PS Audio DAC III being sold for just under $1200 new that
looks very interesting. Whether it would improve on the PT pair enough to
justify buying one is the unanswered question.
What ultimately occurs, if anything will depend on what sort of money I can
pull together and what I can find for sale when I have the money. So I
take what amusement I can from researching and plotting the possibilities
in the meantime.
TAS AND THE CAMBRIDGE AUDIO 840C
You have probably read the review of the Cambridge Audio Azur 840C CD
player in the September 2007 The Absolute Sound. Robert Harley has
called the $1500 840C the best CD player under $5,000. I have not heard
one of these players but it would be quite an accomplishment if is true. A
few of the players the 840C outperforms, per RH, include the Meridian
G-08, the Bel Canto CD-1, the Cary 303/300, as well as the Marantz
SA-11s1, the McIntosh MCD-201, and the Krell SACD Standard. These
last three players also offer SACD playback as well. I would be less
skeptical of this claim if the reviews in the English magazines I read had
been more enthusiastic about the 840C. All of the reviews I have read
have rated this CD player very highly but none has suggested it punches
this far above its weight.
I would certainly like to hear the 840C for myself. It might be just what I
am looking for in my main system and everything RH says it is. Or maybe
not.
In any case, it has been a while since there has been a really good audio
controversy. This one should be fun.
Should you be unfortunate enough to be re-facing kitchen cabinets over
Labor Day weekend, I truly pity you. Have a safe holiday.
Kent Johnson
August 28, 2007
ABOUT SOURCE COMPONENTS
I have spent most of the month of August re-facing my kitchen cabinets.
Not something I would necessarily recommend doing.
Our kitchen upgrade involved covering the old cabinets with a stick-on
veneer that gives the appearance of solid wood. The results look pretty
nice, actually, but the time and hassle involved in achieving them far
exceeded the “weekend” the sellers of the refacing materials estimate that
it will take. Along with this and other criminally optimistic estimates of the
work involved, I would not be anxious to do this again.
This remodel left me with thirteen unneeded cabinet doors, all of them an
ugly dark plastic wood finish (think 70s Mediterranean) over a particle
board center. Ugly as they were, I had a hard time just throwing them
out. I ended up keeping a few doors that I thought might be “useful.” No
doubt they will end up in the trash when the day comes that we move. I
did reuse one door, though, to make an amp stand for my VTL 50-50.
I cut the door in half and glued and nailed the halves together and then
covered the result with some of the left-over stick-on veneer. Click here
for a photo. There are tee-nuts on the underside that allow ¼-20 screws
to be used as legs. As you can see, the wood grain is not right but that
will not show once the amp is sitting on it.
So why do I need an amp stand for the VTL?
The answer is that I am going to reorganize the living room system and
base it around the VTL and Audio Experiment preamp. I would also like to
move the Sony SCD-C333ES into the living room system, creating the
opportunity to upgrade the front end of my main system.
And therein lies the rub. A worthwhile performance upgrade will not be
easy. The current Sony SCD-C333ES/Perpetual Technology pair is
sounding extremely good. The PS Audio power cords and Vampire RCA
plugs have revealed subtleties in the sound that were previously
obscured. I have hit that point where the cost/performance curve is
starting to go asymptotic relative to the cost axis.
And yet, I continue to form plans, all of which assume that the sound
quality will be improved and that I will somehow come up with the money
to implement them. God help me.
THE PLANS
My primary plan, Plan 1.0, is to find a used upscale one-box CD/SACD
player for the main system. This allows me to sell the Perpetual Technology
pair thereby simplifying the system overall. Financially, I do not see any
way that I can hang on to the PT pair, as much as I would like to, and
make this upgrade happen. I have been reading reviews for players like
the Marantz SA-11S1 and McIntosh MCD 201. It appears that these are
the sort of players that should produce the upgrade I want. Finding the
money for a component at this level may be simply impossible, however.
Pros: Upgraded front end, simplified system. Cons: Will be expensive,
maybe impossible to do, even buying used, refurbished, or B stock.
Plan 2.0 is to find a second used SCD-C333ES for the living room at a
reasonable cost. The 333 now in my main system is then used for SACD
playback only. I purchase a new/used high end CD only player for CD
playback. Possible candidates include used players from Musical Fidelity,
Meridian, Cary, and Primare as well as new players like the Cambridge Audio
Azur 840C.
Pros: CD playback upgrade with the right unit, while being potentially less
expensive than Plan 1.0. Cons: CD player has to be better than Sony
333’s CD playback, which will not be easy. Combined cost of second 333
player plus CD player may approach/exceed cost of used one-box player in
Plan 1.0.
Plan 3.0 involves adding a second 333 as well plus a new or used DAC that
is an upgrade over the PT pair.
Pros: Potentially least expensive route. Cons: Maintains present system
complexity. DACs in the present marketplace seem to fall into under
$1,000 category or over $4,000 with little in between. Possibilities include
a modded PS Audio DAC III being sold for just under $1200 new that
looks very interesting. Whether it would improve on the PT pair enough to
justify buying one is the unanswered question.
What ultimately occurs, if anything will depend on what sort of money I can
pull together and what I can find for sale when I have the money. So I
take what amusement I can from researching and plotting the possibilities
in the meantime.
TAS AND THE CAMBRIDGE AUDIO 840C
You have probably read the review of the Cambridge Audio Azur 840C CD
player in the September 2007 The Absolute Sound. Robert Harley has
called the $1500 840C the best CD player under $5,000. I have not heard
one of these players but it would be quite an accomplishment if is true. A
few of the players the 840C outperforms, per RH, include the Meridian
G-08, the Bel Canto CD-1, the Cary 303/300, as well as the Marantz
SA-11s1, the McIntosh MCD-201, and the Krell SACD Standard. These
last three players also offer SACD playback as well. I would be less
skeptical of this claim if the reviews in the English magazines I read had
been more enthusiastic about the 840C. All of the reviews I have read
have rated this CD player very highly but none has suggested it punches
this far above its weight.
I would certainly like to hear the 840C for myself. It might be just what I
am looking for in my main system and everything RH says it is. Or maybe
not.
In any case, it has been a while since there has been a really good audio
controversy. This one should be fun.
Should you be unfortunate enough to be re-facing kitchen cabinets over
Labor Day weekend, I truly pity you. Have a safe holiday.
Kent Johnson
August 28, 2007