Jventer Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 6 hours ago, musicaddict said: Hi Jventer, just made a post in the WTB section and also contacted Greg for either new or used cd120. Because I never liked vacuum (idem such cd players), the (surely excellent) Droplets and also the R.2.2 s are no options. Plus won’t use a toploader (vinyl player above). Will now see where I will get the cd120 from, probably used. Thanks for yours advises anyway Cafad and Jventer. This guy has one for sale (if he will split up the system):https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/earlville/stereo-systems/stereo-system-osborn-speakers-and-consonance-tube-amp/1189568796 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaddict Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 24 minutes ago, Jventer said: This guy has one for sale (if he will split up the system):https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/earlville/stereo-systems/stereo-system-osborn-speakers-and-consonance-tube-amp/1189568796 Thx Jventer - have messaged him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaddict Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 (edited) On 19/04/2020 at 2:08 AM, Cafad said: If you are after a player that just goes and goes I can certainly recommend the Consonance cd120. I used a second hand unit for over 5 years, gave it a lot of heavy use (my 100 hours of burn in on all those amps back then was the cd120 running on repeat) and had zero issues with it. I changed op-amps half a dozen times, I used it without the lid on so I could test if shining white and/or infrared light into the mechanism could cause audible distortion and I carted it through 3 house moves. It is of similar voicing to the YBA Heritage line, slightly cooler vocals but slightly tighter and crisper instruments, so you won't be missing out on much. Probably worth a thought anyway. Hi Cafad - I guess you have the « normal » cd120 (not the cd120 Linear nor the cd120-10 vacuum). The 120 & the 120-10 seem to have oversampling (but there are later versions without), whereas the Linear does not and has no digital filters and no op-amps. So it’s got to be the regular 120, also because before the Droplet you weren’t so much into vacuum output stages generally, right ? And there are different upsampling features, depending on the type and the year of production (none, 88.2 and/or 192 KHZ). Just like to know what your 120’ version upsampling rates are and possibly year of production. Quite confusing with Consonance (also MK I, II, III and so on). I have time (as yet many do right now), so no need for hurrying at all ..... Enjoy your music & cheers - Chris Edited April 22, 2020 by musicaddict Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafad Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Hey Chris, my Consonance was just the standard old cd-120, no tubes in it, no special edition of any sort. I did have a cd-120 linear (or cd-100 which was its official name) and it had adjustable upsampling controlled via the remote. The cd-100 was a nice player for slower, acoustic-style music but it didn't do harder or faster styles anywhere near as well as the cd-120. I believe the cd-120 has oversampling and upsampling as standard (which is the usual for cd players). I did swap out the opamps with some Burson V4 discretes and even though the changes were quite small I did prefer it running the Bursons. Consonance, like many other companies, have changed models several times with the cd-120 and I am not aware of anyone who knows when this happened or what it might mean regarding performance of the players and varying options. Mine was bought second hand back in either 2008 or 2009 ( I think, probably early 2009) so it was probably somewhere between a 2005 and a 2007 model. They won several awards for the cd-120 over the years so I don't think Consonance would have changed it any more than they had to between models. Cheers mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaddict Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) - Edited April 23, 2020 by musicaddict Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaddict Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Cafad said: Consonance, like many other companies, have changed models several times with the cd-120 and I am not aware of anyone who knows when this happened or what it might mean regarding performance of the players and varying options. Mine was bought second hand back in either 2008 or 2009 ( I think, probably early 2009) so it was probably somewhere between a 2005 and a 2007 model. They won several awards for the cd-120 over the years so I don't think Consonance would have changed it any more than they had to between models. Cheers mate! Hello Jeff - thank you for your infos, profound as always ! I have an offer for a cd120 Linear (seller says « demo gear from a shop, manufactured 2014 »). I listen to many kinds of music (pop, funk, soul, jazz, electro, ambient, new wave, classical, songwriter, bluesrock a.s.o.) but 35 % is rock / hard rock / rarer metal. So I’m glad I have your infos - I guess the Linear ‘14 still sounds presumably at least similar to the one you heard back then. That’s why I probably won’t buy the Linear, rather the better allrounder cd120. Greatly helpful, thx & cheers. Edited April 23, 2020 by musicaddict Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryO Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) My apologies for taking so long to read your review Jeff. Time at present just seems to be passing by. Thanks for another one of your excellent reviews. I’m rapt that the Heschl sounds so good with the ML2’s, it is easily the best amplifier I have had in my system, so I guess it’s no surprise that it sounds so good. I didn’t realise how good the dac in it was until I started trying to find an affordable replacement once the amp went to your place. Yes the HAL 350 is expensive but when you consider that it is a 350w integrated with a top quality built in DAC then to buy a quality pre and separate similar power amp and dac would cost more. I’m looking forward to the hearing more about how the Heschl and the Wilson Benesch speakers sound when you have the time. cheers, Terry Edited April 25, 2020 by TerryO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafad Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 Just because I can. I thought I'd document the one and only use of usb audio via computer in my listening room. I am still using the little yellow hard drive via the Oppo 205, but I'm using the Oppo as a digital source and sending the signal via coax to the Heschl. The Heschl's internal DAC is far superior to the Oppo's. And a long way ahead of the Droplet too for that matter. Comments on the Heschl's coax vs usb inputs to come later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafad Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 Quite a bit later it would seem, still better than never. I had been really enjoying the Heschl with the ML2 Ltds when I decided to try out the usb input and I noticed several things. All of which make sense in retrospect but my foresight a month ago was not working so well. In Terry's system the Heschl's coax input was a touch on the edgy side, it was certainly listenable (I liked it quite a lot in fact) and still beat out the droplet in the opinion of both of us and we probably would have stopped there (and still been happy) if Rod hadn't pushed us to try the usb input. Well the usb input opened up the soundstage, dropped away the noise floor and smoothed out the presentation to a point that I would simply not have believed possible if I hadn't heard it for myself. To put it simply the difference was very large indeed and I know Terry had some "issues" with returning to listening to the coax input after having heard the usb performance. Once again in my system I was quite happy with the performance of the Heschl using the coax input and I don't really have a usb source that I can dedicate to full time duty so I was successfully putting off trying the usb input for quite some time and sticking with the coax. But I had to try the usb eventually, and I did, and the difference wasn't very big at all! In fact, in my system I prefer the coax. How can that be you ask? Well Terry's VA speakers have a lot more treble energy that my Lenehan speakers do, loosely speaking they are a bit brighter and a little harder, (or, if you prefer, my Lenehans are a bit smoother and a bit darker in presentation) and that extra treble energy was what made all the difference. The "usb effect" either removed it or somehow refocused it and that caused the "very large indeed" effect heard at Terry's place. The Lenehans don't have anywhere near that level of treble energy evident, they are pretty smooth already, so changing over to the usb input smoothed them over a bit more (an effect that was not needed in my opinion) and since I like a bit of energy and edge to some of my music I ended up preferring the coax to the usb. Very convenient since I didn't really want to have to convert/set up a usb source in the first place. I didn't get the spacious sound stage opening effect that Terry did, and that's a bit disappointing I will admit, but it's something I will just have to live with. It may well be the small room I'm forced to deal with, if so then things may change for the better in a few weeks when I move in to my new flat. My new lounge will be twice the size of the old one, and I'll be free to treat the place as much as I want since I'll own the walls so if I want to punch holes in them and hang icicle foam from them then I damn well will. I guess that means there will be a new Addicts Guide thread starting up too. Eventually, when I recover from the move. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasabijim Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 On 16/06/2020 at 8:43 PM, Cafad said: in a few weeks when I move in to my new flat. My new lounge will be twice the size of the old one, and I'll be free to treat the place as much as I want since I'll own the walls so if I want to punch holes in them and hang icicle foam from them then I damn well will. I guess that means there will be a new Addicts Guide thread starting up too. Eventually, when I recover from the move. Addicts Guide to....? - lounge rooms - lounge sofas - new flats - punching holes in walls - room treatment - all of the above either way can't wait 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warweary Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 cafads 'effing floorstanders addicts guide thread. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafad Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, wasabijim said: Addicts Guide to....? - lounge rooms - lounge sofas - new flats - punching holes in walls - room treatment - all of the above either way can't wait Ummmm, probably not... chances are I'll be sticking with amps... but I guess anything could happen. 1 hour ago, warweary said: cafads 'effing floorstanders addicts guide thread. Not a bad idea, but I think I'll move on to lighter components if given a choice, my back isn't as young as it used to be. If only Tom hadn't found those Dyns, then his stand mount thread would still be active. I know he doesn't regret buying them, but quite a few of the rest of us very much regret him buying them. Edited June 18, 2020 by Cafad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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