First, moved the system to my man cave. But now I have to listen near field because I have to put my guitars in the man cave too.
The new set up incorportates a few changes. Mainly, using the speakers on a large desk with an iMac in a near field listening position. I have some Auralex SpeakerDudes isolation blocks on the way for the speakers so I cannot comment on how they sound just yet. I think it will be until after the holidays that I get a proper audition.
No, I don't think I auditioned the TT. Actually, I'm pretty sure I didn't. The only time I heard my system in the US was at the dealer using their demo equipment.
Since I don't have the option of running my equipment with and without the transformer, I cannot comment on whether it affects the sound any. I use a 1000VA balanced unit and it's my understanding the 400xi uses an 800VA unit so it's not underpowered by any means. Now I use a P500 and the watt meter indicates no more than about 210 watts when playing at really loud levels.
I suggest you purchase or build a quality step down balanced power unit for your system. I was really surprised by the improvement to my television when running on balanced power.
thanks for the update. did you try the Pathos TT by any chance?
Also, have you tried your system in the US? I'm curious to know if a step down has impact on the sound or not. Personally, I prefer using a step down as oppose to shipping my products for dealer to change voltage (which cost quite a bit of money).
The Utopia Be's are amazing. I really like the way they sound. The Pathos TT was out of my price range. Basically, I had 10K to spend on an integrated and some speakers. I chose to spend most of the budget on the speakers.
Off the top of my head, we paired up the Utopia's with Luxmann, Krell, BAT, and a couple others I don't remember. The Luxmann sounded grainy to me. Not sure if it was cold or what. We used a Cary 303/300 for most of the auditioning. The BAT integrated sounded great, but again, out of my price range. I chose the Krell because I felt they complimented each other i.e; metal dome tweeter with the weight of Krell. Bass is full, highs realistic, and everything in between smooth. I don't remember the other integrateds, but I wasn't impressed. Upon hearing the Krell/Focal combo, I knew that was it.
Since I'm overseas, I use step down, balanced power transformers that I built myself. The PS Audio P500 takes care of the Krell frequency lock.
I think we are in common on at least 3 different areas. 1) we have the same speaker (fantastic isn't it?) 2) I am embarking on a similar path as what you did by moving overseas (from US) that has 50Hz and 220V and 3) looking at integrated to downsize my system as I prepare on my move abroad
looks like you listen to many integrateds with micro utopia. I have been to Sound by Singer before and listened to Pathos TT which I liked very much. I'm surprised that that they didn't recommend you the same combo (or they did but you didnt like it). what other brand did you listen?
Krell/focal combo was a surprise for me. Never listen to both at the same time though but my first assumption that it wouldn't match nicely. I'm curious to hear how it perform together and why it was a winner for you. thanks!
I'll have to give that a try. Right now, my DVD Standard is getting the HDMI upgrade at the Krell factory. The reason I was using it as such is that compared to the PC/DAC1 combo, the Krell blew it away. BUT, I'm using the toslink out of the mobo for digital. The toslink transmitter is on a long unshielded header inside the PC, so I have a USB to toslink converter on the way. (I don't want to connect the PC directly to the DAC1 on usb because my system is all on balanced power (p500) and on a separate circuit from the PC.)
Try using the Benchmark as the DAC running balanced out to the 400xi and using the DVD Standard as the transport. You might be surprised. The Benchmark plays to the Krell's strenght's...blacker then black background, excellent transients and smooth top end.
