I’d like to introduce myself and thank everyone for their contributions to this forum which I have dipped in/out of many times. I thought it about time I joined (as it seems more polite).
I have owned an original Elgar + Purcell for over 20 years and been very happy with my system: Mark Levinson 31.5 CD transport, Townshend Allegri line-level pre-amp, 2x Classe M600 mono blocks and JM Labs Mezzo Utopias. All oldies but goodies
My Elgar recently gave up on me and was beyond economic repair. What to do then? On Monday I took delivery of a Scarlatti DAC (never heard one before, nor any of the DCS products since my Elgar/Purcell). But reading reviews, although often dangerous, convinced me this was the best route, and certainly the most economic! I am lucky to have a Scarlatti DAC that has been updated and factory tested so is “latest spec.”. And wow what a sound; connected to my Purcell with 44.1 to 176.4 upsampling. What have I learned so far then:
I use AES from CD to Purcell and dual AES to Scarlatti. I have the Scarlatti output set to 6v and have just connected it, via RCA, to my power amps. This achieves louder listening levels that I like and I cannot hear any degradation fro going via Allegri. But I’m still getting used to the sound and will swap back in a few weeks/months to check. I currently like Filter 5 as I’m only listening to PCM at 176.4.
I love all your discussions & feedback and agree with much of your sentiments re. forgetting the science and “what’s right”, and simply enjoy the stuff. I have no yearning for other upgrades, but will possibly consider a NW Bridge as back-up for when/if my CD transport follows my Elgar (RIP). Nice to meet you and thanks again for all your contributions.
Hi Ben
Thanks for your kind reply. I’ve also discovered that my Elgar remote (which I’d never used before) works with my Scarlatti to control the volume and standby, which is a bonus!
I’d never considered using the Scarlatti as a pre-amp, but it does seem to work very well for me; the only reason I’m using RCA out from the DAC is that these are the only cables long enough that I have. Do you or anyone know if “by design” for example, the balanced output would have any advantage (as my power amps can take either)?
I’ve searched the forum for any other Scarlatti DAC related discussions, but not found anything else that I need to be aware of (or other tips, etc.). It was the very helpful guys in DCS support that encouraged me to stick with the Purcell upsampler and agreed (that as I was sticking with PCM for now) there was no advantage (apart from cosmetics) to changing.
