I am fairly new to dCS. I have owned a Puccini for a couple of years, and recently added a U-Clock. To my dismay, I really appreciate the changes afforded by the U-Clock, so much so that I tried to connect my Lumin T2 via USB to the dCS combo, which doesn’t seem to work as described in the manual in the same manner as perhaps a computer drive would. Next step is the SPDIF from Lumin to Puccini, which I will try as soon as I can get a BNC to RCA 75 Ohm cable.
The Lumin doesn’t sound bad, however there are characteristics to the dCS sound that I prefer.
One item that I can point to is that the Puccini without U-Clock produces a vivid image, however the addition of the U-Clock removes a layer of translucence from the sound that is produced by the Puccini player alone. The streaming sound via the Lumin is different, and to my ears, very good, but there’s that transparency made available by the Puccini combo that I don’t get to the same degree with the Lumin (or via the Puccini player alone). My simple, digitally-uneducated brain suggests to me that if I can just find a way to run the Lumin through the Puccini, I may arrive. Unfortunately, I don’t fully understand what, if anything, I’d be losing (word length, sampling rate) by running the Lumin into the Puccini.
I have searched and found somewhat similar topics, I understand that later dCS products are widely viewed as incremental improvements over what my Puccini combo can do, but I am utterly stuck with what to do to improve my streaming sound.
Noting that I like the Puccini, but acknowledging that I can hear pretty well and have a resolving system and that I am open to considering a full-on shift, I am looking for suggestions as to how to improve my streaming sound, without losing dCS silver disc capability. So, with spending into the 5 digits on a complete new set of digital components as the top end, what are some less expensive potential alternatives? Thank you for your suggestions.
Sources play into a BAT VK-80 Preamp and Canary M600 amplifiers via Volti Rival speakers. Cables are Audioquest Fire interconnect and Obsidian speaker cable, with assorted Audioquest power cables into a Niagara 3000 power conditioner.
