Bluesound/Rega/ATC all sounds very harsh

[Tashley]

Hi all, Newbie here….

I’ve had a Bluesound Node 2i feeding a Rega Elicit R and ATC SMC 19’s for a while and honestly, I’ve never really liked the sound. It’s a torrent of harshness to my ears, though TBF running my Planar 2 through the Rega phono stage sounds warmer but still not as musical and natural as I’d like. But it does sound great into my old Sennheisers through a little handmade German valve headphone amp that a friend lent me - can’t remember the manufacturer’s name.

So I guess that there’s something I don’t like in some part of the Blue/Rega/ATC chain. I kind of thought it would improve as it burned in but it hasn’t.

Additionally I don’t like the Rega: it‘s input select method is madness and its pretentious purity of purpose (no tone controls) seems arsey above its pay grade.

So I could either:

Add an external DAC like a Chord Qutest between the Node and the Rega
or
Ditch the node for something like a Naim ND5XS2 but keep the rest
or
Buy a Naim Uniti Atom or a Cambridge EVO 150 and run them into the ATCs whilst bunging the Node and the Rega on eBay.

I nearly only listen via Qobuz.

I’d really appreciate peoples’ thoughts on what might be the best way to get a more musical output within a reasonable budget - I could spend £2,500 but would prefer to spend about £1,500

One final thing: the Rega buzzes when attached to the Rega. They’ve both been to the dealer and they say it’s within normal limits and their Rega/Elicit combo does this same, as do my components when paired with theirs, but I think I need a phono stage and the Cambridge has one built in, which saves a bit.

Thanks in advance!

 

[as286]

Can you borrow a good DAC from a store or a friend and see how that goes? Currently, you are using Node's internal DAC, which is a TI Burr-Brown 5242, I believe. This is not bad, by any means, but will be outperformed by Qutest or Mojo 2. Chord often does wonders to audio, especially in a system with components as good as yours.

 

[abacus]

Go to a dealer and listen to a few, as its the only way to find out what combination suits you.
ATCs are based on their studio models so aim to reproduce everything (Warts and all) as accurate as possible, and is another reason that you must always try before you buy.

Bill

 

[BigH]

The Node's DAC is not great. The power supply also benefits from upgrading but I think the main issue here is the amp and speakers. Those speakers are revealing and need careful matching.
You should try different speakers, maybe Kefs. You could try different amps as well.

 

[Tashley]

Can you borrow a good DAC from a store or a friend and see how that goes? Currently, you are using Node's internal DAC, which is a TI Burr-Brown 5242, I believe. This is not bad, by any means, but will be outperformed by Qutest or Mojo 2. Chord often does wonders to audio, especially in a system with components as good as yours.

Thanks - I could try that, but I don’t have any nearby friends or dealers so it’ll be a bit of a slog. It should be worth it though. The thing that’s held me back is that I have read that were I to add an external DAC I’d also need an external re clocking DCC. I have no idea what that is or what it would cost but it feels like a rabbit hole has appeared and I’d rather not go down it!

 

[Tashley]

The Node's DAC is not great. The power supply also benefits from upgrading but I think the main issue here is the amp and speakers. Those speakers are revealing and need careful matching.
You should try different speakers, maybe Kefs. You could try different amps as well.

It’s the trying it that’s a problem - getting the stuff loaned to me requires some quite long round trips and not all dealers have the stock or the inclination. But I suppose there’s no other way really. I just wondered if anyone on here has, for example, tried the Uniti or the Evo 150 into the ATC speakers. Trouble is there are so many permutations!

 

[Al ears]

The only way you're really going to change the sound of the Planar 2 is to change the cartridge but then again you say you mainly listen to Qobuz so maybe that's not a good idea.
I don't know from experience but the dac in the Node is reported frequently as not being good a Musical Fidelity MX-DAC might help here....
Those speakers really require an amp with significant power / current delivery so is the Elicit R good enough??
Your last option sounds best but you are really going to have to find an amplifier that will do the speakers justice and go from there.
Rega buzzing is probably down to the way they earth their turntables, probably best to get rid of that to and buy a Project.....
i would also be looking at the Rotel S14

 

[BigH]

It’s the trying it that’s a problem - getting the stuff loaned to me requires some quite long round trips and not all dealers have the stock or the inclination. But I suppose there’s no other way really. I just wondered if anyone on here has, for example, tried the Uniti or the Evo 150 into the ATC speakers. Trouble is there are so many permutations!

The. Node is quite good, some people have used it quite high end systems with ATC 40 actives, although they did use a LPSU and external DAC. The speakers make the biggest difference to the sound, but maybe your amp. Is not a good match? I know someone with those speakers on another forum but does not use your amp. He says they very careful matching, I understand the problem, hardly any dealers near me.

 

[BigH]

Thanks - I could try that, but I don’t have any nearby friends or dealers so it’ll be a bit of a slog. It should be worth it though. The thing that’s held me back is that I have read that were I to add an external DAC I’d also need an external re clocking DCC. I have no idea what that is or what it would cost but it feels like a rabbit hole has appeared and I’d rather not go down it!

No you don't need a DCC, at all. The DAC I would be looking at is Denafrips Aries, only 2 uk dealers, cost about £700, several youtube reviews rate this highly. Jolida/Black Ice, but no uk dealers and very hard to find used. Numerous Chinese DACs but not sure they will give what you want. Chord Qutest maybe worth a try but quite expensive.

 

[Tashley]

I can report back that I scored a very very good value shopfloor demo unit EVO 150 today and will connect it up tomorrow and report back on how it sounds with the speakers and if it kills the turntable hum. I really appreciate the answers I’ve received here, thank you!

 

[SteveR750]

A Topping D90 DAC might be all you need. At the other end of the scale there is the RME ADI2, pointless spending more in my opinion; plus it also has an onboard DSP (perfect for room correction, which is the best bang for buck for most people).
The Denafries is also a good piece of kit.

 

[Al ears]

A Topping D90 DAC might be all you need. At the other end of the scale there is the RME ADI2, pointless spending more in my opinion; plus it also has an onboard DSP (perfect for room correction, which is the best bang for buck for most people).
The Denafries is also a good piece of kit.

Denafrips even...

 

[SteveR750]

Denafrips even...

I know, my spooling isn't great sorry

 

[nopiano]

I can report back that I scored a very very good value shopfloor demo unit EVO 150 today and will connect it up tomorrow and report back on how it sounds with the speakers and if it kills the turntable hum. I really appreciate the answers I’ve received here, thank you!

Well, you certainly won’t be lacking power! Could be a good move. (ATC’s most popular amp is 150wpc too).

Please let us know once you’ve had a few days to get used to it.

 

[Tashley]

Well, you certainly won’t be lacking power! Could be a good move. (ATC’s most popular amp is 150wpc too).

Please let us know once you’ve had a few days to get used to it.

Thanks,

I have good things to report… the Cambridge Evo sounds so very much better with my ATC 19s than did the Rega Elicit R and node 2i combo. What sounded like chrome and glass now sounds like silk and water; it’s gone from inorganic to organic, from technical to musical, from harsh to harmonious. And the Planar 2 hum has gone too. This was a great downgrade!

The EVO has its small share of temperamental issues and odd quirks though. They are nowhere near deal breakers, being relatively insignificant, but I might as well list them for interested parties:
1) The Auto Off feature doesn’t work when you have a Qobuz stream paused. It’ll happily stay powered on all night if you pause a stream and leave the room. Other sources aren‘t affected as far as I can tell.
2) The physical source selector doesn’t like switching from phono to Qobuz. You have to use the app.
3) The speaker terminals are very cramped so banana plugs are pretty much a must
4) There’s no way to feed a signal our to a valve headphone amp that doesn’t kill the output as you turn down the volume on the EVO, though I havent yet tried it with a second pair fo headphones plugged in to the EVO and selected as source.

But dang this thing looks and sounds GREAT!

Thanks for all the advice people. Anyone wants a used Rega EliFit R and Blé Node 2i, they’ll be on eBay soon!

 

[nopiano]

Great news. Glad to read you’re happy! Good luck with the sales too.