I always believe minor tweaking on the system would further improve the performance of a system and this has proved correct and witnessed by my friends many times.First, using better power cord turn myself and my friend from a total disbeliever to a follower of AC Cord.
Using of Corian board to support my CD player gives further improvement.
Tiptoes are definitely a must on CD, preamp and DAC.
Recently, i've been using Crystal pyramids bought from Crystal shops. They give you a very clear sound and good image and trim down the fat of the sound of my setup.
Yesterday, I was at a hifi store chatting with the sales, he recommended me the YBA Dissevi tiptoes and said it compares favourably with the Goldmund which costs 2 times as much. I won't know the truth of course since i didn't get a chance to hear the Goldmund. I am always a fan of YBA and since the damage to my wallet is quite reasonable, so what the heck, I bought it.
Set it up right under my CD in replace of my crysatl pyramids and fire up Dave Brubeck's Take Five 20bit reissue. First impression it strikes me is that the sound is way more focused than before. The shape of instruments becomes more define and harmonics increased, the treble goes higher and bass line are more clearer. Wow, it sounds great. However, now my system sounds .. put it in words , too polite. the microdynamics of instruments seems to disappear, like i'm listening to HiFi, not music, you know waht i mean. Piano don't have the dynamic contrast between the note, the notes are simply not stitched together and instruments seems to play on its own instead of as a group, this shows a consistency when i play more of my familiar CDs! Puzzled me for a whole afternoon on whether i should opt for a more rough sound with the crystal cones or the better imaged and clearer YBA. Hey, should i use both? After i've tried a few combinations, i get a satisfying compromise between the two. I place the crystal cones right under my CD then supported by corian board and then the YBA at the very bottom layer.
I still get 80% of the clear cut focus and imaging and silence background while still being 90% musically satisfying. That's terrific! I'm happy and can start listening to my CDs again.
Lesson is that the YBA seems to damp and tighten the sound a lot. Therefore, it might suit some system w/o any further tratment and vice versa. Don't jump into conclusion on anything until you have tried every way to prove youeself otherwise.
YBA Dissevi is now indispensible in my system with some adjustment. My next upgrade would be the YBA 2a preamp which sells for 2k US according the price listed at CES. At this price, i don't think there is much competition. However, I would have yet to confrim it by my ear!