Members Products of the Decade

[semente]

Beolab 90?

[marce]

Interesting, a tad over budget😀

[Ralf11]

page down to 2010...

 

https://www.whathifi.com/us/features/best-30-hi-fi-speakers-what-hi-fis-lifetime

 

[jcbenten]

On 1/3/2020 at 8:23 AM, jcbenten said:

Value digital: Squeezebox Touch (April 2010)

Value Analog: Etymotic er4 (though mine bit the dust)

High End stuff I do not participate...

 

I changed my mind:

 

High End Digital: Sony NW-ZX1 & ZX2....even with the corrupted DSD handling to non-Sony Amps, these device made many traveling hours enjoyable.

[AudioDoctor]

I decided my High End product of the decade is the Devialet amps.

[gmgraves]

Martin Logan CLX and matching powered Subwoofers.

[Kimo]

• Value digital product of the decade: Benchmark DACs  (Better value at the start of the decade)
• Value analogue product of the decade: KT 150 Power Tubes (Better sounding high powered tube amps are the result)
• High End digital product of the decade: Innuos Zenith music servers (Base model is also good value)
• High End analogue product of the decade: Linnenberg Widor power amplifier (Personal favorite)

[gmgraves]

52 minutes ago, Kimo said:

• Value digital product of the decade: Benchmark DACs  (Better value at the start of the decade)
• Value analogue product of the decade: KT 150 Power Tubes (Better sounding high powered tube amps are the result)
• High End digital product of the decade: Innuos Zenith music servers (Base model is also good value)
• High End analogue product of the decade: Linnenberg Widor power amplifier (Personal favorite)

I agree about the KT 150, but I have a Benchmark DAC3 HGC, as well as a Chord Cutest, and a Schiit Yggdrasil, and both of them blow the Benchmark out of the water soundwise, the Benchmark is very versatile and is a good analytical instrument, but it doesn’t do justice to music, IMHO. The Chord and Yiggy are much more musical, and even the Chord Cutest doesn’t sound as good as it’s bigger brother, the Hugo2 either. Though the DAC section of both are supposed to be identical (!!!???).

Both the Benchmark DAC3 and the Oppo 205 media player use the ESS SaberDAC Pro, but to my ears, the Oppo DAC section sounds the better of the two (and the dirt cheap  Schiit Modi Multibit sounds better than either!).

[fas42]

24 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

I agree about the KT 150, but I have a Benchmark DAC3 HGC, as well as a Chord Cutest, and a Schiit Yggdrasil, and both of them blow the Benchmark out of the water soundwise, the Benchmark is very versatile and is a good analytical instrument, but it doesn’t do justice to music, IMHO.

 

Ahhh, the language used to describe a product which effectively causes the playback chain to add significant, audible distortion - but which measures brilliantly on the test bench ... 😝

[gmgraves]

7 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

Ahhh, the language used to describe a product which effectively causes the playback chain to add significant, audible distortion - but which measures brilliantly on the test bench ... 😝

To which devices are you specifically refering?

[wdw]

Value digital product of the decade:  Pure Music/Audirvana/Roon software players

 

Value analogue product of the decade:  IsoAcoustic Isolation devices......GAIA/Titan/Orea 

 

High End digital product of the decade:  dCS Bartok (for price and versatility when compared to their products higher up the line)

 

High End analogue product of the decade:  

[Kimo]

3 hours ago, gmgraves said:

I agree about the KT 150, but I have a Benchmark DAC3 HGC, as well as a Chord Cutest, and a Schiit Yggdrasil, and both of them blow the Benchmark out of the water soundwise, the Benchmark is very versatile and is a good analytical instrument, but it doesn’t do justice to music, IMHO. The Chord and Yiggy are much more musical, and even the Chord Cutest doesn’t sound as good as it’s bigger brother, the Hugo2 either. Though the DAC section of both are supposed to be identical (!!!???).

Both the Benchmark DAC3 and the Oppo 205 media player use the ESS SaberDAC Pro, but to my ears, the Oppo DAC section sounds the better of the two (and the dirt cheap  Schiit Modi Multibit sounds better than either!).

Interesting.  Were you running the Benchmark in balanced mode with fixed output.  I am pretty sure the performance is much better that way.

 

I actually never heard a 205, but preferred the 203 and 103 to the 105.  

 

Have you heard the Chord TT 2?

[Ralf11]

On 1/4/2020 at 6:11 PM, AudioDoctor said:

I decided my High End product of the decade is the Devialet amps.

 

thin is in

[Kimo]

39 minutes ago, Ralf11 said:

 

thin is in

 

I think it is the French wine talking.

[gmgraves]

1 hour ago, Kimo said:

Interesting.  Were you running the Benchmark in balanced mode with fixed output.  I am pretty sure the performance is much better that way.

 

I actually never heard a 205, but preferred the 203 and 103 to the 105.  

 

Have you heard the Chord TT 2?

I listened to the Benchmark in all modes, including balanced with fixed output (I even found a major error in Benchmark’s  manual). The Oppo 205 is so good, that the few NOS examples still available sell for around $4000 (MSRB was $1200)!

 

I have heard the HUGO TT2, but only in conjunction with the upscaler and only briefly.

I’m of the firm opinion that IC Delta Sigma DACs are inferior to R2R (multi-bit) DACs. 

[fas42]

7 hours ago, gmgraves said:

To which devices are you specifically refering?

 

The Benchmark ... 🙂

[fas42]

2 hours ago, gmgraves said:

 

 

I have heard the HUGO TT2, but only in conjunction with the upscaler and only briefly.

I’m of the firm opinion that IC Delta Sigma DACs are inferior to R2R (multi-bit) DACs. 

 

My experiences are that Delta Sigma DACs require thorough conditioning; if you can keep them chattering all the time, processing input without necessarily listening to the output this may afford the best sound ...

[MetalNuts]

I would say dbpoweramp or similar ripping software should be the Value Digital Product of the decade.  Without which, I could not begin my journey of playing files instead of CD/SACDs etc.

[semente]

7 hours ago, gmgraves said:

To which devices are you specifically refering?

 

The Sabre? You are not alone when it comes to criticising its "sound".

[Summit]

11 hours ago, gmgraves said:

Martin Logan CLX and matching powered Subwoofers.

 

Martin Logan CLX is great and one of the best speakers for acoustic music. I have never heard them with subs. With witch matching powered subwoofers did you hear them with, and do you know the cross over frequency?

[gmgraves]

15 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

The Benchmark ... 🙂

Thanks for the clarification

 

[gmgraves]

12 hours ago, Summit said:

 

Martin Logan CLX is great and one of the best speakers for acoustic music. I have never heard them with subs. With witch matching powered subwoofers did you hear them with, and do you know the cross over frequency?

Well, I don’t know the models of the subs. All I know is that they are the ones recommended by ML to pair with the CLX. And no, I don’t know the crossover frequency, but since the CLX hits a brick wall at around 50 Hz, I’d guess that they would cross over to the subs at around 80Hz.

[gmgraves]

14 hours ago, semente said:

 

The Sabre? You are not alone when it comes to criticising its "sound".

Yes, I’m not a fan. They’re OK in a device like a DragonFly, where it’s a bit of an electronic miracle that something that sounds even half-way decent could be had in a package that small. The SabreDAC is even acceptable in a Blu-Ray player like the Oppo 205. But in supposedly state-of-the-art components like the Benchmark DAC3, they are disappointing.

[Kimo]

19 hours ago, gmgraves said:

 

I’m of the firm opinion that IC Delta Sigma DACs are inferior to R2R (multi-bit) DACs. 

 

I don't know that I have ever heard the major differences that some describe.  I switched from an R2R to a Sabre DAC last year.  The latter actually costs 3K more at retail, but is fully balanced with one analog input and a volume control.  Well that and it is a perfect match for the amp.  

 

 

[fas42]

Obviously, there should be no differences - but the warmup characteristics are different. My original Yahama CDP uses the classic PCM56 R2R chips - and the switch on from cold sound is mellow, laid back; pleasant but won't set the world on fire - it took some experimentation to determine that it needed about 3 days of on time to finally "catch alight" - deliver hard driving rock, say, as it should come over.

 

Delta Sigma are typically dead sounding, irritatingly mediocre - all the hallmarks of the digital sound that people used to hate are there in abundance - very solid driving over some time period finally gets the circuitry to stabilise, and again decent SQ emerges.

 

Of course, excellent engineering in a product will largely overcome these behaviours, and premium models using either technology should deliver essentially identical sound.