Article: Reality Quest: Going to Extremes with the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme (Part 5 of 5)

[tsaett]

5 hours ago, BigAlMc said:

Hi Ray,

 

Can only echo what even the esteemed audio contributors like Ted_B and Rajiv have said, a stunning bit of work and a great bit of writing. And I'm under no illusions that this took a lot of work. Not only your journey to get here which you so eloquently described. But the work to do the actual tinkering and listening evaluations. And obviously the work to craft such a great series of articles. Excellent stuff and we thank you for the contribution. Bravo!

 

I am however going to add something which risks being misread as negative. It's not intended that way, but it's a reflection on this crazy hobby of ours.

 

Buying a 26 grand server even for the fortunate few that could afford it is nuts. But I get it. I completely maxxed my own budget when I spent 7k on the Zenith SE a few years ago. Had anyone told me a couple years previously that i would spend that huge sum on a fecking server, I'd have laughed in their face.

 

But nonetheless I did and I did not regret it for a second. I'm seriously toying with adding the Innuos Phoenix to it as well (partly due to Rajiv's excellent review - damn you too Austinpop!! 😉).

 

[I should add that my signature is misleading as after a year and a half of NUC tinkering I have restored the Zenith SE to pride of place and might sell the NUCs at some point].

 

So, as I said, it's clearly nuts to spend that sort of money but I truly get it. The controversial bit. Spend 26k on a server and it still needs/benefits (take your pick) from all the additional tweaks/assists like EtherRegen, audiophile power cord, Sablon USB, audiophile stand etc. etc. That's kinda depressing!

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm a firm believer that everything matters. But this hobby of ours has clearly lost the freaking plot when a 26k server needs us to spend a few more grand to make it shine!!

 

Hope you don't take that the wrong way. Meantime I'll go back to salivating over a Phoenix and a Sablon 2020 (thanks for planting that seed by the way!) to make my SE shine ...... 🙄

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

Alan, 

imho that reasoning is a fallacy, in my experience the reverse is actually true: The better the components get (meaning lower noisefloor, higher dynamic range,...), the more all other shortcomings (or improvements) in the system will shine through. 

I wouldn't expect a $1m formula1 race car to be immune to choice of tires 🙂 

I don't argue with it being nuts though :) 

 

Greetings

Christoph 

[tsaett]

21 minutes ago, bbosler said:

 

Not at all, but to Alan's point.. if I paid that for a car I would expect it to come with the ideal tires. The only variable for tires would be the road conditions, but that analogy fails as the conditions in his living room are not changing.

 

If a $26K server is so profoundly affected by the choice of cables or Ethernet switches or whatever then there is a problem with the server. If it is so profoundly affected by an ethernet switch then it doesn't work properly.

 

All the attributes that I heard before with the EtherREGEN are back - increased speed and control (especially for bass), more subtlety and detail, awesome openness and sense of space

 

That should have been dealt with in the design and implementation. If my $1K NUC or Mac Mini is better with a  $640 EtherRegen then I accept that, it makes sense to me. If I paid $26K and it was I would be pissed.

 

That said, I have no problem with anybody spending whatever they want playing around with this stuff. I get it. I see it as somebody who has the means entertaining themselves with their disposable income. 

 

 

My 2 cents: 

The road analogy actually works pretty well. While the individual domestic conditions do not change drastically (apart from e.g. daily power fluctuations), globally the circumstances vary greatly. Power grid in rural areas vs inner city grid, PowerLan in the house or not, number of shared networks / access points, all variables that affect the final outcome. There is no one size fits all solution (=ideal tires) which will be best everywhere, Ray has found his optimal settings (so far) through an incredible systematic approach, however that does not necessarily mean his current solution will be the best in everyone's system.

 

Cheers!

Christoph