Clash of the titans - Seeking experience from you guys

[bonzo75]

I truly believe any LampizatOR DAC will bring enjoyment to the mix … all LampizatOR DACs seem to get the emotion variable right … just the Horizon brings it all to life .

he will prefer both over the others or he will prefer neither. The mistake in his shortlist is to think only the top models of each are required to face off against each other. GG3 should be sufficient to see off most if not all. I have no experience with the Ypsilon Dac

 

[Gregm]

Hello folks

So I´m building a serious 2-channel system for a private client

The soundideal for the client is a "Musicality, midrange magic, a big wide and deep soundstage with some 3 dimensionality. Warmth over cold and a welcoming sound that doesn’t hurt his ears with a bright thin sound"

OK, so enhanced clarity without harshness and extended FR on both ends, especially in the bass (to avoid thin sound).
That sounds like my Ideon Absolute Epsilon (not saying there aren't others)

We are leaning towards a Taiko Extreme server as the source, with FLAC/WAV/DSD64-512 and SACD-files.

I auditioned the Epsilon using the Taiko server as well as Ideon's own.
The sound was spectacular with both server / streamers.

 

[charles1dad]

@Kingrex wrote,

“What I have found is preamps, speakers, amps and sources all have a profound influence. No one is bigger than the other. In some sence, its important to have a balance between them all.”

Agreed. I believe an attempt to declare one audio component more vital or important than another is faulty. Any one subpar component in an audio system will cause undeniable sound quality deterioration.

I don’t know how one can develop a hierarchy of audio component impact effects. They all rely on each other in the signal chain. It is truly a system that they comprise.
Charles

 

[Yuen A.]

@Kingrex wrote,

“What I have found is preamps, speakers, amps and sources all have a profound influence. No one is bigger than the other. In some sence, its important to have a balance between them all.”

Agreed. I believe an attempt to declare one audio component more vital or important than another is faulty. Any one subpar component in an audio system will cause undeniable sound quality deterioration.

I don’t know how one can develop a hierarchy of audio component impact effects. They all rely on each other in the signal chain. It is truly a system that they comprise.
Charles

Hi, I also fully agree with these observations. There are so many variables to consider, including synergies, cables, power conditioners, music sources (Redbook, high resolution, PCM, DSD, etc), and resonance control components.

 

[b345t]

Not so sure I agree that everything holds equal weight when you are playing with a specific budget to get the most bang for buck in a system. Lets say the main components in a system are: Speakers, Source, Preamplifier, Amplifiers, Cables and power distribution. If you have $50k budget to make a system, it doesn't make so much sense to me to have exactly 1/5th of the budget so 10k worth of cables for example, while you are using a 10k speaker. I do agree though that after a specific reference 'level' of speaker is reached, where it interacts very well in your room and suits the sound you are looking for; it is important to bring the rest of the system to a high level before you change the speaker.

 

[Kingrex]

Not so sure I agree that everything holds equal weight when you are playing with a specific budget to get the most bang for buck in a system. Lets say the main components in a system are: Speakers, Source, Preamplifier, Amplifiers, Cables and power distribution. If you have $50k budget to make a system, it doesn't make so much sense to me to have exactly 1/5th of the budget so 10k worth of cables for example, while you are using a 10k speaker. I do agree though that after a specific reference 'level' of speaker is reached, where it interacts very well in your room and suits the sound you are looking for; it is important to bring the rest of the system to a high level before you change the speaker.

Value does not have to be measured with $$$$$. I think my point is, it all matters and a deficiency in any one place impacts the system globally. A glaring deficiency in one place can drag the entire system down.

In the same sense, overkill in any one piece probably won't result in full appreciation of what that component can do. The whole will lift, but not as far as the piece could still go.

 

[charles1dad]

Value does not have to be measured with $$$$$. I think my point is, it all matters and a deficiency in any one place impacts the system globally. A glaring deficiency in one place can drag the entire system down.

In the same sense, oerkill in any one piece probably won't result in full appreciation of what that component can do. The whole will lift, but not as far as the piece could still go.

Absolutely my point as well. I wasn’t referring to equally divided expenditures. I am speaking in terms of obtaining a balance of sonic performance/quality throughout the audio system signal chain.

This doesn’t require that each component cost the same.
Charles

 

[Kingrex]

At some point a speaker head is going to get rattled and say a speaker is the voice and its the most critical component. I know the pot is simmering!!!!