MSB Select DAC II. The way every DAC on the planet should be built.

[Rodney Gold]

Rodney, http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/vivid/1.html , those are quite special.

And I admit; your entire setup must sound awesome. ...Your source, your room EQ, subs, and your ROOM.
Some of your favorite artists?

North..I have very catholic tastes in music , from dubstep to classical and now with tidal , I am discovering some amazing stuff.
The thing about my system is that it really exposes the artists intent , little ghosties pop up everywhere and come together to make music ...
I listen to about 6 hrs of music a day .. I also listen quite loud .. just cos I can...



Some of my favourite artists currently are

Shelby Lynne , rodrigo , fourplay , Ravel, Rachmininov , Wagner Stravinsky , bireli Lagrine , trentmoller , schpongled , the hadouk trio , greg brown , sinatra , buble , Joe Zawinul , stan getz , acoustic alchemy , brian bromberg , dire straits , eagles , diana krall , don grusin , lars danielsen , arne domnerus , micheal camilo , lee rittenour , tuck andress , vanessa rubin , bob james , dave grusin , trijne oosterhuis , chet atkins , bela fleck , eric bibb , keb mo , peter cincinoti , garcia fons , forcione , byrd , the cook trio , j loussier , christian mcbride , ray brown , hans zimmer , elaine elias , leonard cohen , avishai cohen , bill friesel , big phat band , scuba , clapton , michael jackson , rosa passon , brubeck , adderly , bennie goodman , deep forest , gotan project , david benoit , anna caram , elington , yello...

 

[Rodney Gold]

Makes no difference to me what they used in the speakers .. they just work brilliantly..I trust the designer (ex nautillus/B&W matrix etc)

 

[Blizzard]

Makes no difference to me what they used in the speakers .. they just work brilliantly..I trust the designer (ex nautillus/B&W matrix etc)

Maybe great design, but those are bottom of the barrel xover components. And it's very well known. But they are also the cheapest too. Replace those will good Mundorf silver/Oil caps, foil inductors and Dueland resistors and the difference would be astonishing. Even if you just went with clarity caps bypassed with the Mundorf's.

Even for prototyping I use Solen caps/coils and Mills wirewound resistors.

This guy sums it up well in this review:

"One well respected gentlemen made the following comments, " But as for the caps...I will say this. The Bennic poly isn't worth the electricity it would take to grind them up in the garbage disposal. They really stink. I noticed more sound difference between the Bennics and Solens/Axons than I did between the axon/Solens and the Hovland/Thetas. Just my subjective opinion."


http://www.ellisaudio.com/crossovercomponents.htm

 

[Rodney Gold]

Take it up with Laurence Dickie ... I chose the speakers for SQ

 

[Blizzard]

Take it up with Laurence Dickie ... I chose the speakers for SQ

It's all about maximizing profits because people don't know the difference anyways. And to think some probably hook $2000-3000 speaker cable up to them, just so it can run through a 4th order network of those cheap caps, coils and resistors. You would probably get better overall performance if you upgraded the xover parts, and used bulk extension cord cable from Home Depot.


Phenomenal guide to loudspeaker caps. This guy is spot on. Notice the Bennics don't even make the cut to be in this test.

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

 

[Rodney Gold]

As I said , take it up with dickie.. he will undoubtedly appreciate your input on his flawed design.

 

[Groucho]

Maybe great design, but those are bottom of the barrel xover components. And it's very well known. But they are also the cheapest too. Replace those will good Mundorf silver/Oil caps, foil inductors and Dueland resistors and the difference would be astonishing. Even if you just went with clarity caps bypassed with the Mundorf's.

Even for prototyping I use Solen caps/coils and Mills wirewound resistors.

This guy sums it up well in this review:

"One well respected gentlemen made the following comments, " But as for the caps...I will say this. The Bennic poly isn't worth the electricity it would take to grind them up in the garbage disposal. They really stink. I noticed more sound difference between the Bennics and Solens/Axons than I did between the axon/Solens and the Hovland/Thetas. Just my subjective opinion."


http://www.ellisaudio.com/crossovercomponents.htm

Do you think that the difference between the caps would show up in measurements? Which measurements would show up the differences, and how big do you think the differences would be?

 

[Blizzard]

As I said , take it up with dickie.. he will undoubtedly appreciate your input on his flawed design.

I never said the design was flawed. I just said the crossover uses cheap components. And there's definitely a difference in sound between cheap caps/coils and resistors and good ones. This is common knowledge.

 

[Blizzard]

Do you think that the difference between the caps would show up in measurements? Which measurements would show up the differences, and how big do you think the differences would be?

If you have the right equipment. There's definitely an audible difference. I don't think people would pay up to 20-30x more for xover components if the cheap Bennics were just as good. This cap test link is legendary. Tony started it years ago and keeps adding to the list.

http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Cap.html

I will confirm his advice is solid, and his description of the sound of the caps is bang on. But what he doesn't have on there is the new Dueland Silver/wax/oil bypass cap.

http://www.partsconnexion.com/cap_film_duel_bypass.html


It's killer. When you bypass a cheaper cap with it, it will take on about 80% of the sound of the bypass cap. Even better is a 3 cap cascade. Cheapest cap about 90% mid grade cap 9% and last 0.1-1 % cap the Dueland.

 

[FrantzM]

I never said the design was flawed. I just said the crossover uses cheap components. And there's definitely a difference in sound between cheap caps/coils and resistors and good ones. This is common knowledge.

Any measurements or test for that "Common Knowledge" ? Some substantiation beyond ... "Common Knowledge"?

 

[Blizzard]

Any measurements or test for that "Common Knowledge" ? Some substantiation beyond ... "Common Knowledge"?

I was referring to common knowledge on the difference in sound. Most passive speaker designers don't have equipment sensitive enough to measure the differences of caps/ coils and resistors besides their value. But you can sure hear by ear. However there are ways to measure with very expensive equipment.

 

[Narayan]

Any measurements or test for that "Common Knowledge" ? Some substantiation beyond ... "Common Knowledge"?

Lampizator Golden Gate owners who have upgraded from lower end models within the brand will atest as to what better parts can do to sound quality.

 

[Blizzard]

Lampizator Golden Gate owners who have upgraded from lower end models within the brand will atest as to what better parts can do to sound quality.

Good point. If the great Lukasz does it, it verifies that there's an actual difference. Before he came along, these differences didn't exist.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Good point. If the great Lukasz does it, it verifies that there's an actual difference. Before he came along, these differences didn't exist.

I think Audio Note built their brand on this philosophy?

 

[Blizzard]

I think Audio Note built their brand on this philosophy?

Yes, but Lampi is the big buzzword these days.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Yes, but Lampi is the big buzzword these days.

Not really. Only on a couple of fora among a small group of people. Although growing a lot.

 

[Blizzard]

Not really. Only on a couple of fora among a small group of people. Although growing a lot.

Everywhere I go online people are talking much more about Lampizator than Audio Note these days. So for the less experienced getting into audio, Lampi is probably a name they are more familiar with. Reality is only what's within the realm of what you know. Beyond that isn't real for most.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Everywhere I go online people are talking much more about Lampizator than Audio Note these days. So for the less experienced getting into audio, Lampi is probably a name they are more familiar with. Reality is only what you know. Beyond that isn't real.

It depends on the fora. Go on hifiwigwam forum and zilch. Go on audioaficionado and zilch. Go on pinkish media and zilch. Go on audiogon - not seen much there either.

 

[Blizzard]

It depends on the fora. Go on hifiwigwam forum and zilch. Go on audioaficionado and zilch. Go on pinkish media and zilch. Go on audiogon - not seen much there either.

Well I guess Wisnon has some work to do then

 

[Ric Schultz]

I was referring to common knowledge on the difference in sound. Most passive speaker designers don't have equipment sensitive enough to measure the differences of caps/ coils and resistors besides their value. But you can sure hear by ear. However there are ways to measure with very expensive equipment.

Bliz, I have never heard of a test that measures caps and resistors and coils for distortion or any other parameter that would affect sound. Please post a link to such tests. I do believe they all sound different and different ones have lower inductance, dielectric absorption and ESR.....but these things have never been proven to make a quantifiable sonic difference. Two caps might both have the same low ESR but sound way different. In fact, I have found some of the low ERS caps to sound inferior. What measurements are you talking about?

By the Way, the outside foil of a foil cap when positioned so its to ground or output sounds best. Coils sound best when you enter into the center of the coil and exit the outside. These things are not measureable. All wire is directional.....it will sound better one way or the other....again not measureable.