no conclusions yet, only experiences and, as you say, exuberance and enjoyment.
I hope that you can visit again when it works. I have a WBF member and his wife visiting from 'out of country' this coming week, which I'm very much looking forward to.
MSB Select II arrival
- Thread starter Mike Lavigne
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no conclusions yet, only experiences and, as you say, exuberance and enjoyment.
I hope that you can visit again when it works. I have a WBF member and his wife visiting from 'out of country' this coming week, which I'm very much looking forward to.
How can it be truly exceptional now, if it was truly exceptional to begin with?
you will just have to visit again too to find out.
Steve,
Stop tempting us!. I have a wife, 3 dogs to feed, 3 kids "on their own" and a home in Montana that is turning into a money pit. Just redid the dock, a year long project and as someone that I know understands the "while we're at it syndrome" based on the images of your listening room, have been hemorrhaging cash.
Howie
you will just have to visit again too to find out.
I'm in! Always a pleasure to visit Mike.
Hey, we've ALL used the word "exceptional" about a piece of gear in our systems, or a synergy upgrade, multiple times
Heck, the impvts this isoln platform I'm using makes me reach for the same word
Again
LOL
My GF tends to put her hands on her hips every time I use this word or something similar
For me however, I'd restrict this word in digital to the piece of gear that really transcends 1s and 0s and gets on a par w analog
Mike's going to have to come clean sometime on this LOL
IMHO, if $150k plus of Select 2, SGM and Tara doesn't do this particular trick, I'd look for another word or phrase
Heck, the impvts this isoln platform I'm using makes me reach for the same word
Again
LOL
My GF tends to put her hands on her hips every time I use this word or something similar
For me however, I'd restrict this word in digital to the piece of gear that really transcends 1s and 0s and gets on a par w analog
Mike's going to have to come clean sometime on this LOL
IMHO, if $150k plus of Select 2, SGM and Tara doesn't do this particular trick, I'd look for another word or phrase
that sounds 'suspiciously' like someone about to order a 2nd power supply. (I recognize the thought process in my own mind).
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Mike,
I'm not sure if you know, but there is a setting that does an auto shut off of the front lights when you are not accessing the DAC. As per photos, based on your comments about your "monitor" I am assuming you are into photography? I received my FujiFilm GFX50s and was SO looking forward to taking some great pictures to break it in. Unfortuantely the weather didn't cooperate this trip. I am just about ready to head back to FL and will be back out her in MT in July for most of the summer. Looking forward to seeing my 3 dogs and of course getting to listen to the Select II which I only had a few days with.
As to your perspective on tubes, I totally get it. In my former days I was only a Solid State guy, dabbling in tubes as I was a reseller. On my own I went strictly SS. Over the last 5 years I have been strictly tubes, except the DAC as a result of Carl's recommendation with his Concert Grands which have been wonderful. However, as you state, there are definitely issues with tubes, including with some a coloration that some may or may not love, upkeep and more that definitely can and WILL go wrong. Schlepping 100-200lb amplifiers is no fun when they have to go back to the manufacturer. Retubing is not a big deal but a pain. Another problem you allude to is the gradual degradation of the tubes. With my REF10, that degradation occurred around 2000 hours and the the degradation subtle rather than quantum that can also cause issues with the experience. When I changed my tubes it was like rediscovering my system.
My next move will definitely be to a smaller room as we downscale in FL so I will likely be getting rid of the Concert Grands. Not sure what I will be getting but it will like be a SS system. Speakers not sure until I know the room.
Best
Howie
Howie,
sorry about your weather in Montana, but sounds like you have a wonderful spot there to enjoy when you can. here in the mountains east of Seattle we (many times) get the Montana weather on the similar Pacific storm track about 12 hours ahead of you, so I know what you are talking about with the rain. I'd say I'm more a camera collector and wanna-be than a serious photographer, and don't have any medium format gear like your beautiful Fuji, but do have some nice Leica bodies and lenses, as well as quite a bit of serious Canon gear mostly for bird photography. for a few years I've tried to learn about it and do enjoy it. I'm hot and cold with it. my plan is to do it more in retirement whenever that happens.
I have tried the 'auto-off' for the Select front display, but prefer lowering the brightness instead so I can look over when I want.
i fall on the tube side of the sonic landscape, but 'just'.......and really want it all......and consider that my big darts do get me to that ideal balance. but in a perfect world i would have what i have 'and' a set of tube amplifiers (with a stronger tube signature) sitting here i can insert when i want. but the rub is i have a vision of optimization of the main system and am never quite able to rationalize having another spendy set of amps sitting next to my dart 458's. the main system development always takes the priority.
travel safe back home.....
cheers,
Mike
Mike, I get this dichotomy between the (apparent) voicing of tubes v linearness of SS
For my part, I find it impossible to move past the hypnotic tonal density I get running my Zus w 70W NATs 211s tube amps
The Zus being full range and v high eff have always been better "voiced" w tubes than SS, Sean the designer has heard most amp combinations and like me feels tubes are where it's at
However I've always been aware of some tube opaqueness in lower mids/upper bass that was a tad prominent in my old London apartment
It's fascinating that a move to a truly neutral and slightly damped acoustic, v pure and quiet power, and progressive vibration isoln is transforming my sound to keep all that density, but open up transparency, imaging and microdynamics, that the previous noticeable fingerprint of tubes sonics is gradually disappearing, and my mind is less and less analytical and distracted here than before
I'm not sure if the opposite is now true
Ie a move to SS here would be "audible"
It's one of the major reasons that despite truly stellar potential, I won't move to Apogees w likely necessity to go SS
For my part, I find it impossible to move past the hypnotic tonal density I get running my Zus w 70W NATs 211s tube amps
The Zus being full range and v high eff have always been better "voiced" w tubes than SS, Sean the designer has heard most amp combinations and like me feels tubes are where it's at
However I've always been aware of some tube opaqueness in lower mids/upper bass that was a tad prominent in my old London apartment
It's fascinating that a move to a truly neutral and slightly damped acoustic, v pure and quiet power, and progressive vibration isoln is transforming my sound to keep all that density, but open up transparency, imaging and microdynamics, that the previous noticeable fingerprint of tubes sonics is gradually disappearing, and my mind is less and less analytical and distracted here than before
I'm not sure if the opposite is now true
Ie a move to SS here would be "audible"
It's one of the major reasons that despite truly stellar potential, I won't move to Apogees w likely necessity to go SS
first of all, congrats on the DAC!
as for HQPlayer, I use it with my TotalDAC D1-Dual (upgrade to D1-six coming in august!!!) and microRendu and it makes a significant difference with bit-perfect, no upscaling or dither.
i believe that this is from moving the renderer processing from the microRendu to the HQPlayer pc, but that is an engineering guess on my part.
less processing in the microRendu --> better sound (the working hypothesis)
enjoy!
I write this as I sit in Kalispell airport. My small system here has a Melody Int 300B amp feeding Lawrence Mandolin with a Chord Mojo. The Melody is one of the "sweetest" tube amps I have ever heard.
Thanks for the compare thoughts Mike. Love reading my DAC is in the neighborhood of the Trinity which is 4x the price. Bang for your $ digital just keeps getting better IMO..
Forget the power bases LOL
I can only imagine the impvts Mike will get putting the Select II on his new Taiko Tana isoln platform when it arrives
I can only imagine the impvts Mike will get putting the Select II on his new Taiko Tana isoln platform when it arrives
Hi Al,
I respectfully disagree with your comments. While I would not write off a component that sounded suboptimal under show conditions, I also would not discount a component that sounded incredibly great under show conditions either. Great sound cannot be achieved with smoke and mirrors. Vince at MSB is an expert at show setups and manages to consistently get the most potential out of his systems even with less than perfect rooms, dirty power, etc. My audition of the MSB Select II DAC was first thing on Sunday morning at Axpona for about an hour and twenty minutes, where Vince played select tracks from all my SACDs and CDs, on music that I am highly familiar with. There was nobody else in the room and I sat in the sweet spot the entire time.
While a home audition with your own equipment is the best way to know what sort of performance to expect, that is not always possible. Mike L. auditioned the MSB Select II DAC at three different shows, heard consistently terrific sound and decided to purchase the unit. So far, he sounds tremendously pleased with his decision.
Best,
Ken
Ken, I totally agree with you on this point. When something sounds great, it sounds great -- it has to be great. However, you made a comparison with all kinds of sources at the show, and it could have been that they all fell flat against the MSB DAC just because the conditions weren't optimal for any of these. That's all I'm saying.
Given all the reports I have no reason to doubt that the MSB Select II DAC is an extraordinary component.
Al
Hi Al,
There's no question, I heard a lot of underperforming rooms at Axpona. They were the norm rather than the exception in my opinion. I could probably count on one hand the rooms I really loved. But the MSB/YG Acoustics room sounded wonderful both comparatively and unto itself.
Best,
Ken
Hi Ken,
also on this point I agree with you. There were also rooms where on some tracks the system sounded great, yet disappointed on others.
I understand that.
Al
From the hifi shows I have been to, room acoustics is incredibly important. Cheshire Audio Show in 2016 was a good example. The middle budget systems were in the new building which had concrete floors, but the big boys were in the old building, which although it looked posh from the outside had wooden floors and poor acoustics. All systems I heard in that building were poor, even vinyl and tube based systems. Also don't forget the changing acoustic in a room half full of listeners, that can calm the treble down a bit, which may be a good thing or a bad things, but either way both these things can throw you off.
Totally agree. Acoustics are important. Too bad that many audiophiles don't pay too much attention to them in their home set-ups either.
Regarding new vs. old building: it might also be that the supply of electricity was better in the new building. On top of that, the budget sytems might not have needed that much power. Lousy and restricted power supply to buildings (with each system fighting for it against all the other ones in the building) may also be a major cuplrit of bad sound at shows.
Many shows are at hotels: these are mostly not designed for high power demand. I did hear a funny anecdote though: one of the annual shows is in a hotel where power doesn't seem to be an issue. They have beauty contests there each year, and the power to rooms is designed for each lady simultaneously blowing her mega-watt hair dryer...
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