Now if only all those great cart designers could help us fully optimise alignment with a few emails and stabs at the computer keyboard and mouse Lol.
Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème
- Thread starter CKKeung
- Start date
Hi Paul,
i am interested in WiFi as well and did some search here and on AS forum. On both forums there are quite a few audiophiles who seem to be very happy with the Netgear Orbi range of devices.
Matt
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
IMO the Orbi is so good that I took an unconventional approach. My router is in a downstairs bedroom and I have 3 Orbi satellites through the house. One of the Orbi Satellites is in my sound room. This satellite is different than the other 2 inasmuch as it has 3 ethernet outputs, one of which I hard wire from the router to the Extreme. No need for super long wires or optical cable or switches. It works flawlessly and sounds perfect to my ears
As a dyed in the wool vinyl man, I've only just got used to cd in the last few years, indeed have come to love cd in many ways. And other than one auspicious example, have stone cold disliked every streamer I've heard in the last 3 yrs, the sound always reminding me why I so hated digital in the 80s and 90s.
So to read Oldmustang's words, in addition to our swapping PMs, that the Extreme is a break out product, sets a new ultra high benchmark, and in lots of cases, on all the genres I struggle with on digital, is as good as, and often betters vinyl. Caveat emptor on the broad swathe of music out there, examples of which the Extreme can't do a David Copperfield trick with.
If these examples are few and far btwn, and the Extreme truly wrenches digital into the glare of analog spotlight and Extreme comes out excelling, Emile deserves to be feted as creating not just the first paradigm shifting landmark product in the less than decade history of streamers, but a landmark audio product full stop.
I'm sure we'll see Extreme listed in the Top Dozen greatest audio products of all time category in years to come.
So to read Oldmustang's words, in addition to our swapping PMs, that the Extreme is a break out product, sets a new ultra high benchmark, and in lots of cases, on all the genres I struggle with on digital, is as good as, and often betters vinyl. Caveat emptor on the broad swathe of music out there, examples of which the Extreme can't do a David Copperfield trick with.
If these examples are few and far btwn, and the Extreme truly wrenches digital into the glare of analog spotlight and Extreme comes out excelling, Emile deserves to be feted as creating not just the first paradigm shifting landmark product in the less than decade history of streamers, but a landmark audio product full stop.
I'm sure we'll see Extreme listed in the Top Dozen greatest audio products of all time category in years to come.
Thanks Emile, Matt, Steve. I will PM you Steve for the particulars of what you have. There seem to be many options with the Orbi.
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
My Orbi router is an RBR 40
two satellites are RBW 30
The orbi Satellite I use in my sound room with the Ethernet ports is an RBS50
BTW I also continue to use the cheap supplied power supplies that come with the Orbi router and satellite and have never had a problem I use an 8 meter Triode Wire Labs Ethernet cable from the orbi satellite to the Extreme. It sounds so good to my ears that I simply have no desire to mess with switches , optical wire etc. it just performs flawlessly
two satellites are RBW 30
The orbi Satellite I use in my sound room with the Ethernet ports is an RBS50
BTW I also continue to use the cheap supplied power supplies that come with the Orbi router and satellite and have never had a problem I use an 8 meter Triode Wire Labs Ethernet cable from the orbi satellite to the Extreme. It sounds so good to my ears that I simply have no desire to mess with switches , optical wire etc. it just performs flawlessly
You are very welcome, Emile. A testament to your great design that something as sophisticated and potentially complex as a highly optimized music server is user-friendly enough that someone like myself, with only moderate computer skills can successfully set it up with a minimum of hand-holding. Equally, it is a testament to your dedication to your customers that you are always available to answer questions or log-in to assist in the process.
Steve Z
Steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
The router and two small satellites were a package. I bought the 3rd satellite with Ethernet ports separately after I bought the Extreme
Thank you for sharing your Orbi information, Steve.
I tried the Orbi package from the warehouse chain Costco, but didn't have good luck getting them operating satisfactorily. So I went another route and installed Synology's RT2600ac and MR2200 as a three-band mesh system.
The Synology have worked right out of the box, don't drop connections, and give excellent throughput and coverage in our large two-story home. The user interfaces and degree of control and customizability on their web app and iOS app are excellent.
There are a lot of happy Orbi customers out there, so maybe I'm the anomaly. I offer this only as a successful alternative to the Orbi system.
Steve
I tried the Orbi package from the warehouse chain Costco, but didn't have good luck getting them operating satisfactorily. So I went another route and installed Synology's RT2600ac and MR2200 as a three-band mesh system.
The Synology have worked right out of the box, don't drop connections, and give excellent throughput and coverage in our large two-story home. The user interfaces and degree of control and customizability on their web app and iOS app are excellent.
There are a lot of happy Orbi customers out there, so maybe I'm the anomaly. I offer this only as a successful alternative to the Orbi system.
Steve
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Certainly is the Synology interesting but the new Orbi WiFi 6 for example has much better specs.
The satellite is able to connect to the base router with 2400 Mbit/s.
IMO, it would be nice to check the SQ out with the Extreme.
Even when the SQ of WiFi 5 is superior to WiFi 6 the Orbi WiFi 5 might be a better option than the Synology.
Matt
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Very possible, Matt. I appreciate your thoughts.
I didn't compare SQ of the Orbi system to the Synology since I was unable to get the Orbi system working satisfactorily in my home, and the point of the whole exercise was to provide better throughput and reliability for the entire household of devices and not just audio.
The Synology MR2200 is able to connect to the base RT2600ac via wired ethernet for backhaul communications, which speeds communications considerably. Ironically, here almost within view of tech center Seattle WA, the best internet I can get in my location is DSL, so the internal LAN real-world speeds of 300-500 Mbps with multiple devices on line is good enough for my purposes. I had cable internet and 100M service when we lived in the wilds of Montana.
Also, since I have my fiber feed to the Extreme coming directly off the modem upstream of the rest of my LAN components, Orbi vs Synology is a moot point for me.
Best regards,
Steve Z
Both Orbi and Synology use Qualcomm chipsets for mesh networking. The new Orbi platform is using the newest Qualcomm chips.
Steve,
it is all good.
My request to compare WiFi devices was not directed to you, more to the community here.
We do so much comparisons between switches, so why do we not include WiFi devices?
There are environments where copper and fiber are not the first choice and WiFi fits better.
The question is do we really sacrifice SQ with the best WiFi systems?
Matt
Hi Matt,
I've noted the same concentration on switches as well and always wonder about wifi in comparison to copper or fiber. Though I now have both fiber and wired ethernet from my office, where the modem, switches, NAS and other computer stuff resides, out to other rooms of the house, it would be so much easier to simply set up another MR2200 or equivalent device rather than crawl under the house or up in the atttic!
Best regards,
Steve
@oldmustang, et al. and of course Emile, thanks for all the insights and info to date.
My Extreme arrived last week.
I have to be honest that, in anticipation of its arrival, I did have a few moments of weakness.... what did I just do? can this component really make my system sound that much better? does this investment make sense for me? I even was afraid to initially listen when I hooked it up!... Ridiculous. Within a few seconds of play, it was obvious. An utterly different musical experience, for me... increased information, resolution, depth of stage, separation, dynamics, instrumental decay, drop in noise floor, liquidity etc etc. This with still more burn-in to go and adjustments to make.
Couldn't agree more with all the accolades to date to Emile including @oldmustang's recent eloquent posts. Thanks again.
My Extreme arrived last week.
I have to be honest that, in anticipation of its arrival, I did have a few moments of weakness.... what did I just do? can this component really make my system sound that much better? does this investment make sense for me? I even was afraid to initially listen when I hooked it up!... Ridiculous. Within a few seconds of play, it was obvious. An utterly different musical experience, for me... increased information, resolution, depth of stage, separation, dynamics, instrumental decay, drop in noise floor, liquidity etc etc. This with still more burn-in to go and adjustments to make.
Couldn't agree more with all the accolades to date to Emile including @oldmustang's recent eloquent posts. Thanks again.
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Congratulations! You are not alone in those initial second-guesses and bit of anxiety. Like you, I wondered if I'd done the right thing while I was waiting for my Extreme to arrive.
But as you've written, those first moments of playing music dispel all doubts -- the SGM Extreme really is that good!
Many happy hours of enjoying music to you,
Steve
I have just ordered the JCAT M12 switch and their power supply to replace my "normal" switch so we shall see if it does indeed sound better.
When you order the M12 switch you have to specify how many Cables you need as they use a different connection on the M12 switch end.
When you order the M12 switch you have to specify how many Cables you need as they use a different connection on the M12 switch end.
