Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[microstrip]

(...)
3) Shielding of emissions

The hole pattern ventilation slots visible on the photos of the Extreme is not there for looks, it has a very large effect on 3) (and a bit on 2) as a bonus). These holes are "waveguides" which attenuate emissions by 81 dB which is around 10.000 times.(...)

What bandwidth are you specifically addressing? Should we conclude that operating our servers in sealed copper boxes can improve its performance?

 

[Audiophile Bill]

What bandwidth are you specifically addressing? Should we conclude that operating our servers in sealed copper boxes can improve its performance?

Is the point of the shielding not for “its” performance but the potential damage incurred from said emissions to other components in near proximity? That being the case, sticking your server in a copper box (preferably connected to earth) will indeed be advantageous not to “it” but to the rest of your system if cited nearby.

 

[microstrip]

Is the point of the shielding not for “its” performance but the potential damage incurred from said emissions to other components in near proximity? That being the case, sticking your server in a copper box (preferably connected to earth) will indeed be advantageous not to “it” but to the rest of your system if cited nearby.

Yes, I understand your point, but as the noise was being created and radiated by the server we can admit it was related to "its" performance. It is just semantics, IMHO.

I think this point was addressed by MBL's Jürgen Reis in Stereophile concerning DAC's long ago.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Yes, I understand your point, but as the noise was being created and radiated by the server we can admit it was related to "its" performance. It is just semantics, IMHO.

I think this point was addressed by MBL's Jürgen Reis in Stereophile concerning DAC's long ago.

It isn’t semantics at all. If a server radiates a lot of noise and also located on a rack near to sensitive components then the overall system will be affected.

 

[Taiko Audio]

What bandwidth are you specifically addressing? Should we conclude that operating our servers in sealed copper boxes can improve its performance?

Is the point of the shielding not for “its” performance but the potential damage incurred from said emissions to other components in near proximity? That being the case, sticking your server in a copper box (preferably connected to earth) will indeed be advantageous not to “it” but to the rest of your system if cited nearby.

Sealed copper boxes would be a very good way, copper performs better then aluminium so it can be thinner. It would increase internal operating temperatures though affecting other performance aspects (see post#24 in this thread for an example). Heat transport from air to solid surfaces without convection is a very inefficient process.

The server itself is sensitive to external RFI/EMI fields, so it is indeed a 2 way street, however I'd rate server emissions to be more influential on total audio system performance.

The 81dB attenuation is overkill, as it would even comply to EMC standards in free air, meaning for class B the maximum allowed field strength is in the 45-55dBV/m 1m range. Consumer level components, like gaming motherboards etc, are closer to the upper limit then professional workstation/server motherboards which are usually significantly below as there's more budget for careful layout and filtering / shielding (they can be up to 5 times more expensive). Ventilation slits are significantly less efficient, for example 25mm long slits in 6mm aluminium is limited to ~21dB attenuation. I just prefer to overkill everything, for me it is what high end audio is about, where cost is secondary to performance. Otherwise it would just be audio.

 

[Thieliste]

Thank you for taking the lead to introduce the SGM Extreme CK. Much appreciated!

The MSRP of the EVO is Euro 14.500
AES/EBU out adds Euro 1.000
STP (fibre channel) network card adds Euro 150*
Internal music storage is restricted to 1 Sata SSD, 1TB is included by default, 2TB and 4TB are optional

The MSRP of the Extreme is Euro 20.000
AES/EBU out adds Euro 1.000
STP (fibre channel) network card is included*
Internal music storage is 2TB of PCIe storage by default, we can fit up to 24 drives depending on other options, contact us for details

All listed prices exclude Sales Tax / VAT / duties / shipping where applicable

*STP / Fibre channel networking requires more then just a STP card, we are more then happy to advice on how to implement a properly setup Fibre channel network

Are you demoing the Extreme next week at Munich, i can't find it in the brand list.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Are you demoing the Extreme next week at Munich, i can't find it in the brand list.

I believe it won’t be because they are busy fulfilling the huge amount of orders

 

[Taiko Audio]

Are you demoing the Extreme next week at Munich, i can't find it in the brand list.

No, we will not be participating. As Bill correctly pointed out above, every Extreme coming of the assembly line is shipping straight to clients.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Feedback from a Korean gentleman owning a MSB Select II with renderer v2 which he compared to usb. He also owns a DCS Vivaldi stack but refuses to comment on the differences between the two. Please consider cultural and language differences and keep it civil when commenting.

SGM Extreme is the best performing device in my HI FI history.
Before I thought the best performing device was my MSB Select II.
When Select II arrived, I was very satisfied with it.
But I felt Select II had some weak points, so I kept changing cables around every week.
When using SGM Extreme, I didn't change cables and accessaries at all, I just enjoyed the music.
I compared Extreme usb to Select II renderer v2. My opinion is that Select II renderer v2 is much worse than SGM Extreme usb.
SGM Extreme price is 21,000 euro, it is not cheap, but by sound quality it is not expensive at the same time.
SGM Extreme has two weak points.
I love to change cables and vib controllers for perfection, but with SGM Extreme it is not needed at all. Emile took away my tweaking enjoying thing.
2nd weak point is that SGM Extreme is very heavy and big. I must change audio rack.
SGM Extreme and Select II are digital perfection I think.
I did not think highly of PC based music servers. But SGM Extreme changed my thinking. Amazing sound, near perfection.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Emile, a bitch that tweaking is superfluous. I've come out in a cold sweat. However, Extreme on Daiza or Tana, maybe?...

 

[Legolas]

Nice review. But for a data point, we probably need other servers in comparison, rather than the MSB renderer.
Also what music server was he using before the SGM arrived? Laptop v any music server is going to be a wipe out...

 

[microstrip]

Feedback from a Korean gentleman owning a MSB Select II with renderer v2 which he compared to usb. He also owns a DCS Vivaldi stack but refuses to comment on the differences between the two. Please consider cultural and language differences and keep it civil when commenting.

Was the Extreme used with the MSB renderer when comparing renderer versus USB?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Emile, a bitch that tweaking is superfluous. I've come out in a cold sweat. However, Extreme on Daiza or Tana, maybe?...

Works well here

 

[Taiko Audio]

Nice review. But for a data point, we probably need other servers in comparison, rather than the MSB renderer.
Also what music server was he using before the SGM arrived? Laptop v any music server is going to be a wipe out...

All I know right now is:
Dacs in ownership: MSB select II, DCS Vivaldi, Lampizator Pacific, Chord Dave.
He owns an Aurender W20, he tried the Laufer Memory Player 64-32.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Was the Extreme used with the MSB renderer when comparing renderer versus USB?

I assume so but will try to verify.

 

[Legolas]

All I know right now is:
Dacs in ownership: MSB select II, DCS Vivaldi, Lampizator Pacific, Chord Dave.
He owns an Aurender W20, he tried the Laufer Memory Player 64-32.

Soubds like a nice setup. Has he got any photos?

 

[moby2004]

All I know right now is:
Dacs in ownership: MSB select II, DCS Vivaldi, Lampizator Pacific, Chord Dave.
He owns an Aurender W20, he tried the Laufer Memory Player 64-32.

Can we use the dual AES input of the Vivaldi or of Esoteric Grandioso DAC with the Extreme pls?

Thanks
Alex

 

[Taiko Audio]

Can we use the dual AES input of the Vivaldi or of Esoteric Grandioso DAC with the Extreme pls?

Thanks
Alex

Yes, we can fit dual AES out.

 

[justubes]

How does the technology in the Extreme work when streaming local file or from a NAS as opposed to streaming music services tidal?

Dies Tidal get the full benefit through the Extreme as i understand there are limitations or restrictions of how the files are sent stored etc.
when streaming.

Thanks

 

[Taiko Audio]

How does the technology in the Extreme work when streaming local file or from a NAS as opposed to streaming music services tidal?

Dies Tidal get the full benefit through the Extreme as i understand there are limitations or restrictions of how the files are sent stored etc.
when streaming.

Thanks

I cannot disclose what we are doing in detail. But Tidal can perform on par with other network based sources assuming decent source file quality.