Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[RyanTX]

That will be fine, the longer the length of the DC cable the more of it’s “sonic signature” it may impart and longer or shorter runs of the same cable may even sound somewhat different, but technically there is no problem with using different lengths. And you can choose a different filter combination to compensate…

Are there any brands that you’ve tested that I should look at since you guys only have 1M?

I assume the $5 one from Amazon isn’t the preferred choice…but curious to know your thoughts. The larger cable manufacturers that I checked didn’t seem to carry these.

 

[cat6man]

What A Beast!! Soon you will be doing MRI's and Cat Scans! I imagine getting that in proper place is no easy chore?

Cool. In addition to dac/ buffer optimization, we can look forward to sound optimized for the brain structures obtained from this MRI machine.

 

[cat6man]

Ok, I have been very good and not used my laptop or mobile browser to obsess over this thread while on vacation, so I've just now caught up with the last two weeks of posts while sitting at the gate in Heathrow.

Since impressive kit (as the Brits say) has been posted recently, here is mine. The downside is too many power cords.

 

[jelt2359]

With the passive distributor what is the maximum dc cable length in and out without compromising quality?

I’m potentially looking at 4m in and 4m out on each leg… would that work? Aka total 8m on each leg

 

[Taiko Audio]

Are there any brands that you’ve tested that I should look at since you guys only have 1M?

I assume the $5 one from Amazon isn’t the preferred choice…but curious to know your thoughts. The larger cable manufacturers that I checked didn’t seem to carry these.

I did not test commercially available brands, I did test several types of wire. Capacitive and inductive influences are negligible, however each type of wire has a “colouration”, metallurgy, sleeving all have a sonic signature.

 

[Taiko Audio]

With the passive distributor what is the maximum dc cable length in and out without compromising quality?

I’m potentially looking at 4m in and 4m out on each leg… would that work? Aka total 8m on each leg

A 4 meter length of AWG24 wire will waste about 70 mW of power on the switch and about 400mW on the router, if you go AWG18 you’re at about 18mW and 100mW. This slightly increases the power draw and perhaps noise of your DC powersupply. Both the switch and router use our GaN based regulators as pre regulators which are pretty much immune to source power supply resistance as long as this remains somewhat reasonable. The DC distributor does not care at all.

 

[ACHiPo]

I know I’m late to the party here as I was one of those black switch guys, so I only recently installed my switch and NIC. I think enough has been said, but holy smoke, I wasn’t prepared for the uptick in sound - pretty much everything sounds better! The NIC was the real surprise, maybe because I was already using a SOTM switch so I had some switch gains, but the improvement from the NIC alone felt like a component upgrade! Together the two just make beautiful music

From comments made, being about 5 days in, there might be a little more to burn in but regardless, once again, I’m extremely happy to be on the Taiko train.

Are your improvements heard on streaming, local files, or both?

 

[Levitator]

Are your improvements heard on streaming, local files, or both?

Both, without question!

 

[ACHiPo]

Both, without question!

I was really hoping just streaming...

There goes discretionary savings again!

 

[Levitator]

I was really hoping just streaming...

There goes discretionary savings again!

As they say, “and the hits just keep on coming”

 

[jbrrp1]

Yep, there is no question that both streaming and local files get a nice sonic boost with the Switch + card.

 

[Backo NYC/SF]

FWIW Emile serves as my mantra and I have followed and agreed with him on everything and understand why he makes the recommendation. However my Extreme is top shelf quality and that’s where it sits along with my TT, Tape Deck, DAC and Extreme. All sit on their own set of footers as well as their own dedicated shelf. I’m sure everyone is correct in what they are posting but I just don’t have that concern. Each shelf and set of footers is soundly based on vibration isolation and do their job in exemplary fashion. I love looking at my Extreme. Top shelf

I have been following this thread for a bit and can only comment on a few things.
1 - The Taiko IS a beautiful piece of kit. It’s also VFH. Taking Emile’s advice keeps my chiropractor at bay.
2 - I have the Taiko on a Daiza platform with the simplistic view that there’s a chance that it might have been done at the factory during testing. Just a guess.
3 - It’s sitting on an ash Massif Audio rack which come with Sound Care Super Spikes. Nothing fancy. Just incredibly dense.
4 - All of this is sitting on a floor above my landlord who is unable to tell when my Pilium driven Alsyvox’s are playing. I’m also guessing that the whole thing isn’t transmitting vibrations either to or from enough to phase the Taiko.
Even though I take isolation seriously (refer to attached pictures)I try to consider that everything vibrates and I’m really trying to tune the system and not avoid vibrations as much as I’m trying to work with it.

 

[steve williams]

Here's a look at my rack with all key components on the top rack. The rack is a horizontal 4 x 4 and weighs (without components) close to 700 pounds and well over 1300 pounds with all components. I know I am an outlier as I always follow Emile's advice however as stated the Extreme IMO is far too elegant for me to hide on a bottom shelf

 

[steve williams]

a view of my Extreme on Center Stage Ultra TT footers and CMS platforms with switch and LPS on shelf below.....also reserved for the router and DCD

 

[Blue58]

I have been following this thread for a bit and can only comment on a few things.
1 - The Taiko IS a beautiful piece of kit. It’s also VFH. Taking Emile’s advice keeps my chiropractor at bay.
2 - I have the Taiko on a Daiza platform with the simplistic view that there’s a chance that it might have been done at the factory during testing. Just a guess.
3 - It’s sitting on an ash Massif Audio rack which come with Sound Care Super Spikes. Nothing fancy. Just incredibly dense.
4 - All of this is sitting on a floor above my landlord who is unable to tell when my Pilium driven Alsyvox’s are playing. I’m also guessing that the whole thing isn’t transmitting vibrations either to or from enough to phase the Taiko.
Even though I take isolation seriously (refer to attached pictures)I try to consider that everything vibrates and I’m really trying to tune the system and not avoid vibrations as much as I’m trying to work with it.

My neighbours both sides can certainly hear mine. Ah well.

 

[steve williams]

My neighbours both sides can certainly hear mine. Ah well.

I get around that by inviting my neighbors over for a listen. Works wonders IMO

 

[Huy Hoang]

View attachment 114836
a view of my Extreme on Center Stage Ultra TT footers and CMS platforms with switch and LPS on shelf below.....also reserved for the router and DCD

CSM Ultra TT is one of the best footers which I've ever tried I'm waiting for 4 TT sets and Wellfloat Babel for the comparison

 

[steve williams]

I’ve used all of Joes footers and hands down the Ultra TT is the best

 

[jbrrp1]

I would be very interested in hearing the experiences of Extreme owners that have compared it to transports with CD's feeding their DAC. I have not equipped up for such, but I'm curious if there are transport options that could offer even more. How do things compare in your system? Is there equivalence or is one better to your ears?

 

[oldmustang]

If I'm not mistaken, Emile has at his disposal a Metronome Kalista to spin silver discs. Surely that would serve as a benchmark of sorts. More than anyone I know, Emile fits the definition of an "Extreme owner".

More properly, "The Extreme owner".

Steve Z