Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

Alex G

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2021
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California
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romaz

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Oct 7, 2015
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Am I correct when I remembered Emile stated to use shortest useable DAC in one's system. Im not knocking QSA but I find the thought of paying for a 5 meter cable because it sounds better to be a stretch

This little grasshopper seems to be short sighted :rolleyes:

@Christiaan Punter already answered the question but here are Emile's own words:

"I don’t have a preference for which length to use."


"7m is the maximum length.. Longer requires an active cable which unfortunately severely degrades SQ (to fiber levels)…"


So per Emile, as long as you don't go beyond 7m, you're fine.

so if all you need is a one meter cable you have to buy a 5 meter cable because it works better?? :oops:

Yes. I am not the manufacturer nor do I officially represent @QSA-LANEDRI but as I was involved in the R&D of some of their cables including this DAC cable, I will provide you some background on why certain decisions were made including this 5 meter length. Here's the bottom line: The greater the mass of conductor, the greater the impact of QSA's treatment.

1685552485671.png
Based on the above information provided by the manufacturer of this DAC cable, you can see that at lengths of 3m or less, small 30AWG conductor is used. It is at 5m length that the largest gauge (24AWG) conductor gets used. That is the basis for the 5m length. 6m and 7m length are available also. I believe that with the DAC cable, the price has nothing to do with length and the price is the same regardless of whether you get a treated 1m cable or 7m cable but as 24AWG is 4x more conductor mass than 30AWG, I would avoid anything less than 5m.

For me where I do take exception is having to buy 5 meters when all I need is a one meter length. Plus, let us not forget that if one does buy the QSA DC cable be prepared to buy another 5 meter length to connect your router to your switch. Here all I need is 0.5 meter length

If you feel that strongly about getting a 1m length cable, that can be arranged but it won't cost you any less and it won't sound as good. We know that from experience. For those interested in giving it a try, I would suggest you get a 5m length cable, coil it with Velcro and and neatly tuck it away. Be aware that this cable is very much directional. If you connect it the wrong way, SQ will be worse.

here's a final follow up question. What if the user needs an 8 meter length and is told that 5 meters work best

As before, based on what Emile has stated, going beyond 7m, it becomes an active cable and there will be a SQ penalty. Consequently, QSA-Lanedri is not treating any cables beyond 7m. Any length between 5-7m should provide good results as these cables utilize the larger 24awg conductor with 7m probably sounding slightly better than 5m.
 

Alex G

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2021
43
84
83
California
I don’t want to start a whole thing here and realize we are on the Taiko forum. I am just saying that many “respectable” audiophiles have found pretty large improvements of the Taiko Switch with this cable so sharing that here.

I just find it notable that QSA + QSA Lanedri products get this reaction. Aren’t many cables’ retail cost severely out of step with their material cost? Don’t many audio products that the industry has accepted use modest part costs but transforms them through solid engineering and thus adds much more value?

QSA has obviously come up with some innovation process that is in another stratosphere from what many of us have found re treatments. Their treatment (process is probably a better word), drastically transforms the cable. Isn’t that just good innovation and engineering?
 
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romaz

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Oct 7, 2015
214
1,290
363
Plus, let us not forget that if one does buy the QSA DC cable be prepared to buy another 5 meter length to connect your router to your switch. Here all I need is 0.5 meter length

The QSA-Lanedri DC cable is more impactful than the DAC cable because it is a larger gauge cable. Where the DAC cable maxes out at 24awg, the DC cable extender being marketed by QSA-Lanedri for $1k is 14awg with the barrel connectors on each end providing even more mass of metal. The impact is actually quite shocking and will reveal just how damaging conductor can be. Length is not an issue here and I believe for the price, only a single length (3 feet) is available. Where ordinarily, the shorter the length of DC cable, the better, that does not always hold true with QSA-treated cables. If all you need is 0.5m, this cable is very flexible and easy to coil and tuck away. For the money, the DC cable is the far better value. Personally, I would start there. Full disclosure, I was involved in the development of some of these cables but I have no financial affiliation with QSA-Lanedri.
 

romaz

Well-Known Member
Oct 7, 2015
214
1,290
363
Perhaps not the right metaphor, but using QSA products with Taiko products seems like using Chinese herbal medicine with real antibiotics to treat an infection. Maybe the Chinese herbs have a benefit but I'd like the Taiko doctor to weight in before I would consider any of their products on the Extreme+switch+router+DCD. Taiko has gone to great lengths to voice their sound very carefully and I'm not sure I'm ready to use 3rd party anything until I get some sense from Taiko as to its merits. (Perhaps the 5m cable requirement is to leave room for a noose if their cable doesn't work out?)

Skepticism is welcome.
 

Dunc69

Member
Sep 5, 2021
14
5
8
55
Hi

Thanks for the answers, I appreciate you taking the time to answer them.
I guess the next step is to try one in my system.
But I think going by the answers, I could sell my melco N10 to help fund this, and use the disc drive storage in the extreme? As it does have storage doesn't it, or can be added?
Cheers dunc
 
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romaz

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Oct 7, 2015
214
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363
I see qsa does speaker cables..
Has anyone heard these with their Taiko setup?

Yes, there are a few of us with a Taiko setup who have purchased the QSA-Lanedri Ultimatum speaker cables. At 4/0 AWG, these speaker cables are the most massive commercially available speaker cables I am aware of and most capably manifest the effects of QSA's treatment. Their impact is nothing short of mind blowing but this is not the place to have this discussion.
 
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Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
4,314
13,458
1,925
The Netherlands
taikoaudio.com
Hi

Thanks for the answers, I appreciate you taking the time to answer them.
I guess the next step is to try one in my system.
But I think going by the answers, I could sell my melco N10 to help fund this, and use the disc drive storage in the extreme? As it does have storage doesn't it, or can be added?
Cheers dunc

You’re welcome! It’s supplied with one drive of 2TB for 2TB storage by default. You can order it with up to 8 drives and/or add drives yourself later. The drives can be 2TB, 4TB or 8TB in size, so it maxes out at 64TB. 2TB drives are used most because of the lowest per TB cost.
 

QSA-LANEDRI

Industry Expert
Dec 17, 2018
135
295
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49
Belgium
@Christiaan Punter already answered the question but here are Emile's own words:

"I don’t have a preference for which length to use."


"7m is the maximum length.. Longer requires an active cable which unfortunately severely degrades SQ (to fiber levels)…"


So per Emile, as long as you don't go beyond 7m, you're fine.



Yes. I am not the manufacturer nor do I officially represent @QSA-LANEDRI but as I was involved in the R&D of some of their cables including this DAC cable, I will provide you some background on why certain decisions were made including this 5 meter length. Here's the bottom line: The greater the mass of conductor, the greater the impact of QSA's treatment.

View attachment 111056
Based on the above information provided by the manufacturer of this DAC cable, you can see that at lengths of 3m or less, small 30AWG conductor is used. It is at 5m length that the largest gauge (24AWG) conductor gets used. That is the basis for the 5m length. 6m and 7m length are available also. I believe that with the DAC cable, the price has nothing to do with length and the price is the same regardless of whether you get a treated 1m cable or 7m cable but as 24AWG is 4x more conductor mass than 30AWG, I would avoid anything less than 5m.



If you feel that strongly about getting a 1m length cable, that can be arranged but it won't cost you any less and it won't sound as good. We know that from experience. For those interested in giving it a try, I would suggest you get a 5m length cable, coil it with Velcro and and neatly tuck it away. Be aware that this cable is very much directional. If you connect it the wrong way, SQ will be worse.



As before, based on what Emile has stated, going beyond 7m, it becomes an active cable and there will be a SQ penalty. Consequently, QSA-Lanedri is not treating any cables beyond 7m. Any length between 5-7m should provide good results as these cables utilize the larger 24awg conductor with 7m probably sounding slightly better than 5m.

Thank you @romaz for the shared explanations.

Along my audiophile journey, I will always be glad to share that the Taiko Extreme Server has upgraded my emotional connection with music to an unprecedented level and, similar to the Extreme owners, the relationship with Emile and his team is a real pleasure.

This audiophile journey has brought me to the QSA technology and experiencing it on the cables was too much of a joy to keep only for oneself and hence sharing this music - and video- joy is the motivation behind creating the QSA Lanedri brand.

This is the feedback on the last listening session with a Taiko Extreme owner where we focused on the QSA Lanedri Gamma Infinity DAC and DC cables: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/qsa-lanedri-series.36078/post-874046


Anas Lanedri
 
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Johnny Moondog

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2014
71
110
265
You don't represent QSA-Lanedri yet u know they are sending Emile cables?? Something fishy going on here...
“... involved in the R&D of some of their cables including this DAC cable.” Seems normal that someone involved would know that.
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,807
4,704
2,790
Portugal
I am in private conversations with Emile to send him cables. Nothing fishy going on. I am curious to know what he thinks and he is curious to know how they sound.

Don't tell him he is getting something with "Musical Metal molecule Alignment Technology (MMAT)" ;)
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
@Christiaan Punter already answered the question but here are Emile's own words:

"I don’t have a preference for which length to use."


"7m is the maximum length.. Longer requires an active cable which unfortunately severely degrades SQ (to fiber levels)…"


So per Emile, as long as you don't go beyond 7m, you're fine.



Yes. I am not the manufacturer nor do I officially represent @QSA-LANEDRI but as I was involved in the R&D of some of their cables including this DAC cable, I will provide you some background on why certain decisions were made including this 5 meter length. Here's the bottom line: The greater the mass of conductor, the greater the impact of QSA's treatment.

View attachment 111056
Based on the above information provided by the manufacturer of this DAC cable, you can see that at lengths of 3m or less, small 30AWG conductor is used. It is at 5m length that the largest gauge (24AWG) conductor gets used. That is the basis for the 5m length. 6m and 7m length are available also. I believe that with the DAC cable, the price has nothing to do with length and the price is the same regardless of whether you get a treated 1m cable or 7m cable but as 24AWG is 4x more conductor mass than 30AWG, I would avoid anything less than 5m.



If you feel that strongly about getting a 1m length cable, that can be arranged but it won't cost you any less and it won't sound as good. We know that from experience. For those interested in giving it a try, I would suggest you get a 5m length cable, coil it with Velcro and and neatly tuck it away. Be aware that this cable is very much directional. If you connect it the wrong way, SQ will be worse.



As before, based on what Emile has stated, going beyond 7m, it becomes an active cable and there will be a SQ penalty. Consequently, QSA-Lanedri is not treating any cables beyond 7m. Any length between 5-7m should provide good results as these cables utilize the larger 24awg conductor with 7m probably sounding slightly better than 5m.
You're preaching to the choir. I'm afraid as I am not disputing anything you say and I understand the science you have laid out.. I have even said that everyone should have a listen in their system. But for me I truly don't buy into the fact that I have to purchase a minimum of 5 meters when all I need is much less which costs the same and sounds worse. yet in the same breath you state the 7 meter sounds best. As for my 8 meter comment you got my point I was trying to make but dwelled on the fact that 7 meter is the max. It's just not something that I personally find to my liking. As for the cable I did have a listen in my system and that's why I emphasize that everyone should if they are interested
 

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