Відео

I wish the wiim product would do dsd digitally out of coax that way i could use my external dac dad feature. I like my dac better than the pro plus dac.

Thanks for the review! Can you please review Townshend F1 Fractal cables sometime? I think their ICs are the best I’ve heard and I wonder how their speaker cables stack up to the Silversmith Fideliums

Future generations (some) that will only ever know streaming their musical material will never engage with this ritual. Literally having ZERO ownership (if not locally stored files) of music and as such having no pride of collection ownership. I myself have become what I never wanted to be (not using physical media) Purely due to practicalities, in part I'm comfortable with this but I have to accept I'm not listening at the highest fidelity. Still, looking after media hygiene is missed.

Very informative. I first used LAST products in the 80's. They used to provide little stickers, still on some of my vinyl.

I'm sorry for my belated response. I definitely enjoyed reading your thoughtful description of your listening impressions regarding McIntosh vs. Parasound amplifiers. IMO, both brands are top performers and it comes down to personal preferences and tonal inclinations...the way we hear & feel music. I respect what you're saying and there are no buts about it. lol You have had experience with the older/classic Mac amplifier sound & I have not. I did a 2 hour critical listening test recently an all McIntosh amplifier rig with a small pair of Maggie speakers. I think that I mentioned I had purchased a used Mac Amplifier & Preamp...both are entry level and are still in production. I listen to a lot of vintage 70s, 80's & 90's acoustic-based folk-rock music. I listen to other acoustic-based music too..Chamber Music...Small Jazz Ensembles,etc. Many of those albums were well recorded with the technology that was available back in the day. Many are not great sounding by todays recording standards. They lacked the technology. However, many of these iconic records have been painstakingly remastered with digital technology and have been given a 'fresh lease on life'. The Steely Dan finely remastered Boxed Set called 'Citizen Steely Dan' comes to mind & highly recommended. My listening impressions of Mac vs. Parasound amps are as follows: McIntosh amps are slightly more relaxed & rounder in their presentation than is the Parasound & ,most importantly for me, a bit more forgiving for listening to all my, not so great sounding vintage AAD recordings. I can listen to them for many hours now with minimal ear fatigue. I can't do that with Parasound. In fact did, I did a listening test with my AV Installer, who is a fine recording mixer in his own right. We set up an amplifier switching device and we did an A/B listening test comparison between the Parasound JC2PB & the McIntosh C49 Preamplifiers. We had the same types of listening impressions...the Parasound sounded clean and more detailed...the Mac sounded bolder/fuller and overall more dynamic to our ears. The Parasound was brutally revealing... which in my case/given my listening proclivities, was not so great. I had to break frequently between CDs. This newish Mac Preamp did not skimp on revealing macro or micro details..just a bit less than the Parasound. I didn't feel like I was wanting for anything more. In terms of having a house sound that offers something for everybody', the Macintosh definitely won out. This surprised me because I had been a Parasound fan for 5 years prior to ever hearing a Mac amplifier. The Mac does a bunch of stuff really well..but perhaps not the best.. and I wasn't wanting for more. Perhaps this goes a long way in explaining why the brand is so popular & why owners stick with it. (brand loyalty) But which company gives me more amplifier for the money?...It's Parasound all the way. No contest. Regarding McIntosh vs. Parasound amplifiers...I'm also kind of cheating because Ihave my Parasound Halo P6 Preamp/DAC hooked up to my Mac Preamplifier, for a little more Oomph, and IMO, they sound like they're meant to be paired together. Audiophile purists would probably cringe but I love mixing these 2 epic sounds together. The overall sound is magical & way bigger than the sum of their parts. It's a beautiful synergistic relationship. lol You need to have good ears to capitalize on what you're dealing with here..what they're capable of doing together & I am blessed to have that gift. I have heard at least a hundred different slightly different iterations of their sound together. It's a blast to balance their house sounds & Integrate them into the rest of my audio system...to hear what they sound like together through my Mac Power Amplifier. I am also venturing a bit further out & employed the use of 2 vintage Bowers & Wilkins 7 Series Center Channel Speakers. Their vibrational characteristics are well isolated from each other. I power them with an old Pathos Integrated Hybrid Tube Amp & OMG, the center & center-right+left 3D image is enormous. It's my little wall of sound. lol I believe that I made a great decision for listening to all my vocal-centric music that I so frequently enjoy. I'm very vocally oriented. As a musician for nearly 30 years, I felt that my primary duty was to support the vocalists and augment the song... to bolster the arrangement & deliver it to the listener in some impactful & meaningful way. I think that my other 'secret weapon' are my acoustic room treatments. I decided to 1st properly treat my small multipurpose listening room with professional grade bass traps...before I upgraded to the Macintosh Amplifiers. I tend to save up and purchase the same products that my favorite record producers have chosen for their recording studios. If its meets their high standards for recording celebrity recording artists, then it is good enough for me in my little audio playback system. lol. One of my heroes in recording arts production is the record producer Gary Katz. His work with Steely Dan is legendary. I heard that he was using RealTraps BassTraps in his home recording studio and was hooked on their performance. I decided to take advantage of a sale RealTraps had and treated my room. They treated me great & were with me every step of the way...from selecting the traps & right through the install. Well, the sound of my system really improved..everything sounded tighter and clearer to my little set of critical ears. lol. It was if someone lifted a veil that was covering the music. Mad good. It was somewhat akin to installing a significantly better quality pair of speakers..It’s a big deal IMO. I don't for the life of me understand, from a musical perspective, why audiophiles pay umpteen 1,000nds of dollars on expensive audio gear and leave their rooms mostly untreated. It’s absolutely self-defeating if you have ears to hear the music..if you really love to listen to The Music abd Not Uour Gear..to be moved by a great musical performance. My little vintage system has been significantly changed for the better & its performance has really opened up. It can definitely move emotions...and it is many times simply inspiring to listen to. Well, I kind of selfishly hope that you're not overly busy so we can stay in touch. lol Be Well, David Stein-@theaudioanalyst

Just purchased this and my initial comment is confusion with the manual. It specifies not to use a power supply voltage other than specified, then does not list a voltage anywhere. Did I miss something? I am assuming a 5V Apple phone charger block will work OK. Don’t really want to spend more for a linear power supply unless necessary.

Well, just so appealing to the eye..... The exemplary performance on offer here at a price seems justified for looks alone.... The heft disguised by such beautiful lines... Pride of ownership would be massive and a lifetime of listening pleasure to boot. Nicely presented Greg. 👍🏻

Thanks for such a great and thorough review Greg! You hear this incredible equipment it as we do and you expressed it beautifully. ❤

Great to see this video, as all of your videos are highly recommended to watch. Thank you for that Greg. Even though I do not own cables from Siltech (I have had the very nice opportunity to listen to some of them multiple times) as a Dutch citizen it makes me a bit proud that such a company from my country is among the very best in the high end audio industry. There are fierce competitors out there but Siltech is for sure one of the leading manufacturers in the world when it comes to cables.

Stunning sound & cables ❤❤❤❤❤

What characterizes virtually every high-end cable manufacturer? 1. They give their own technical story for how they have solved this or that technical problem. BUT 2. Provide no objective data in the form of measurements that they have actually done so. Even when they claim to have done measurements in their design process, somehow these just aren’t good enough to show publicly. Nor do they show how the measurable differences are audible. 3. Cables are evaluated under sighted conditions, where the listener knows the identities of the cables, which is well known to be perfect stew for bias effects. I believe these , among many other reasons, fully justify the high-level of scepticism many have towards these companies.

$115,000 for an IC? My lord.

I like a bit of Hifi history and obviously it goes hand in hand with the personalities driving the industry..... A walk around the siltech manufacturing facility seeing actual assembly would make superb content* How about it Greg? *Cable naysayers need not watch.

What power supply did you use? I u/stand that using a LPS gives better performance than a wall wart. Did the SU1 come with a power supply?

Wonderful video so much going on here. The cables remind me of a network box that I see on my cable which I have on my system from transparent, which I believe is used to deal with frequency deterioration as it travels through a cable. Thanks for nice video

Got this video appear in my feed for some reason. What is this lunatic voodoo BS? Is it supposed to be a parody, or are you serious? ‘Cables aging like wine’? Who comes up with this stuff?

Yaaay, First one to post a 👍!

You are correct, these took my system to the next level

Greg, As usual wonderful review which parallels my experiences. However as a beta tester for all of the CMS footers, I can say without hesitation I can say the CMS Ultra TT are a substantial upgrade over the 2M

Nice one Greg. Something terrific regular people can actually afford.

Hard to believe they do legit 55hz, but I'd love to demo them some time.

What happened to Eikon Audio?

A very enjoyable and informative video! I marvel at your ability to cover the most important technical aspects of the products you are covering. And of course, your sonic descriptions of the systems are always fantastic!

Aries Cerat is the type of product you buy to impress and not to enjoy.

Whats the phono stage? Sorry, didnt catch it

History ✅ Review ✅ Comparison ✅ Value ✅

Ares Cerat is very well represented here in the UK by my dealer (an associated company of the distributor) Such accomplished products, well worth traveling to experience. Another great rundown of some of what Munich had. I've really enjoyed this series. Thanks again Greg. 😁

Ahh yes. Overpriced audiophile snake oil. How much benefit in sound do you get by spending your entire life savings on speakers?? Is spending that much needed? I feel like high end audio is a gimmick. Not trying to be rude, but I find you can get great deals on used stuff. All the equipment in my system is used and it's great

Another great video Greg! I sure appreciate the time you put into these.

It is absolutely outrageous that they wouldn't allow reviewers in early to listen and record. They know that you guys release videos as you move from room to room. How else are you supposed to convey to the listeners what's going on. Anyone who has ever been to one of these shows knows how crazy it is once the doors open!!! I hope to meet you at least once at Axpona one day.

The best value in DAC, most transparent sound around.

13:00 I have the same impression. For me SU-1 sounds better through optical cable than USB. I think it's because using a dedicated power supply is better than powering by USB.

I have a quick question about Parasound JC amplifiers. What would you say is the basic difference in sound between a Parasound John Curl (JC) designed amp or preamp and that of a modern day McIntosh? Thanks, Di-

Thanks very much for posting this conversation. There is just not enough information on the web about Parasound Amplifiers.

lol..I love the Martini.

Hi Greg, this is the best video on these Audience speakers yet. I have been wanting to really hear these since AV showrooms who did a very brief review. Those little speakers are something special! WOW! Thanks.

I currently have a full mola mola set up (Makua, Tambaqui and Kaluga monoblocks) but have the opportunity to purchase pre-owned 5:46 AGD Gran Vivace monoblocks for a very good price. Unfortunately, it would not be possible to audition the AGD mono blocks prior to purchase. Having heard of these amplifiers, would you advise me to take the plunge with Sid advance.

VAC into Audiovector and Nagra into YG Acoustics are 2 combinations in the past decade that have stood out for me. Pure coincidence that 2 of those brands have items on discussion here. Some pretty aspiration gear with real attention to detail. 👍🏻

Epic speech :D and so right on point!

Thank you for the nice explanation and my experience, Audio Desk is best than any others.

Greg knows some stuff about some stuff

An enjoyable review, thanks. The pairing of SMSL SU-1 with the WiiM Mini is surely one of the great audio bargains of current times. My simple system comprises a WiiM Mini, SMSL SU-1 DAC, IotaVX SA3 integrated amplifier, Polk Reserve R100 speakers and a REL TZero Mk III 'subwoofer'. I power the WiiM Mini and the SU-1 with Apple iPhone 5V chargers that had been sitting around in a drawer for years. I stream Amazon Music HD. It just blows my mind how good this system sounds for the money spent. Great timing and dynamics, tight, punchy bass, wonderful midrange, excellent imaging, full soundstage and no listening fatigue whatsoever. We're in a golden age of affordable audio, no question.

This little Dac sounds very,very good in my 2 channel system. For the $70 I paid for this small wonder I can listen all day with a smile on my face. It gives you just enough from top to bottom and is so easy to listen to. I have a linear power supply with it and I use a Volumio Rivo with coax cable. EXCELLENT!!

I've had an SU1 for almost a year, I'm very pleased with the sound also. But I have two issues with how it plays with other components in my system: When streaming from a Bluesound Node via coax I get dropouts; Had to switch to optical. And the SU1 also has a problem with my integrated amp (Yamaha A-S 801): I have to put the 801 into 'Pure Direct' mode or the SU1 doesn't send a signal to the amp, it doesn't recognize it's connected. The Pure direct mode bypasses tone controls, so I can't use them. But for 80 bucks I ain't complaining.

Greg help me out Im looking at Audionote Dac 3.1 which is r2r and Baltic 3 which I have had my eyes on for years. Is there a big difference in sound

I getting mine at Lone Crow Audio in CA... they make deals on bundles. Nobody I found can match the prices anywhere.

Another great video Greg! You covered Munich splendidly!!

We're so glad to hear someone as professional as you mention not only us but our hometown too. Thank you so much for your work 🙏

Martini time indeed! Many thanks for a great rundown of those rooms. It’s interesting how many truly top-end speaker manufacturers are choosing Pilium amps for this year’s show.

I wonder what Andrew Jones would come up with.. Going beyond the SourcePoint 888 with a no constraints to cost approach.