Andrew B. Wrote: > There was, to my ears, a very obvious difference. The SB3, in > comparison, sounded "shut in" - the imaging was smaller and less solid, > the frequency extension at the low end was obviously lacking. It was not > in any way unpleasant but just less vital or alive than the Benchmark > and also less detailed. I even tried deliberately mismatching the > levels so that the SB3 was 4 to 5 dB louder on average, and it still > sounded worse in the same ways. In fact it was quite similar to the > Meridian 2xx series DAC as found in my 206B (and incidentally in my > golden-eared but thin-walleted friend's old 203 DAC). I suspect it is > actually better than the old Meridian DACs but I have slightly lost the > will to Norah any more. I may have to do that test at a later time with > a different track... > > Sorry to ramble but someone may find it vaguely useful. > > This isn't meant to be in any way anti-SB3, by the way. I love my > Squeezebox and intend to keep ripping through my CD collection. It's a > great device, well implemented. > > Andrew
A word of caution though: Just hooking up something to you hifi is most likely to alter the sound of the system, regardless of wether you are listening to it or not! The only exception is hooking up things via optical. (Although there is still a possibility that the pattern of sound-induced mechnical vibrations throughout you DAC can alter depending on what is hanging from it's back!) I can easily switch my system from "serious high-end with sound you can listen to all day, and which really swings" to "somewhat fatiguing, lacking in excitement and dynamically compressed" just by plugging in my A/V preamp to the analouge inputs on the high-end pre! (Admittedly, in this case, via long RCAs. But the effect is also there for other equipment with shorter cables.) -- P Floding ------------------------------------------------------------------------ P Floding's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2932 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=19850 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
