Well, sure, ideally we could compare apples to oranges. However, his point was well made and well taken -- and accepted by many audiophiles, and certainly by most objective audiophiles. Given an excellent setup and listening environment, the differences between various electronic components can be minor indeed, however we choose to interpret them. I've heard, and owned, some seriously expensive and well-received digital sources. Sure, they are somewhat 'better' than a Squeezebox. But, to put a number on it, it is not like a 100% or even 50% better experience...it is more like a 5% or so difference. To some people, it is worth charging down the path of closing that gap, regardless of cost and time; to others, well, not so much.
In short, and please don't flame me or drag me over the coals for this -- I like your posts -- I think his "guess" amounted to a statement of received wisdom. Again, think about the Atkinson review. You can infer from it that whatever differences he heard between the Ayre (six grand used) and SB (three hundred new) as sources were minimal. This is assuming there were any. Remember, Atkinson disavows blind testing, which, in my book, at least, is ludicrous. So, the next question is how does the ML DAC (six grand, used) compare to a Benchmark, Lavry or Mytek (a grand new)? My guess is that, if anything, one of the small guys would have an edge -- particularly the Mytek and Lavry. So, now you've scaled a $12-13k (used) system down to $1,300. And, here's my experience, as stated elsewhere: the SB with a Lavry, Classe, Audio Aero, and another DAC or two is awfully close to the SB alone. Sure, there are differences in imaging, etc. 100%? 50%? No, more like 5-10%, tops. For me, I'd rather have another thousand dollars in music and concert tickets. So, now, in my book, I'm willing to give up 5% or so and keep a $300 system rather than pay well into the five figures for something kinda better, but not earth-shakingly better. Anyway, I do view speakers and room optimization as the real bugaboos...! -- highdudgeon ------------------------------------------------------------------------ highdudgeon's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2195 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=22301 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
