stop-spinning;608150 Wrote: > Thanks Phil - you always seem to be around to answer questions quickly. > > I wasn't referring to the internal DAC of the SB per se, more how the > SB acts as a transport and thus feeding a clean signal out to an > external DAC of any type, be it one that compensates well - or older > DACs (which I would like to experiment with) which may not compensate > so well. So, in essence, how good is the SB as a transport? Is it as > good as any other hi-end CD transport - or perhaps better because there > are no moving mechanical parts to consider. > > On the flip side - perhaps the SB Duet is not high enough up the food > chain for the Audiophile in stock form. See here's this link I am > concerned about: > http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=7730&page=1 with this > reference 'I got a Logitech Duet when they came out and tried it with > Numerik D/A and somewhat surprisingly, it sounded totally crap compared > to a Karik CD player feeding the same Numerik D/A; in fact, the Duet > also sounded crap compared to a Sonos feeding the same Numerik D/A, so > it's clear that they have got something very wrong in the Duet'
Ah - OK The Touch is VERY GOOD as a transport, even in stock form. Coupled with the a capable DAC it is capable of superb performance IMO. As for that thread you quoted: 1) as a former owner of a Karik III I can categorically state that connecting a Karik III to the Numerik did NOT improve the sound - in fact it made it worse! 2) The Numerik was not Linn's finest hour, frankly. The DAC's in my 5103 easily outperform it. I wouldn't use it as a baseline for anything. 3) I can't comment on the Receiver as I don't have one. However, the Touch digital output outperforms that of the SB3. I'm not sure what you are trying to get to with the question? - the Touch can be used as a very high quality transport; yes it can replace all manner of disc spinners. Some folks will continue to prefer some disc spinners sometimes - but that's because they prefer the sound, NOT because they are intrinsically "better". I have owned a Linn Karik III, Ikemi and CD12. Each was a great improvement. I have also used transports from dCS, Wadia and Esoteric. Since getting my SB3 (and now Touch) I have never, ever wanted to listen to a cd player. Anyway, what you should do is investigate all of this for yourself. What I think is irrelevant. YMMV. -- Phil Leigh You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it ain't what you'd call minimal... Touch(wired/XP) - TACT 2.2X (Linear PSU) + Good Vibrations S/W - MF Triplethreat(Audiocom full mods) - Linn 5103 - Aktiv 5.1 system (6x LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Pekin Tuner, Townsend Supertweeters, Blue Jeans Digital,Kimber Speaker & Chord Interconnect cables Kitchen Boom, Outdoors: SB Radio, Harmony One remote for everything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=84903 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
