Tin Ears
Posted by: andrewnielsen on 09 November 2015
This is no good at all. I went and listened to some DACS... the differences between the Audiolab, April Audio Eximus DP1 and DAC V1 were pretty clear. When I went to compare my own Xindac DAC-5 to the DAC V1, I couldn't tell the difference! The Naim DAC had never been plugged in before and had warmed up for 15 minutes, so maybe that made a difference. I was listening to Queen's Greatest Hits. Amp was a Naim XS and the speakers were Quad 11Ls. I got the dealer, Caxton Audio Brisbane, to stop using those vile, shrill Nordst Silver speaker cables and he used ? DH Silver Sonic cables. Hopefully the problem was that I was too familiar with the sound of the Xindac. I will compare it to the Chord DACs. If I can't tell the difference then, then I'll be able to draw a line under this hobby. Maybe I should borrow one and see if I can tell the difference. No point doing that yet as the reason to visit the dealer was that the Quad 11L active speaker was making popping noises.
Just to clarify, this is my office system I'm talking about. The specs below are for my home system.