Stahl-Tek anyone??

[Peter]

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone seen, heard or even bought any of the Stahl-Tek products?
They carry pretty hefty price tags (eg: similar to dCS or t-o-l Esoteric products.)
What have they got going for them to warrant their price and hype?
They also appear to be closely linked to Purist Audio Designs as Jim Aud is doing their marketing.

Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[LL21]

Hi Peter - check out the post i started regarding this DAC...so far no one has posted anything about having heard it. I have heard it and against my personal reference (Zanden)...i admit to being very tempted. I have heard the Vekian Transport/Vekian DAC (non-Signature, non-Opus).

i did not get a massive shoot-out but my personal observation from 2 hours of listening: Stunning resolution...i think comparable to the DCS Scarlatti...very quiet noise floor. The same music seemed to have better flow thru STahl-Tek...whereas DCS by comparison felt like someone was repeating back the music very, very clearly with good diction. A personal opinion. I kept track flipping with DCS, but staid thru whole tracks at a time with STahl-Tek...something important to me. 6 moons did the only review i have come across besides a few comments on various sites from owners/auditioners. STahl-Tek people are also exceptionally responsive.

happy to speak off-line. PM me if you wish.

 

[Peter]

Hi Peter - check out the post i started regarding this DAC...so far no one has posted anything about having heard it. I have heard it and against my personal reference (Zanden)...i admit to being very tempted. I have heard the Vekian Transport/Vekian DAC (non-Signature, non-Opus).

i did not get a massive shoot-out but my personal observation from 2 hours of listening: Stunning resolution...i think comparable to the DCS Scarlatti...very quiet noise floor. The same music seemed to have better flow thru STahl-Tek...whereas DCS by comparison felt like someone was repeating back the music very, very clearly with good diction. A personal opinion. I kept track flipping with DCS, but staid thru whole tracks at a time with STahl-Tek...something important to me. 6 moons did the only review i have come across besides a few comments on various sites from owners/auditioners. STahl-Tek people are also exceptionally responsive.

happy to speak off-line. PM me if you wish.

Hi Lloyd,

I've recently acquired some Vitus gear and have noted that PAD, Stahl-Tek, Vitus and Peak Consult have been showing to great effect at recent shows and will be doing so again in Munich.

It's from this that I've been starting to wonder about Stahl-Tek as a possible front-end for the system I'm assembling - but the products are as rare as hen's teeth in Canada. Munich will provide a starting point from which I'll have to set up some more substantial listening arrangements.

Peter

 

[LL21]

Hi Peter,

What system are you assembling? Be interested to know.

 

[PhP]

Yes
I own a VEKIAN D/A I2S upgraded to the last version (cones and vibrations control named Constrained-Layer Damping Isolation Foot System (CLDIFS)). I also have the CDT transport from these Texan brand. They are really so analog and so precise that even an analog lover will listen to digital with a pleasure I have listening through TENOR amps. The DCS is very precise but somewhat cold and to HIFI in comparison. I can tell you more about them.

 

[Steve Williams]

Welcome to WBF PhP

 

[opus111]

I just watched this Peter Breuninger video where Mike Stahl talks a bit about what he pays attention to in DAC design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol_UVn9LnqE

He takes the view that timing of the signals into the DAC chip is a very high priority hence he focussed in this short chat on the digital data transmission method (I2S) and how he's improved the timing of it.

My own take on this is he made a rod for his own back in respect of timing by picking a S-D type chip to design with which is much more sensitive to jitter than a traditional multibit DAC.

 

[opus111]

Here's another vid I found which sheds some light on the design thinking behind the product - another chat with Mike Stahl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rOP4b0UcqA

He highlights a number of points. The first is isolation from the source - this I agree with 100%. Too few DACs pay enough attention to isolation, good to see him raising this as an issue. His second area of mention is upsampling. He says the DAC upsamples everything to 192k but I could not follow his reasoning. He said that higher rates eliminate distortion which begins at 5kHz and goes all the way up to 20kHz. I've never seen distortion in my own DAC development, but he could be talking about the frequency response droop which does indeed begin around 5kHz. Upsampling is for sure a way to deal with this, but comes with its own drawbacks which he does not mention at all. From listening to Mike you might form the view that upsampling is some kind of universal panacea for achieving the analog sound he seeks but in the real world, everything has side-effects.

 

[wizard]

Ariaa inside
View attachment 7580

 

[Gregadd]

 

[Jazzhead]

Inserted a Stahl Tek Opus Prime DAC into my chain , a few days back . At present it is mating with the Kalista ref transport and a jaw dropping combo it promises to be as the Stahl Tek fleshes out . Would anybody have an opinion or experience, on how much of a gain it will be to link the Opus Prime via i2S to it's matching CDT . I honestly cannot imagine it being that much better to what I am now hearing , but as they say curiosity killed the ... !

 

[Barry2013]

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone seen, heard or even bought any of the Stahl-Tek products?
They carry pretty hefty price tags (eg: similar to dCS or t-o-l Esoteric products.)
What have they got going for them to warrant their price and hype?
They also appear to be closely linked to Purist Audio Designs as Jim Aud is doing their marketing.

Thoughts? Experiences?

Have not heard one but had good reports.
An Opus DAC is for sale on Audiogon from Singapore for $16,000 according to Shark hifi

 

[LL21]

Inserted a Stahl Tek Opus Prime DAC into my chain , a few days back . At present it is mating with the Kalista ref transport and a jaw dropping combo it promises to be as the Stahl Tek fleshes out . Would anybody have an opinion or experience, on how much of a gain it will be to link the Opus Prime via i2S to it's matching CDT . I honestly cannot imagine it being that much better to what I am now hearing , but as they say curiosity killed the ... !

With a transport like yours, I am inclined to agree with you...I cannot imagine it being much better if at all. Look forward to more impressions from you of the Opus Prime DAC. I have heard only the original Vekian transport and DAC which was remarkably good.