Sound Galleries SGM 2015

wisnon

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Dec 12, 2011
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Ed, you need to swing by Switzerland with your super server and test it out on the demo Atlantic unit I have at the moment. Super clocked usb, r2r did and ppm, separate chipiess did engine that does 512, and tube rectified.

I am comparing it to the GG now.
 

EuroDriver

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Sep 16, 2015
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Ed, you need to swing by Switzerland with your super server and test it out on the demo Atlantic unit I have at the moment. Super clocked usb, r2r did and ppm, separate chipiess did engine that does 512, and tube rectified.

I am comparing it to the GG now.

Will do !

Atlantic could be a cute baby brother for our Golden Gate and Siebener :)
 
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Sablon Audio

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May 22, 2015
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Pleasure is all mine and thanks for the kind words of support. Often we need others opinions to steer us in the right direction. Think fashion.
The fuse thread suggests the Audio Magic SHD fuses to best the SR Black so there could be more advancements in SQ to come. Could it become even more analogue like?
We'll see.
Cheers


I've been evaluating fuses over the past couple of weeks and the SR Black is an excellent addition to the SGM, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Padis is good for its modest cost but the SR Black takes both transparency and visceral dynamics up quite a few notches.
 

Blue58

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I've been evaluating fuses over the past couple of weeks and the SR Black is an excellent addition to the SGM, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Padis is good for its modest cost but the SR Black takes both transparency and visceral dynamics up quite a few notches.

Well, don't want to upset the apple cart but just had the Audio Magic SHD fuse in the SGM 2015 for about 2 hours and this is something else. Yes, I raved (sort of) about the SR Black which Mark accurately describes however the AM SHD fuse is like the black with a pint of Guinness and a mirror ball thrown in. Talk about big, physical, all encompassing sound.

The nitty gritty is that you get the dynamics, even more transparency but a thickness, in a good way i.e. Physicality of vocals and instruments, and great depth to the soundstage. I can't say the width is greater as this may be a function of my room interaction but playing Snarky Puppy, Go at high volume is phenomenal. James Blake's Overgrown just rumbles along like I've never heard it before. Diana Krall, Case of You is upfront, the way it's recorded but even more ambience, call a doctor for those coughers!

This fuse is crazy good in my system and probably suits the T&A Dac better than it might suit the GG. It could be too much of a good thing for the Lampi.

Hell, I wasn't expecting this much change if any over the SR Black but once again surprises come in small, very small in this case, packages.

Cheers
Blue58
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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Well, don't want to upset the apple cart but just had the Audio Magic SHD fuse in the SGM 2015 for about 2 hours and this is something else. Yes, I raved (sort of) about the SR Black which Mark accurately describes however the AM SHD fuse is like the black with a pint of Guinness and a mirror ball thrown in. Talk about big, physical, all encompassing sound.

The nitty gritty is that you get the dynamics, even more transparency but a thickness, in a good way i.e. Physicality of vocals and instruments, and great depth to the soundstage. I can't say the width is greater as this may be a function of my room interaction but playing Snarky Puppy, Go at high volume is phenomenal. James Blake's Overgrown just rumbles along like I've never heard it before. Diana Krall, Case of You is upfront, the way it's recorded but even more ambience, call a doctor for those coughers!

This fuse is crazy good in my system and probably suits the T&A Dac better than it might suit the GG. It could be too much of a good thing for the Lampi.

Hell, I wasn't expecting this much change if any over the SR Black but once again surprises come in small, very small in this case, packages.

Cheers
Blue58

Hi Barry,

I don't think Mark was getting along with the AM SHD fuse very well at all from my last email....

Maybe system dependent as you say.

Best,

Bill
 

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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Bill, Barry is compensating for the fact he hasn't gone Sablon Gran Reservas PCs on his gear LOL
He's getting his tonal density kicks via fuses
Maybe the AM SHD fuses are too much of a good thing with Mark's top PCs?
 

Blue58

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Bill, Barry is compensating for the fact he hasn't gone Sablon Gran Reservas PCs on his gear LOL
He's getting his tonal density kicks via fuses
Maybe the AM SHD fuses are too much of a good thing with Mark's top PCs?
Good point.
The fuses may well be too much of a good thing in some systems.
My concern at the moment is the fuse has only a few hours on it and by all accounts requires 3-4 weeks to break in. If its current sound qualities are exaggerated after break in then it just may be 'over the top' for even my simple system. If that's the case then it'll be back to SR Black.
We will see.
Blue58
 

Sablon Audio

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Bill, Barry is compensating for the fact he hasn't gone Sablon Gran Reservas PCs on his gear LOL
He's getting his tonal density kicks via fuses
Maybe the AM SHD fuses are too much of a good thing with Mark's top PCs?

The SHD beeswax fuses certainly have some strong qualities wrt tonal density / organic timbre but didn't gel so well in my system (currently SGM 512 server / TA DSD dac / Berning Quadrature Z / Benesch ACT or HE1000) as the SR Black. Fwiw I am currently using the normal Reserva cords rather than Elites as I keep selling out of the NCF plugs.
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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The SHD beeswax fuses certainly have some strong qualities wrt tonal density / organic timbre but didn't gel so well in my system (currently SGM 512 server / TA DSD dac / Berning Quadrature Z / Benesch ACT or HE1000) as the SR Black. Fwiw I am currently using the normal Reserva cords rather than Elites as I keep selling out of the NCF plugs.

Get with the game, Mark. Elite only way to go ;)
 

EuroDriver

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Nagra HD with Sound Galleries Music Server

We have just finished a very enjoyable extended test period with a new SGM customer in Holland who has the Nagra HD DAC with the optional output transformers, Nagra JAZZ preamp and the Nagra power supply. The customer retired his CAP's style music server, and purchased a SGM.

First we had a session with HQ Player delivering bit perfect 16/44 to the Nagra HD which did a very nice job of doing internal conversion of PCM to DSD.
Then we played the same track with HQ Player doing PCM to DSD 128 conversion using an optimized choice of reconstruction filters and sigma delta modulators. The resulting sound quality was simply jaw dropping. We think the quality of the analog output stage in the Nagra HD is one of the best we have ever heard.


It just goes to show there are so many ways to bake the digital cake, PCM at 24/96 as done by the Total DAC, DSD 512 as done by the Lampi’s and T+A, and now DSD128 as exquistely played by the Nagra HD . The results we have obtained with these very different DAC’s is an indication and demonstration of the benefits of HQ Player’s look ahead processing, elimination of digital artifacts and the ability to select Sigma Delta modulators which match the playback systems balance of color, smoothness and transparency.
 

Blue58

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Jan 20, 2013
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We have just finished a very enjoyable extended test period with a new SGM customer in Holland who has the Nagra HD DAC with the optional output transformers, Nagra JAZZ preamp and the Nagra power supply. The customer retired his CAP's style music server, and purchased a SGM.

First we had a session with HQ Player delivering bit perfect 16/44 to the Nagra HD which did a very nice job of doing internal conversion of PCM to DSD.
Then we played the same track with HQ Player doing PCM to DSD 128 conversion using an optimized choice of reconstruction filters and sigma delta modulators. The resulting sound quality was simply jaw dropping. We think the quality of the analog output stage in the Nagra HD is one of the best we have ever heard.


It just goes to show there are so many ways to bake the digital cake, PCM at 24/96 as done by the Total DAC, DSD 512 as done by the Lampi’s and T+A, and now DSD128 as exquistely played by the Nagra HD . The results we have obtained with these very different DAC’s is an indication and demonstration of the benefits of HQ Player’s look ahead processing, elimination of digital artifacts and the ability to select Sigma Delta modulators which match the playback systems balance of color, smoothness and transparency.
Hello Edward,
Are you using the latest HQPlayer release now?
If so would you recommend updating to take advantage of the new ASDM7-512 modulator for the T+A or stay with what my system sounds happy with?
Best wishes
Blue58
 

tsaett

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May 20, 2014
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I like the new 512+ filter, sounds very smooth, airy and relaxed. I preferred DSD5v2 to the old ASDM filter, after the upgrade I have solely listened to the new one without looking back.
I may do some tests in the future again, but for now I'm perfectly happy, so I recommend you do the upgrade and try for yourself.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Apr 25, 2010
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Bonzo75 was here 2 weeks ago......and that was fun.

now Eurodriver will be visiting me this weekend with the SGM (Sound Galleries Music Server). the plan is for him to show up Saturday morning, insert it into my system replacing my CAPSv4 server hot-rodded w/Lampi mods, and for me to enjoy it through Sunday night.

he and my (network engineer) son have been communicating about the details of my dac-server-NAS-remote so Eurodriver can get the SGM running easily so I can listen.

my GG will only do dsd256 at this point (trying to arrange the upgrade to 512 and superclocks), and using the Elrog 300b's and Takatsuki 274b.

I've been pretty happy already with what I hear with my current set-up, so I'm looking forward to hearing what the SGM can do to take things higher......particularly on the PCM side of things, where currently I'm using JRiver release 21 to up-sample PCM to Quad dsd. while I like my current PCM performance, I don't love it. my PCM reference was set last year with my Trinity dac, and hope to hear that level of PCM performance again, if possible.
 
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asiufy

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Mike,

You're in for a treat! Ed (Eurodriver) has brought the SGM to the store yesterday, and I can proudly say we're convinced, so much that we've become a dealer for it!

Can't wait to get our unit, and start trying different settings on it :)


cheers,
alex
 

Odyssey

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Mar 15, 2015
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Congratulations Alex on picking up the SGM. I know an individual that now has one in his home and he can't say enough good things about it!
 

asiufy

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Thank you :)

We do carry other music servers, but I found the SGM to fill a given niche that's currently only attended by Aurender's flagship W20. And choice is good, and the SGM is all about choices and options!
 

wisnon

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Dec 12, 2011
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Mike,

You're in for a treat! Ed (Eurodriver) has brought the SGM to the store yesterday, and I can proudly say we're convinced, so much that we've become a dealer for it!

Can't wait to get our unit, and start trying different settings on it :)


cheers,
alex

Congrats Alex!
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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I'm still in my investigative phase with the SGM server, but no doubt it is really, really, good. and it was a great pleasure to meet Ed. I learned a great deal from him.

more later.....
 

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