Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème
- Thread starter CKKeung
- Start date
Both servers were plugged in and powered up. I can't say the same for the other equipment.
I do demos almost every day. With SS I feel that after an hour things get fairly settled in, but better after several hours. With tubes, after 1/2 hour things start to get pretty good, after an hour things are 95% there. YMMV of course.
Well, assuming Howie spent c.30mins each going Extreme to Statement to Extreme, and the system was SS powered up only at start of demo, it would have been the third demo ie second Extreme one where all was singing.
Demoing like reported is always very "iffy" to me. Even cables like to settle down once you change them. It's ok to change back and forth to get a general idea, but to draw any conclusions from doing it can be misleading.
I personally get confused (normal) when I start switching back and forth in a short period of time. I have to listen to something for hours/days, then switch and listen for a day or two. Then switch back. Usually after doing this I have a better sense for who's doing what to who.
I would have said to Howie to follow up w two seperate demos
One just Statement, one Extreme.
Imbibe them both.
A final verdict should be easy to make.
Constant ABAs, no.
I was at a frustrating demo where full Ares Cerat system switched streamer/cdp/streamer/cdp all the time.
Ended up hating the whole system.
One just Statement, one Extreme.
Imbibe them both.
A final verdict should be easy to make.
Constant ABAs, no.
I was at a frustrating demo where full Ares Cerat system switched streamer/cdp/streamer/cdp all the time.
Ended up hating the whole system.
I agree. That’s why he should listen to Statement again. Next time, the dealer should leave all electronics on overnight.
Volent HK usually demos Ststement and Extreme with the Intona Ultimate usb cable carried as well by them.
For ethernet cables, they may use the new version of MPF8 Gold made by the Telegartner Japan branch.
https://telegaertner.co.jp/product/audio_products/mfp8_ie_gold.html
My guess.
It's a means to an ends. I don't particularly like demoing equipment. Listening to a whole system yes, but switching in this and that, especially cables, no.
Well today I finally had the time to listen to the Innuos Statement and the SGM Extreme through the same system with everything identical including the same LAN cable, network, Totaldac D-12, etc. The only proviso is that it was not a system that i am very familiar with. All music was streamed using Tidal as that is likely to be an oft used source now that I have fibre optic broadband at home. Previously my 6MBPS broadband would hiccup, cough and regurgitate every minute or so whilst streaming.
Extreme:
I will be blatantly honest here. It didn't sound great. What didn't I like? The sound was a little harsh sounding. Resolution was very high and I could hear lots of minute details on the songs that I normally wouldn't hear. My Sooloos at home is the not the last word in resolution and it is pretty old too. The harshness worried me. Now I should state that the dealer only opened the doors 5 minutes before i started listening so may be it needed warming up. Magnificat by Kim Andre Arnesen, one of my perennial favourites had a touch of screechiness about it with an accentuated treble. I move onto Paranoid Eyes by Pink Floyd in the Final Cut, my favourite PF album. Clear as I have ever heard it. You could hear Roger Waters licking his lips but where was the warmth that I like? May be, i thought, the extreme is too neutral for me. Too clear and perfect for those who like analytical hifi. I listened to another host of songs and then we switched over to the Statement.
Statement:
The warmth came flooding back. I felt like i was home. Words sounded more like real people whereas before they sounded almost mechanical (I exaggerate here of course). It was relaxing but there was something missing too. Resolution was down, that was certain. Were notes rolled off a little? It was certainly richer and more dense. Coloured? May be, may be not? I don't mind coloured at all. If i like the sound, i like the sound. To me too many people worry about reproducing the real thing. IMHO this is never going to happen anyway so you might as well get the sound you enjoy. To hell with realism.
Extreme second round:
To me you can't compare two things just once. You have to go back to the original thing and listen again. After hearing the Statement now the extreme made more sense. The sound wasn't thin anymore, voices were realistic. Bryn Terfel had meat on his bones again which were missing from the first round. No it wasn't as tonally rich as the Statement but neither was it as disappointing as i had feared whilst listening the first time. This sounds like damning praise. It is not. The bass was prodigious. I realised how much had been missing from the Statement. Do i care? Not too much. I am not chasing rainbows and I don't need to hear every last detail. But it was clear how much more info was coming from the Extreme. The sound was pretty different from the first round and a big improvement.
Conclusions: Both are excellent. The Innuos is a relative bargain at less than half the price of the Extreme but the Extreme takes the biscuit on this audition. I could honestly be happy with either. What a great time to be server hunting!
I hosted both servers, but not side by side at the same period - and yes, I also felt the warmth of the Statement was very attractive, compared to my DIY server. Surely the Extreme has more resolution - the trick is now dealing with it. In my case the USB and power cables are the needed tools for this tuning. The Intona Reference I am using shows all detail, I tried a Transparent Reference USB that was more full bodied. I expect to get the Sablon USB cable sometime soon.
Although I am now Qobuz dependent, IMHO at this price level a comparison should also be carried with music stored in the server - my comments address this mode.
Interesting. So you feel that the Intona doesn’t quite give you enough warmth I presume? It would seem that others have found the same with this cable. The Gobel USB might be worth a try as well?
I believe that a good portion of the Statement‘s „warmth“ is related to the PSU design (8 dedicated rails, etc.) and implementation. How does the Extreme compare in this regard?
There are several mechanisms to induce degrees of "warmth" in the presentation. I strongly believe in designing for neutrality and leave voicing up to the consumer by for example DAC, USB and/or power cable selection. Even something as simple as using a Beeswax fuse already makes it too "warm" for a lot of our users.
I think Howie got exactly what he wanted out of the demo. It's nice to have a place where you can compare all of these side by side.
Another way to voice a system, which I think is preferable since it does not mess with gear, is changes in speaker set-up and modulation of room acoustics. The latter can include simple carpet changes or additions.
Indeed, even in our larger 60m2+ room, a pair of small 0.25 m2 thick carpets inside the "holy triangle" induce a very noticeable difference in tonal balance.
Thanks for the response and understand your position around neutrality.
Let me be a bit more specific in my question. Is the Extreme PSU a multi-rail design and, if so, what are the specs for each rail and which components are supported? Once again, apologies if the question has already been asked.
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