Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

Taiko Audio

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The issue with high end audio is best measured performance does not always translate to best sound. There is no way around trial and error in high end, theory is going to need to be validated by hearing trial, often something measuring brilliantly sounds horrific.
 

joaovieira

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The issue with high end audio is best measured performance does not always translate to best sound. There is no way around trial and error in high end, theory is going to need to be validated by hearing trial, often something measuring brilliantly sounds horrific.

That is what I lerned from people on Audiopax when a new product is developed. Many trial end error before the new piece is released. But lots of projects and engineering design too.

And a presence in the company of someone who has the experience and the pacience to try and try is an asset every company should be proud of.
 
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howiebrou

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Jun 29, 2012
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Hey Howiebrou, if throwing shit at the wall was how my post came across, then I certainly wasn’t sufficiently clear. You are absolutely correct in that a product like the Extreme doesn’t come from a careless development cycle. I’m sure there were R&D breadboards and prototypes where things like memory, CPUs etc could be thoroughly evaluated and compared.

My posts was really about Trial & Error product development and really not about the Extreme. I was pointing out that Trial and Error is not a good way to proceed for a number of reasons already given in the previous thread. I was not privy to the Extreme’s development and I don’t know how it sounds (more’s the pity) so my comments were about a design philosophy rather than about a product. Is that a bit clearer?
Sorry I wasn't necessarily implying you said the extreme was carelessly designed either. I was just commenting that imho i think the extreme would more likely have started its development cycle with a well thought out structured plan based on existing knowledge. Cheers.
 
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Blackmorec

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The issue with high end audio is best measured performance does not always translate to best sound. There is no way around trial and error in high end, theory is going to need to be validated by hearing trial, often something measuring brilliantly sounds horrific.
I agree 110% and would repeat, again with respect that Trial & Error may not be the right term, at least not in my mind :) For me, trial and error means something a little bit different from systematically listening to and ranking components in terms of best for the job, which is what you’re doing. Its probably the only way to test products that were designed without sound quality in mind or on the design brief. I absolutely believe what you say about great spec. horrible sound. Sound quality is probably a dependant variable....the problem is that most of the time we don‘t know exactly what it depends on :confused: What we do know it that its not just one thing.
 
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Blackmorec

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Sorry I wasn't necessarily implying you said the extreme was carelessly designed either. I was just commenting that imho i think the extreme would more likely have started its development cycle with a well thought out structured plan based on existing knowledge. Cheers.
No apology necessary. I got a bit caught up in the Trial and Error part. I have no reason to believe that the Extreme was anything but extremely well engineered. I think what some of us are calling trial and error, i would normally call listening trials. For me trial and error is a series of failures followed hopefully by eventual success.....so your throwing-shit-at-the-wall analogy kinda sticks (ha ha). Comparing different SSDs and RAM in terms of sound quality is for me not the same thing.
 

Steve Williams

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For me, it's all good. I have no idea what Emile did to arrive at the final Extreme design. Was it trial and error, experimentation, "sound" knowledge , or a bit of everything? Was that trial and error? Perhaps but the end result is simply great and you don't give him credit for his intuitive ability and desire to learn and tinker.

Every day when I use the Extreme, I simply marvel at its efficacy. In my system it functions flawlessly, effortlessly and quickly. To me it is a remarkable piece of equipment and I laud Emile for bringing to market this amazing server. It has changed the way I listen to music
 

Mike Lavigne

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every time i lift the Extreme (a 90 pound computer!:eek::eek::eek:) i think about what sort of development process it might have taken to determine that going to that (pardon the pun) extreme level of casework and chassis was necessary. who else would ever even think that way?

easy answer.

no one.

and i'll bet that a server competitor who really looks at the Extreme just shakes their head.:cool:

i just read a server review in the January 2020 issue of Absolute Sound for the Innuos Statement. 'King of the Hill' is the subtitle. some competitors are listed, among those is the SGM EVO.......but the Extreme is not mentioned.

must have been a small hill.
 
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Stereophonic

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every time i lift the Extreme (a 90 pound computer!:eek::eek::eek:) i think about what sort of development process it might have taken to determine that going to that (pardon the pun) extreme level of casework and chassis was necessary. who else would ever even think that way?

easy answer.

no one.

Come one Mike... I can't believe that you value the quality of the product because of its weight !!!
I can even think it with 200 pounds weight with 5x1000 VA transformers, 2.000.000 uF, 10 Intel processors with 5 motherboards....

and i'll bet that a server competitor who really looks at the Extreme just shakes their head.:cool:

I assure you it isn’t that way....
 
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Taiko Audio

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I assure you it isn’t that way....

Stereophonic, I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish here, your Wadax server is a beautiful piece of gear, true high end build quality. I did not mention it before because I have no idea where it fits in. It seemingly left Robert Koda gasping in admiration :) Loved that photo, not so fond of your other.
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
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Come one Mike... I can't believe that you value the quality of the product because of its weight !!!
I can even think it with 200 pounds weight with 5x1000 VA transformers, 2.000.000 uF, 10 Intel processors with 5 motherboards....

of course, i absolutely did NOT say value was BECAUSE of the weight.

what i did say was......
i think about what sort of development process it might have taken to determine that going to that (pardon the pun) extreme level of casework and chassis was necessary.

i connected the development process to doing what was necessary. the value is in the no holds bared approach. the weight reminded me of that.
I assure you it isn’t that way....

and you know that how?
 
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Rhapsody

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Neither of the previous two pictures.
This is one better.... View attachment 59876

Stereophonic,

I think you are polluting this thread with no useful information whatsoever. Hope it makes you feel good. Very distracting to me. I would ask either you or the moderators to remove this pic/post as it is inappropriate in general and has nothing to do with this thread.
 

Audiophile Bill

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Stereophonic

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Stereophonic, I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish here, your Wadax server is a beautiful piece of gear, true high end build quality. I did not mention it before because I have no idea where it fits in. It seemingly left Robert Koda gasping in admiration :) Loved that photo, not so fond of your other.

My apologies if i have bothered you or other members.
I know this thread has a lot of entusiast followers and proud SGM owners.
I don´t see any bad on disagree on some points of view or been some critic with a little sense of humour.
 

Rhapsody

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Stereophonic

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Agree - it is hilarious.

Hilarious question = hilarious answer

There is no need to compare two different servers to discredit the innuos only from internal pictures.

PD. Beyonce’s picture doesn’t hurt anybody....if it does you are taking this too seriously.
 
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Rhapsody

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Hilarious question = hilarious answer

There is no need to compare two different servers to discredit the innuos only from internal pictures.

These pictures, are VERY appropriate in this discussion. Why? Because Blackmorec, who on the Innuos thread is noted as completely happy with his Innuos server and selected it because he believed in the design and engineering of the product, comes over to the Taiko Audio Extreme thread and pretty much in long, intelligent posts, questions the validity of the design and the design process which occurred in the development of the Extreme.

These pics illustrate, not the SQ or reliability of either product, but do allow one to judge for themselves with respect to build quality and the overall design architecture of both products.
 
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