Trinity - hype or is it a real deal ?

[audioblazer]

Since I was looking for a preamplifier & with the superb pre owned price of trinity preamp ( still another unit for sales ) , I decided to give trinity preamp a try . So is it a mere hype or a real deal as good as some posted . After having the opportunity to listen to the trinity stereo & mono , all I can said is that for certain system & limited room size ( mono can probably play well in much bigger room ) , it's very quiet & resolution is superb . Is it the best out there ? That I have an issue with but for the price of preowned unit , it's worth owing it . Well maybe as a temporary measure for me

 

[LL21]

Thanks for posting. Am i correct that you have bought the Trinity pre-amp? If so, congrats and look forward to more comments when you can.

 

[audioblazer]

Keith , this is certainly very peculiar . Not using dedicated wires for audio ?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Keith certainly needs to have grounded Trinity w/Entreq, and a separate Entreq system for his lights. Then he can ground his coffee machine. But not the coffee grinder, it's ground already. Go on Keith, you know you want to...

 

[bonzo75]

Keith , this is certainly very peculiar . Not using dedicated wires for audio ?

Sorry, did you meant to include the word 'this'?

 

[Elberoth]

The Trinity is the best PCM DAC I've heard. It is much better to my ears than the MSB DAC IV Diamond Plus with Galaxy Femto clock (my former DAC) and dCS Vivaldi (which I have both auditioned and considered, beeing a long time dCS user). I would like to compare the Trinity to the 2015 MSB Select, to see how fares against this new contender.

BTW - You may be interested in sending the amp for PSU upgrades to Dietmar in the future. These will be part of preamp redesign, which is about to be launched. Apart from those updates related to sound quality, the new model will also feature a volume display where the LED is now. Please also note that all Trinity components feature a SMPS (switch mode PSU) and it may be beneficial to power them from a separate AC line, or through a good power conditioner to avoid AC noise cross contamination (you may try both running the trinity itself from the power conditioner, or the rest of the system from the power conditioner, and Trinity straight from the wall; I use the former arrangement). Same for your Aurender W-20.

 

[asiufy]

The Trinity is the best PCM DAC I've heard. It is much better to my ears than the MSB DAC IV Diamond Plus with Galaxy Femto clock (my former DAC) and dCS Vivaldi (which I have both auditioned and considered, beeing a long time dCS user). I would like to compare the Trinity to the 2015 MSB Select, to see how fares against this new contender.

You really need to seek the MSB SELECT. It's by far the best DAC I've experienced, really in another class. 16/44 on it sounds like Quad DSD on steroids.
What's most impressive about it is the sheer naturalness and presence. You can not only "hear" voices, but also their perfect projection of the voice, with its countour, on the soundstage. This is something I'm most fond of with good analog, and it's the first time I've heard digital replicate that effect perfectly.
Maybe people not used to good analog won't get what I'm saying, but those with top analog will definitely "get" what it!


alexandre

 

[Elberoth]

You really need to seek the MSB SELECT. It's by far the best DAC I've experienced, really in another class. 16/44 on it sounds like Quad DSD on steroids.
What's most impressive about it is the sheer naturalness and presence. You can not only "hear" voices, but also their perfect projection of the voice, with its countour, on the soundstage. This is something I'm most fond of with good analog, and it's the first time I've heard digital replicate that effect perfectly.
Maybe people not used to good analog won't get what I'm saying, but those with top analog will definitely "get" what it!


alexandre

I know that you are an MSB dealer and big fan. I have heard it at munich and at the distributor's shop during the MSB Select World Tour. Hopefully I will be able to borrow one when they become available. The $100k pricetag make me pause though !

 

[Elberoth]

Yes dedicated circuits for audio but still the same issue, unfortunately I still haven't heard the Trinity dac, it was seeing the original GTE dac at the Munich that I became aware of Dietmar.
The GTE consisted of three 'toblerone' shaped boxes, Dietmar was using a modified Marantx player as source I believe.
GTE folded, but Dietmars proposal for a new company 'Trinity' looked interesting, high quality electronics, in a smart but not excessively expensive casework appealed to me.

Thanks for sharing those prototype images.

FYI - GTE never folded. They are still doing very well in their core area of expertise, which is a sensor business. 2 years ago, before launching the new Trinity models, Dietmar decided to separate his sensor business from audio business, and setup a second company under the name Trinity. Dietmar owns both GTE and Trinity.

 

[Simone Leroy]

Hi Alexandre,
I Listened the MSB Select DAC in two different rooms in Munich Hi-End 2015. Unluckly in both cases the acoustic conditions were far to be defined as "the gold standard" for a serious audition (almost all the rooms in Munich MOC had serious problems...).
Neverthless I didn't like so much the sound of the 2 different systems, one including MSB power amplifiers and Eventus speakers, the other one built around the latest Coltrane speakers by Marten. Probably it was due to the other components of the systems but the Select DAC or to the bad acoustic treatment of the rooms.... So I am very curious to listen to Select DAC once again, hopefully in better systems!
On the contrary I was favourably impressed by the sounds of the three different systems which included a TotalDac DAC, in particular the system wich included TotalDac twelve DAC and Gõebels speakers top of the line.....
Unluckly in Munich 2015 I couldn't listen either to Trinity DAC or to Berkeley Reference DAC (but the latter I can listen to every day because it's my DAC at home...?)

 

[audioblazer]

My MSB Select 2015 for sales . Who wants it ? . Didn't like the biz practice by MSB at all . Not honorable at all

 

[PeterA]

My MSB Select 2015 for sales . Who wants it ? ???? . Didn't like the biz practice by MSB at all . Not honorable at all

Could you explain what you mean and share some details?

 

[asiufy]

I know that you are an MSB dealer and big fan. I have heard it at munich and at the distributor's shop during the MSB Select World Tour. Hopefully I will be able to borrow one when they become available. The $100k pricetag make me pause though !

Correct. Big fan first, MSB dealer came later
I agree the price is a bit off putting at first, like the Trinity...

 

[Elberoth]

Correct. Big fan first, MSB dealer came later
I agree the price is a bit off putting at first, like the Trinity...

Trinity is $56k. Still an awfull lot. But MSB Select makes it looks almost affordable, lol.

 

[audioblazer]

Could you explain what you mean and share some details?

" You’re buying into a program." So explained MSB's Vince Galbo about their new Diamond Select DAC ($59,900) which is a DAC and a program. Essentially for the first year after you make your purchase, you will receive any and every upgrade that MSB can imagine for free. Even if that means they deliver a brand new chassis in the event that an upgrade warrants more space than the current chassis can accommodate. The Select program lasts for 10 years and starts life as a fully loaded Diamond DAC IV. Then, according to MSB, "These upgrades are free for the first year and simply the difference in cost between your DAC and the current select DAC for the remaining years. Guaranteed, no questions asked. Upgrade as often as you like. This DAC is kept in stock in matte Black and ready to ship. Custom colors are available but require 6 weeks lead time." Interesting, no? For the guy who has everything but wants more... "

The above from MSB , yet when the new Select was announced , we have to pay addition usd3999 for additional input like quad USB connector , new femto clock usd10k & additional USD20k for another super duper psu , in total USD34k pushing price to USD124k .

Guarantee , free any upgrade imaginable ? Even though I will be receiving a USD94k DAC , I can't stomach such biz practise . It's a matter of time it will be costing USD200k

 

[Elberoth]

With only a couple of dosens of 2014 Selects on the market, they should have kept the promise. Or, if they feel the upgrades they have recently introduced are to expensive, they should have waited with introducing them till the free 1 year upgrade program ends for all 2014 Select buyers.

 

[CKKeung]

I agree with Adam that the Trinity DAC is also the best PCM DAC I've ever heard, much better to my ears than the MSB IV Plus Diamond flagship and dCS Vivaldi set (despite I myself am a MSB fan and user for years).

I briefly listened to the MSB Select 2015 when Larry and his son took it to Hong Kong as part of the world tour.
I didn't like the setup at the HK MSB dealer but the Select 2015 exhibited a naturalness and rightness that was not present in their previous models.
Great potential, but I want to listen to it with a better & more familiar system.

A friend of mine bought the pre-2015 Select in 4Q2014.
MSB promises to upgrade it to Select 2015 for free.
However, he has headache because he needs to pay more for the new and better Reference Clock module and an additional Select 2015 psu to make it a dual-psu Select 2015.

 

[CKKeung]

Trinity is $56k. Still an awfull lot. But MSB Select makes it looks almost affordable, lol.

USD56k is the list price.
The actual net price is much much lower.
Potential buyers may talk with their local official dealers on that.

 

[Elberoth]

$56k wow, the first Trinity amps, pre and phono, before the new casework ,had a RRP of Euros 8k.
Keith.

I believe pre and phono are 24k euro in Europe, with only the DAC and poweramp beeing more expensive.

Trinity probably is not the only brand that had adjusted the pricing while establishing the distributor network. I remember that when the darTZeel poweramp was first shown on CES back in 2002, it was only $9000. Before the first review came out the price was already $14000, and after the US distributor was setup, the price went up up to almost $20k. And that was still great price for the product, considering the build qulity and sonics. I belive the current retail for NHB-108 Model One B is more like $30k.

Lumin was $3k when first introduced, and now is like $8k.

Trinity at least decided to give sth extra to the customer - which was the new box, milled form a slab of aluminium. So it is not the same product. I remember Dietmar complained to me when I have met him in Munich, that it costs him over 2500 euros for one box - the reject ratio beeing so high (from a reputable German manufacturer; for this reason he recently changed to a Swiss supplier - now all the boxes are made by the same company that also makes Nagra and Soulution enclosures). So if you use the most common BOM (Bill of Materials) to retail product ratio, which is around 20%, the milled aluminium box alone would contribute to nearly 12500 euro retail price increase. So even if you add those (claimed) 8k euro to 12k, you are already at 20k. So the current 24k is not that far off.

Anyway, the whole discussion is a bit irrelevant right now. The price is what it is. The most important thing to me (and probably other customers) is how it compares to the other top dogs in a similar price range in terms of sonics and build quality. To my ears it sounds better than the $70k dCS Vivaldi Stack (DAC + upsampler + clock) or $45k MSB DAC IV Diamond with Galaxy Femto Clock. It is also better built than MSB.

 

[Simone Leroy]

Well, even if we are talking about "cost no object" devices, the issue "value for money" shouldn't be considered irrilevant!
In my opinion, for instance, TotalDac twelve And Berkeley Reference DAC sounds at least as good as Trinity DAC, but what a different price! For a Trinity DAC 56.000 Euro, for a TotalDac twelve 28000 Euro, for a Berkely Reference DAC 15000 Euro!