Are Audio-Gd DAC's all that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes 
I was just over at Audiogon and was surprised at the number of Audio-gd DAC's up for sale. Considering that Audio-gd's market penetration is minor at best, ( not withstanding their presence at Head-Fi) having multiple pieces listed on Audiogon doesn't really speak all that well for the actual quality of these products. It seems to me that the Audio-gd proponents here at Head-Fi have possibly overstated the performance or value of these products. Perhaps the Emperor really doesn't have any clothes on.

Hmm, are you sure they're not Pacific Valve's (audio-gd's USA distributor) listings?
 

Umm, I have the Ref5 df/Roc combo running balanced w/ACSS and its the best setup I have heard (been in audio for 10 years), soon I will have some Audeze LCD-2's (balanced) as well to post my impressions with the setup.  Kingwa (Audio-gd's owner and designer) has always been quite helpful to me and answering any questions (technical or not).  Supposedly he also won national design awards as well, if someone has a link to more info. on this?  I mean he combines some awesome designs and some of the best features of some of the most high end products out there into singular superb units.  

I could never part with my Ref5 and Roc !!! I <3 it !!

Audio-gd is "all that", and a bag of chips IMO.  If I don't like a product I sell it or I would voice my opinion on it, this combo is going nowhere.  I have found myself just looking for music now instead of "other amps and other dacs, etc etc".  

This is one happy Audio-gd customers opinion.

Also, where are you seeing all these audiogon listings, because when I search I am only finding the one's that are sold by a dealer of audio-gd stuff.

I rarely see the high end Audio-gd stuff going up for sale.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes 

Which still begs the question: If the sole domestic importer and retailer is forced to discount the product is the product all that?

What discount? A DAC-3SE sold by Pacific Valve on Audiogon is going for $899 which they are claiming is $47 less than new retail yet direct from Audio-Gd they are $715 before shipping.

What happened to you to want to try to spread bad stuff about Audio-gd, just curious?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManBeard 

What discount? A DAC-3SE sold by Pacific Valve on Audiogon is going for $899 which they are claiming is $47 less than new retail yet direct from Audio-Gd they are $715 before shipping.

x2

I was going to say the same thing.  This was confusing to me.  A lot of these distributors really jack up the rates to make their profit margin.  Marking something up high so you can put them on "sale" is a classic marketing tactic.  It works particularly well for big name department stores and major chains like Best Buy.

I would think the fact that so many are being sold on the site through that company should show that they're popular.  Yikes, I'm not attacking you, but you start off by saying you like them and then start pointing out only criticisms and then a give a twisted slant on the audiogon sales.  What gives?  Audio-GD shoot your dog/cat?

What kind of features do you think should be there? Usb and optical input?

I also think it's bad when people promote something over another product they never listened to. Mainly because the way I see audio, sound signature is very important, and synergy of an individual's setup. I don't like it when people start saying things like "well you probably don't like it because the rest of your gear isn't good enough" etc, sound signature should always be foremost even above technical performance because people have individual preferences for sound signature. But if people say they are open to tweaking the rest of their setup, then technical performance becomes more important than sound signature requirements. For example, dac19mk3 has a tendency to sound like it has insufficient motive force in some setups (especially with pmd100 filter), and if people have dark headphones/setups I would deter them from the dac19mk3, unless they're willing to try to tweak or swap equipment to taste.

Sorry to hear about your ill health, hope you get better soon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by haloxt 

What kind of features do you think should be there? Usb and optical input?

There is no USB, but there is optical, Coax (BNC and RCA), and AES/EBU on the Ref7.

Well yikes...you passed up a terrific opportunity to really get all you can out of the Phoenix...the RE1/RE7 DACs for the price can't bettered by anything less than something using the very same topology (for ridiculous money and a different nameplate). The ACSS pathway really ups the ante when the Phoenix is mated to an ACSS equipped balanced DAC. I understand your misgivings about service & logistics and I also understand that most people cannot deal with a technical problem on their own (no matter how simple or complex, not that I'm saying your not able to handle something minor or major, I simply don't know). Is anything guaranteed ? Nope, nothing that I've had over the years from various countries (including mainly the west) has been trouble free. I've been lucky with some gear, unlucky with others (no rhyme or reason it would seem)..Furthermore ...I've had just as much trouble with domestic made gear (and the headaches involved to fix it under warranty) as I've had with foreign made gear . Let's face it as the West continues to  screw itself over (as a manufacturing base) because it cannot compete in the Global market (electronics is a perfect example) the vast majority of gear will be produced in the East an then imported by us (in the west). Japan was the vanguard of this shift in the 70's...the rise of the East as a manufacturing base was or is inevitable. Supporting USA made gear blindly and without question seems to be a fav practice of Americans , not surprisingly.... so you could say that US based customers have a natural bias. I think it's safe to assume such. I have zero problem with that bent and find it perfectly acceptable, but since I do not enjoy the pricing breaks a US customer does (in his own country) then I must be forced to import from elsewhere. US based brands are sold at a huge premium in this country and many US re/etailers will NOT ship across the border anymore. Bad news for those of us who are not satisfied the typical dreck sold at affordable prices here in the box stores. I haven't bought a piece of gear from a Canadian dealer since 1990 so I've been following this shift for a long long LONG time.What's the point of this diatribe ? Simply this...if you know topology of the best ever made then you can plainly see the A-gd mantra follows this engineering tack and then some. So in other words YES, they are ALL that.

Anyway I agree with you, the Phoenix is a better preamp than a headamp.The again I listen headphones maybe 15% of the time with it. It's even better after the mods I've done on the entire chain...but that's another story.

Peete.)

Buying domestic isn't going to benefit the US economy in the long term, because it is not about east vs west, it is rich vs poor. Our leaders put lots of debt on our heads, and took away our ability to pay it off by shipping the manufacturing base to Asian countries so that we are stuck paying interest to financial parasites, and except for small businesses (which we should support regardless of country) it's not really benefiting the poor in Asia, just the rich in Asia. Only by repudiating debt can we be financially free, but who knows what sort of repercussions there'll be :p an invasion against America by the UN on behalf of bankers most likely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes 

The fact is that many Audio-gd fans are entirely too vocal in their support for the brand. Start a thread about a DAC made by A, and it'll be 5 minutes before someone comes in touting the Audio-gd whatever as being superior.

This. I am sure the Audio GD fans have good reason to be proud of their possessions, and that Kingwa makes a fine line of products. But justified or not, it does come off a bit strong sometimes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hahahigh 

This. I am sure the Audio GD fans have good reason to be proud of their possessions, and that Kingwa makes a fine line of products. But justified or not, it does come off a bit strong sometimes.

It does.... but what can you do if the aural facts back up the argument ?  You could say the same about any of the top picks here and elsewhere...the ones that are universally praised have 3 crucial ingredients going for them (without exception) IMO,

A) Quality engineering and parts,

B) Sensible layout and execution of design

C) Excellent measured specs and more importantly widely supported praise in terms of sound quality (consistent reports from as many end users as possible rather than a privileged few in the audio review business).

If any piece of gear meets all three of these aspects it pretty much a given that the unit in question will deliver what everyone else has been saying. The DNA Sonnet is a perfect example of the maxims mentioned as are the WooAudio line, the Esoteric line, McIntosh etc.

Peete.