Hey all, I now have a preliminary report on the test I mentioned last post. My answer to the theme of this thread for my own home/laptop solution was to buy a used Laconic Lunchbox I and a Super Pro USB dac. I just heard that my backorder for better tubes was canceled by the tubedepot because two of the Lunchbox's three tubes are hard to find. The third, probably more important one (power tube) is easily findable, though, and I'll probably test a couple of other options in that slot in the near future.
So, the test was whether a cheap home system could comfortably beat my portable solution, the
HippoHifi Bloat with the OPA2107 opamp upgrade. The desktop system had better beat the Bloat, which is cheaper, requires no outboard power supply, and takes up nearly no room. So, the contestants:
Bloat w. opa2107 and cable-- currently $206
Super Pro USB and used Lunchbox I, incl. all cables: $260 total
test headphones: Wualta-modded Yamaha YH-100 orthodynamics
I may write a full review in a new thread, but for the moment let me say that
the new system is grand, and has got the Bloat beat across the board. It's not that it crushes the Bloat, it just edges it out on most things. There is one aspect where the Super Pro > Lunchbox widen their lead, though: spatial presentation. Really pleasing. I could say much much more, but I need to listen more and think about the differences.
