project86
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2007
- Posts
- 7,805
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- 4,380
UPDATE:
Quattro loaner program has now made its way through Northern and Southern California, across the country to Florida, and finally back home to California again. It is now finished, and this thread is for reference only. Thanks again to all who participated!
Reviews are scattered throughout this thread, and hopefully will be added to the "Head Gear" section as people find time to do that.
************************************************************************************************************
I'm pleased to announce the start of the Matrix Quattro loaner program. The Matrix Quattro DAC and Matrix Quattro amp are the latest releases from Matrix Audio, who brought us the popular Matrix M-Stage amp as well as the Cube DAC and Mini-i DAC.
So what is this program?
Similar to the Audio GD Reference 7 and the HiFiMan HE-500 loaner programs, both of which I've participated in and enjoyed, this program aims to get some nice gear into the homes of trustworthy HeadFiers for audition. The key difference is that those programs were initiated by the manufacturers; this program is initiated by me. This is my own personal gear that I'm sending out to folks and I'm sure it will be treated with the proper respect it deserves.
Who qualifies for the program?
Understandably, I can't afford to send this gear (which goes for $1100) out to just anyone. I'd like interested parties to please respond in this thread. I'll only be considering veteran HeadFiers, folks who have been around on the forums and established themselves as trustworthy. Trader feedback helps. Owning other nice equipment helps but is not a necessity. Please do not PM me at this stage, just reply here and I'll consider you. New people with low post counts or those who don't have much experience around here will politely be declined, as will people outside of the continental USA. Sorry.
When does the program start?
It is actually in progress right now - both units are currently in transit to the first member who I had selected already. I have several other people in mind but would like to grow a decent sized list. That's what this thread is for.
What equipment is included?
The package includes the Matrix Quattro DAC, Matrix Quattro amp, Matrix balanced adapter (converting 4-pin XLR balanced headphones to be used with the dual TRS balanced style of the Quattro amp), and finally the Palics Silver Net custom XLR cables to connect the DAC to the amp. I forget to include those in the box but I'll get them sent along soon enough.
What is the purpose of the program?
For starters, this is a way of giving back to the community that I've gained so much from. I find myself with so much extra gear at the moment that I could use the room until I sort out which ones are keepers and which are not. The Quattro system is definitely a keeper, so I don't mind going without for a while. I'd like for others to be able to experience what I find to be an excellent performing system. I'm especially interested in people who own a Benchmark DAC-1 variant, so they can compare directly. Other DAC and amp comparisons are welcome too. I'm also interested in participants who had maybe considered buying one of the Quattro components, because this is a great way for them to demo something they otherwise wouldn't be able to hear prior to purchase.
What is required of participants?
Not much really. You receive the gear, use it for a week (or two weeks if you feel it is needed), then send it along to the next person. I ask that you write up your impressions in the proper thread which I will link to when I get a chance. I'm not expecting volumes, just general impressions and such. If you hated them, that's fine - no censorship here. Or if you loved them, that's fine too. I just want honest impressions. Each member will be responsible for paying the shipping to the next member. We will try to be logical with order so it isn't going back and forth across the country unnecessarily. Each member is responsible for the unit while it is in their care: if you trash it, we will need to have a chat. I'm reasonable here but obviously some replacement or compensation will have to be worked out. I'm keeping the units all together for now to simplify things, but they might get split up down the road.... once everyone who wants to hear them together has a chance to do so.
That's it for now, please reply with interest and I'll start adding to the list. As it stands the list is as follows, roughly but not exactly in finalized order:
sarals (DONE)
Cee Tee (DONE)
shipsupt (DONE)
Purrin (DONE)
juman231
treal512
Tom W
rroseperry
By the way, I've only posted this in the Source Components section for now..... I'm not sure I want to spam the Headphone Amps (full size) section with another thread. If there isn't enough interest here then maybe I will cross post it later.
Quattro loaner program has now made its way through Northern and Southern California, across the country to Florida, and finally back home to California again. It is now finished, and this thread is for reference only. Thanks again to all who participated!
Reviews are scattered throughout this thread, and hopefully will be added to the "Head Gear" section as people find time to do that.
************************************************************************************************************
I'm pleased to announce the start of the Matrix Quattro loaner program. The Matrix Quattro DAC and Matrix Quattro amp are the latest releases from Matrix Audio, who brought us the popular Matrix M-Stage amp as well as the Cube DAC and Mini-i DAC.
So what is this program?
Similar to the Audio GD Reference 7 and the HiFiMan HE-500 loaner programs, both of which I've participated in and enjoyed, this program aims to get some nice gear into the homes of trustworthy HeadFiers for audition. The key difference is that those programs were initiated by the manufacturers; this program is initiated by me. This is my own personal gear that I'm sending out to folks and I'm sure it will be treated with the proper respect it deserves.
Who qualifies for the program?
Understandably, I can't afford to send this gear (which goes for $1100) out to just anyone. I'd like interested parties to please respond in this thread. I'll only be considering veteran HeadFiers, folks who have been around on the forums and established themselves as trustworthy. Trader feedback helps. Owning other nice equipment helps but is not a necessity. Please do not PM me at this stage, just reply here and I'll consider you. New people with low post counts or those who don't have much experience around here will politely be declined, as will people outside of the continental USA. Sorry.
When does the program start?
It is actually in progress right now - both units are currently in transit to the first member who I had selected already. I have several other people in mind but would like to grow a decent sized list. That's what this thread is for.
What equipment is included?
The package includes the Matrix Quattro DAC, Matrix Quattro amp, Matrix balanced adapter (converting 4-pin XLR balanced headphones to be used with the dual TRS balanced style of the Quattro amp), and finally the Palics Silver Net custom XLR cables to connect the DAC to the amp. I forget to include those in the box but I'll get them sent along soon enough.
What is the purpose of the program?
For starters, this is a way of giving back to the community that I've gained so much from. I find myself with so much extra gear at the moment that I could use the room until I sort out which ones are keepers and which are not. The Quattro system is definitely a keeper, so I don't mind going without for a while. I'd like for others to be able to experience what I find to be an excellent performing system. I'm especially interested in people who own a Benchmark DAC-1 variant, so they can compare directly. Other DAC and amp comparisons are welcome too. I'm also interested in participants who had maybe considered buying one of the Quattro components, because this is a great way for them to demo something they otherwise wouldn't be able to hear prior to purchase.
What is required of participants?
Not much really. You receive the gear, use it for a week (or two weeks if you feel it is needed), then send it along to the next person. I ask that you write up your impressions in the proper thread which I will link to when I get a chance. I'm not expecting volumes, just general impressions and such. If you hated them, that's fine - no censorship here. Or if you loved them, that's fine too. I just want honest impressions. Each member will be responsible for paying the shipping to the next member. We will try to be logical with order so it isn't going back and forth across the country unnecessarily. Each member is responsible for the unit while it is in their care: if you trash it, we will need to have a chat. I'm reasonable here but obviously some replacement or compensation will have to be worked out. I'm keeping the units all together for now to simplify things, but they might get split up down the road.... once everyone who wants to hear them together has a chance to do so.
That's it for now, please reply with interest and I'll start adding to the list. As it stands the list is as follows, roughly but not exactly in finalized order:
sarals (DONE)
Cee Tee (DONE)
shipsupt (DONE)
Purrin (DONE)
juman231
treal512
Tom W
rroseperry
By the way, I've only posted this in the Source Components section for now..... I'm not sure I want to spam the Headphone Amps (full size) section with another thread. If there isn't enough interest here then maybe I will cross post it later.
