New Audio-gd R-7, R-7HE R-8, R-27, R-27HE, R-28 Flagship Resistor Ladder DACs and DAC/amps

[matthia]

Anyway, prices just went up insanely. Magna raised R27 mk2 with 500 euro these days to 2.7k. There is no information of any hardware or performance changes though.

Yes, the prices of the distributors in Europe are somewhat strange. If you compare the USD prices on the AGD homepage to the prices of the distributors you will find that some models are much more expensive than others.

 

[staticosaur]

Has anybody tried changing any parts of their units with positive impact on SQ, e.g. the IEC power inlet or others not requiring soldering?

 

[Honeypot]

I wanted to know which all-in-one device has the same DAC as their well received "R-7HE MK3". So I asked Audio-GD this:

Which among R-28 MK3, R-27 MK2, R-27 RE, R-27 HE has the DAC that can be compared to "R-7HE MK3"?

Their reply:

The DAC of the R-27MK2 is equivalent to the R8MK3
The DAC of the R-27RE is relative to the R8HEMK3.
The DAC of R-27HE is between R8HEMK3 and R7HEMK3, so the DAC of R-27HE is closer to R7HEMK3. The R7HEMK3 has two more CPLD chips than the R-27HE, handling I2S and coaxial and AES signals respectively.

Consider the power supply on combos have to handle both amp and dac sections, so even if the dac part is closer, I don't think they will perform equally.

 

[Presence]

Has anybody tried changing any parts of their units with positive impact on SQ, e.g. the IEC power inlet or others not requiring soldering?

I can't think of anything under the hood of my 2019 R8HE that is swappable that isn't soldered.
The IEC inlet on my unit actually says "Furutech" on it but with no part number. Can't say if it's authentic to Furutech. It has soldered connections.

 

[macrog]

I wanted to know which all-in-one device has the same DAC as their well received "R-7HE MK3". So I asked Audio-GD this:

Which among R-28 MK3, R-27 MK2, R-27 RE, R-27 HE has the DAC that can be compared to "R-7HE MK3"?

Their reply:

The DAC of the R-27MK2 is equivalent to the R8MK3
The DAC of the R-27RE is relative to the R8HEMK3.
The DAC of R-27HE is between R8HEMK3 and R7HEMK3, so the DAC of R-27HE is closer to R7HEMK3. The R7HEMK3 has two more CPLD chips than the R-27HE, handling I2S and coaxial and AES signals respectively.

Fits my experience. I have a R7HEMk3 and a R27HEMk2.

 

[staticosaur]

Consider the power supply on combos have to handle both amp and dac sections, so even if the dac part is closer, I don't think they will perform equally.

Noted you have Master 9, Flux FA and LCD-X 2019.
How would you compare these two amps on LCD-X and what genres do you listen to?
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Honeypot]

Noted you have Master 9, Flux FA and LCD-X 2019.
How would you compare these two amps on LCD-X and what genres do you listen to?
Thanks for sharing.

Well I have the HE9 since this Friday. So far, I've been only able to have 2 proper listening sessions and only with the zmf Caldera.
The FA-12 and the LCD-X were my favorite combo, but that was like two years ago. It's been a long time since I don't listen to them. From what I recall, it was very nice combination for the money. But without a proper a/b I might have a "slight" bias towards the audio gd + caldera
The new setup sounds very dynamic, with very accurate staging and timber and a lot of details. Not just in the high end, but across the spectrum. It's fair to say too, that after a year or so, listening only to tubes with a Denafrips DAC, the GD chain still maintain the gorgeous 3d presentation but with better details, transients and slam.
The fa-12 with lcdx were much more on the relaxed side of presentation. Specially with highs. Although I've always liked how lcdx presents music, not the timber, but the soundstage.
The GD chain+caldera plays on a total different league.
Will try the lcdx with the HE9 just for fun. But at the moment I am just playing with settings in the GD team to see what I like the most. Cheers

Edit: forgot to mention genres.. hmm I listen very different genres, from classical to jazz, orchestra, hip hop, trip hop, metal, death, black, technical, back to folk, then some pop, rock, I don't know brother... The list goes on and on.

 

[matthia]

BTW, interesting to see the Audio-gd listening room and the speakers they use:

https://www-audio--gd-com.translate...&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_sch=http

 

[Hoondarrh]

Seems like the prices on Magnahifi are back to what they were after their site update. Was worried I'd just have to hope for more used sales luck after the increases. That said, hard to justify wanting more than just the R27HE. It's been an absolute dream of an upgrade over previous gear.

 

[staticosaur]

Seems like the prices on Magnahifi are back to what they were after their site update. Was worried I'd just have to hope for more used sales luck after the increases. That said, hard to justify wanting more than just the R27HE. It's been an absolute dream of an upgrade over previous gear.

What did you have previously?

By the way, what happened with the prices? I still see the same as after the update- significantly higher than before the update. RE27 is like 500 euro up…

 

[Honeypot]

Seems like the prices on Magnahifi are back to what they were after their site update. Was worried I'd just have to hope for more used sales luck after the increases. That said, hard to justify wanting more than just the R27HE. It's been an absolute dream of an upgrade over previous gear.

It's funny you mention it. I thought it was only me or I was just tripping.
In fact the r7he mk3 went up from what I bought (before update) and the he9 mk3 went down after update (I bought it that same day). By the way, both of them were completely new...no used sales... I guess I'm lucky...

 

[Hoondarrh]

What did you have previously?

By the way, what happened with the prices? I still see the same as after the update- significantly higher than before the update. RE27 is like 500 euro up…

Had Schiit Ragnarok 2, Mjolnir 3, Jotunheim 2, Yggy MIB, Bifrost 2, Cayin HA-3A.

Guess it depends, but the few things I was eyeing are back to what they were prior. Not sure what the base R27 was at, but the Master 3A was around 3k USD after the increase and now it's back down to around 2.5k USD. Similar with the R7HE.

It's funny you mention it. I thought it was only me or I was just tripping.
In fact the r7he mk3 went up from what I bought (before update) and the he9 mk3 went down after update (I bought it that same day). By the way, both of them were completely new...no used sales... I guess I'm lucky...

Yeah, seems like in this case some went up and back down. Not sure what's up—can't check the price history. I'm sure it's archived somewhere.

 

[staticosaur]

Had Schiit Ragnarok 2, Mjolnir 3, Jotunheim 2, Yggy MIB, Bifrost 2, Cayin HA-3A.

Guess it depends, but the few things I was eyeing are back to what they were prior. Not sure what the base R27 was at, but the Master 3A was around 3k USD after the increase and now it's back down to around 2.5k USD. Similar with the R7HE.



Yeah, seems like in this case some went up and back down. Not sure what's up—can't check the price history. I'm sure it's archived somewhere.

R27 was around 2.2 kEuro for many months/years.

 

[matthia]

Had Schiit Ragnarok 2, Mjolnir 3, Jotunheim 2, Yggy MIB, Bifrost 2, Cayin HA-3A.

How does Yggy MIB compare to the DAC in R27HE?
Thanks

 

[Honeypot]

Yeah, seems like in this case some went up and back down. Not sure what's up—can't check the price history. I'm sure it's archived somewhere.

Try archive.org