[Tapetech]

Quote:

Yeah I had to pay it as well. It's a standard charge whenever UPS sends a ground shipment across the border. Better just to pay for 3-day shipping sans the fee since the cost is about the same. Did Mark mention this on the shipping page yet?

Ok. That's good to know. In his email reply to me, Mark sort of acted like I was the only customer that fee happened to. Would be better to inform customers about it up front.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Quote:

Ok. That's good to know. In his email reply to me, Mark sort of acted like I was the only customer that fee happened to. Would be better to inform customers about it up front.

 
Ah-ha. From a business perspective I suppose it is possible his customers might bail if the shipping charges appear too high on the "pay now" screen.
 
Regardless, better to disclose this in advance, methinks. I would have ordered 3-day shipping if the difference was more clear up front. We have discussed this previously. I guess he is willing to let it ride... not sure. *shrug*

 

[kkib]

I am aware of UPSs exorbitant brokerage fees for shipments received in Canada. For this reason I never use UPS for cross-border shipments. In fact, as a matter of principle, I never use UPS. For this reason I asked Mark if he could ship with Canada Post (CP) to QC when I inquired about the Concero. His shipping quote with CP was lower than UPS. I ended up not buying the Concero as I think their order processing page charges too much taxes for other provinces. My total for taxes and shipping came out to be $140, which made this not such a good deal, so I passed.

AFAIK, brokerage fees are charged if the item is subject to customs fees and taxes. As Concero is built in Canada, it shouldn't be subject to Customs fees due to NAFTA agreement. I do not know if US customers pay taxes, but if you do not, UPS should not be charging any brokerage fees. All this can be avoided if you ask Mark to ship your Concero with Canada Post (delivered by USPS).

 

[project86]

I've bought gear from pretty much every continent and I have to say - it seems entirely random as to when you might get slapped with fees. I've had stuff where I fully expected to pay: UPS, expensive item, crossing a border or seven, fully value declaration.... no fees. Other times I've had review loaners marked as "sample" or really low value, and I've been charged $50 anyway. It makes no sense. 

 

[gurus]

Can the RCA jacks on the Concero be swapped out by user or are they part of the circuit board? Hate to overkill with my AG WBT RCA  interconnects to $2 RCA jacks on the Concero. Kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[greyhorse]

The RCA jacks on the Concero are soldered directly to the PCB, so you will not be able to easily replace them with boutique items.
 
Kind of defeats the purpose?  That's a little harsh on the RCA jacks, which probably have the least to do with the performance of this DAC.  I'd love to know the correlation between the cost of a part and how well it performs.  To be honest, I am left wondering why anyone who equates the cost of an item directly to its performance would even consider buying the Concero...  Why not buy a more expensive DAC altogether?

 

[gurus]

Quote:

The RCA jacks on the Concero are soldered directly to the PCB, so you will not be able to easily replace them with boutique items.
 
Kind of defeats the purpose?  That's a little harsh on the RCA jacks, which probably have the least to do with the performance of this DAC.  I'd love to know the correlation between the cost of a part and how well it performs.  To be honest, I am left wondering why anyone who equates the cost of an item directly to its performance would even consider buying the Concero...  Why not buy a more expensive DAC altogether?

RCA jacks do make a difference in sound quality. Otherwise the Invicta would have the same quality  jacks as the Concero.  
 
And I was just trying to see if I could remove the weakest link of a well designed DAC. Maybe, you are right, I should probably look at a more expensive DAC. Goodbye, Concero.
 
And yes it kind of defeats the purpose to use $350 WBT RCA connectors mated to a $2 RCA jack.

 

[JWahl]

Quote:

RCA jacks do make a difference in sound quality. Otherwise the Invicta would have the same quality  jacks as the Concero.  
 
And I was just trying to see if I could remove the weakest link of a well designed DAC. Maybe, you are right, I should probably look at a more expensive DAC. Goodbye, Concero.
 
And yes it kind of defeats the purpose to use $350 WBT RCA connectors mated to a $2 RCA jack.

Yes, if you can afford $350 RCA connectors than logic would dictate you could afford a higher end DAC. Nobody is claiming the Concero to be a giant killer on its own.  Or better yet, if you use the USB, keep the Concero as a USB converter to a better DAC and you can still keep the upsampling filter options.  The Concero feeding something like an Anedio D1 or D2 should be very good according to project86's reviews.

 

[BournePerfect]

mcullinan: How does the Concero compare with the P1 in your opinion. Better yet, have you found better results using the Concero as a usb/coaxial converter feeding the Eximus, versus the the 'built in' U3 of the DP1?
 
-Daniel

 

[greyhorse]

gurus,
 
You are right; RCA jacks and plugs can and do influence sound quality.  I would say this mostly has to do with how well the cables can be terminated, as well as the characteristic impedance of the connectors themselves.  The WBT connectors on your interconnects are true 75 ohm impedance connectors, and probably allow cable manufacturers to terminate their cables with a minimum of impedance change or a loss in shielding.  They also look darn sexy.  None of these characteristics are necessarily lost when mated with cheap RCA jacks.  In that sense, no, it does not defeat the purpose of your WBT connectors to mate them to $2 jacks.  If anything, the ability to tighten your connectors after insertion into the RCA jacks is more important when dealing with PCB mounted RCA jacks since this minimizes the physical stress on these somewhat fragile jacks.
 
Are the RCA jacks on the Concero built to a price point?  Sure.  Not only are the jacks cheap, by soldering them directly to the PCB, this has a large impact on the build cost of the device.  I certainly wouldn't say Resonessence deliberately put a weak link in their device by using these jacks though.  I would say the lack of a output stage after the DAC and the lack of a on-board power supply both have much more impact to the final sound than the RCA jacks.

 

[mcullinan]

I havent tried to feed the DP1 as they are in different systems. The Eximus is supposed to have the U3 board in it. I know its not as good as the Audiphelio, and Srajan puts the Concero on the same level as the Audiphelio. They are different beasts. The Eximus is maybe more dynamic, warmer sounding, lush mids. (Hard to compare since they are in different systems though) I am surprised just how good the Concero is. Its beyond the under 1K Dacs of just a few years ago. Very balanced, neutral.... Id say you get to hear more of the quality of the recording, and perhaps deeper into the recording in that sense. The Eximus pushes the sound to a live, inviting sound on the other hand. But thats blanket across all recordings. Even Sirius Radio sounds pretty good through the Eximus... and its horrible, lol.
Most recordings sound pretty good through the Concero though. A few clunkers.
So Id say shades of difference between the 2. And was it worth buying the Eximus.. I was under the impression it would be night and day. But its not.
 
Truth be told, Ive heard the maxed out  EE Minimax Plus and I like the Concero better. Thats like $1500.

 

[project86]

Regarding shipping - Mark tells me they just replaced the "standard" UPS method with "Canada Post" which costs $30 and should have no additional broker fees or anything like that. I just shipped a package to Canada yesterday, similar size and weight to the Concero package, and USPS charged me $44 for the slowest method with no tracking. So that $30 doesn't seem bad at all.
 
Regarding $350 interconnects on a $600 DAC - how about if we cut the prices in half and make it $175 interconnects on a $300 DAC? Or a $700 interconnect on a $1200 DAC? I like a nice cable as much as the next guy but none of these scenarios make any sense to me - the money seems better spent elsewhere. 
 
mcullinan - thanks for your impressions regarding the DP1. I just picked up an Audiophilleo 1 with PurePower so I'll eventually be able to see how Concero stacks up as a DDC (I'll leave the PP out and just compare to AP1 to keep it fair). 

 

[JWahl]

Quote:

Regarding shipping - Mark tells me they just replaced the "standard" UPS method with "Canada Post" which costs $30 and should have no additional broker fees or anything like that. I just shipped a package to Canada yesterday, similar size and weight to the Concero package, and USPS charged me $44 for the slowest method with no tracking. So that $30 doesn't seem bad at all.
 
Regarding $350 interconnects on a $600 DAC - how about if we cut the prices in half and make it $175 interconnects on a $300 DAC? Or a $700 interconnect on a $1200 DAC? I like a nice cable as much as the next guy but none of these scenarios make any sense to me - the money seems better spent elsewhere. 
 
mcullinan - thanks for your impressions regarding the DP1. I just picked up an Audiophilleo 1 with PurePower so I'll eventually be able to see how Concero stacks up as a DDC (I'll leave the PP out and just compare to AP1 to keep it fair). 

Yes, Mark also told me the same thing yesterday when I asked in an email.  Very friendly response and reassuring.  It seems a lot of vendors lately are hesitant about displaying shipping costs openly.  For instance, The Schiit Magni and Modi are advertised as $99 each but when you check out it adds about $20 standard shipping for a 4lb package.  I suppose an advertised price of $99 looks better than $105 + actual shipping cost.  
 
My Concero shipped yesterday so hopefully I will receive it sometime next week if I'm lucky.  Luckily it is by air since it's coming from Western Canada and I'm in Southeastern U.S.
 
EDIT:  I should actually receive my Concero by the end of the day Monday.  Apparently UPS Worldwide expedited is no joke.  Went from BC, Canada to North Carolina in less than 24 hours.

 

[project86]

Quote:

Yes, Mark also told me the same thing yesterday when I asked in an email.  Very friendly response and reassuring.  It seems a lot of vendors lately are hesitant about displaying shipping costs openly.  For instance, The Schiit Magni and Modi are advertised as $99 each but when you check out it adds about $20 standard shipping for a 4lb package.  I suppose an advertised price of $99 looks better than $105 + actual shipping cost.  
 
My Concero shipped yesterday so hopefully I will receive it sometime next week if I'm lucky.  Luckily it is by air since it's coming from Western Canada and I'm in Southeastern U.S.  

 
Shipping is a tricky thing. It can certainly cost them a sale if people depending on how it is handled. Do you sell a product at $500 with free shipping because it's a nice round number? Or do you go $475 and then charge the appropriate $25 shipping? Or maybe the $500 round number is for a product that was originally going to be $450+shipping, and they are making extra that way. Who knows? I appreciate transparency but I understand why it can be a difficult topic.
 
eBay makes it easy when you see 5 different sellers and compare prices of those selling with "free shipping" to those selling for cost +shipping. 

 

[gurus]

Quote:

l.
 
Regarding $350 interconnects on a $600 DAC - how about if we cut the prices in half and make it $175 interconnects on a $300 DAC? Or a $700 interconnect on a $1200 DAC? I like a nice cable as much as the next guy but none of these scenarios make any sense to me - the money seems better spent elsewhere. 
 

 
Looks like people have the " I bought it so it must be the best" syndrome .  That is quite common in hi-fi.
 
You guys are missing the point on my interconnects. Money is not being spent. I already own the interconnects (and more than this pair)  that I have been using in my current system for the last few years so my cash outlay is ZIP. Are you suggesting that I spend another $175 (or whatever amount )  on interconnects if I buy a Concero?
 
Anyway, I decided to go another route as suggested by most of you. To match with my interconnects I have decided to go in another direction and waste my money on a full featured DSD capable DAC that costs $2500 with more features than I want for use only as a USB DAC in my computer based system. In case any of you missed my point, I already have a DAC that I am very happy with for my CD based system.