[Ableza]

I built a set of 91-92db sensitive bookshelf speakers to hang from my office ceiling, powering each with a Gjallarhorn in mono mounted to the back as a sort of powered speaker setup (XPR cables running up to each from my preamp.) At this sensitivity, they barely get warm and I must be very careful with the volume control lest I blow myself out of the room. So thinking they require super-efficient loudspeaker systems is not necessarily the case.

 

[Ripper2860]

.

 

[DavidSerig]

So I just a/b'd phono preamps, a Vincent PHO 701 for fun, tube colored sound, and at half the price, Skol with balanced, clean, powerful sound.

Skol is more an audiophile sound with the individual instruments coming from clean points in space. The Vincent sounds more like a wall of sound effect, where the instruments meld together.

SKOL is 'better' with my system for detailed, cleaner sound.

 

[Ableza]

.

Took your breath away, obviously.

 

[Ripper2860]

Yeah. I thought better of it. Last thing I want to do is start a subjectivist vs objectivist feud!

 

[Jason Stoddard]

Saga could also go in the direction of Magni and un-stack - or become a 2-channel Syn. Put a DAC and remote controlled potentiometer in one box, with just one or two analog inputs for people with a turntable. If the DAC was modular that would be icing on the cake, as it would drastically reduce the obsolescence issue. However, this would probably require a multi-input DAC board since USB and Optical/Coax would be essential in my mind. But even if it went fully integrated like Syn, without a modular board, I could see it being worthwhile. This incarnation of Saga (which would probably merit a new name) would exist to essentially lower the price of entry into a (remote controlled) 2-channel system. Plus it would stack with Gjallarhorn and I imagine offer some pretty outstanding value when paired with efficient speakers.

Interesting thought as an AIO. Especially if there was a phono preamp in there too (MM is not too big of a deal.) Just blue-skying, but interesting.

One small point: Syn is, as of now, modular. The DAC card was separated out in the last run. It just exists on the same plane as the board itself, rather than stacking. I'll get a new photo up soon.

In Syn's case, modularization was never done for obsolescence--this was done because I was contemplating a lower priced version that's all analog input. So it would have an analog input card rather than a digital one. We haven't really moved much on this because it would only reduce the cost marginally. Maybe for the future.

 

[Raptor34]

@sixergixer,

Thanks for your input. Total Wine and Spirts have this one on sale for $39.99. Will try it tonight and report back.

Leo

If I may ask, where did you get those neat spacers on your Valhalla stack.

 

[classfolkphile]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the Musical Instruments Museum is nearby so, scotch-mod then every form of music one can imagine all within a few minutes of each other.

I'd love to go there. My niece was there a couple of years ago, raved about it and sent me a few photos. Sounds fantastic.

Oh, and on desktop speakers I have Audioengine A2+ hooked up to the TV in the bedroom. I also have Audioengine A5+ (with a Modi MB2) in the dining area where I really enjoy them for casual listening. The HD4 would probably be best for a desktop.

 

[Brubacca]

Hey all,

A quick note: Saga S is done. As in, we have a few left, but they'll be moving to closeout. Look for them there in a day or two if you want one. Saga+ stays as-is.

As far as the future of Saga goes, we've had a lot of input. Some people want a simple passive pot-in-a-box affair, but that really wouldn't end up being much cheaper, mainly due to metal cost increases. Unless we go to Midgard style metal. The current transformer of the Saga series has also gotten quite pricey, so that's another limitation on the price. Physical size is also a limitation on how much I/O we can do if we're doing balanced. I'm not sure the world is ready for Pentaconn interconnects, and balanced means balanced relay ladder, and much higher cost, in any case.

As always, I'm open to ideas about the future...keep it, change it, kill it, etc.

Aegir 2 I'm hoping we get out soon, but it's been a heck of a time here in Valencia, with much of production out sick through the holidays.

Next up: a chapter on Feedback: Good Bad and Ugly, as promised. Next week probably. I hope. If prototypes behave.

All the best,
JaSON

Happy New Years to you. I'm thinking Saga SuperS Unity. Magni case. No Heaphone amp. 2 RCA Inputs plus DAC and remote. Maybe in a Midgard Case

 

[Puddnhead]

I built a set of 91-92db sensitive bookshelf speakers to hang from my office ceiling, powering each with a Gjallarhorn in mono mounted to the back as a sort of powered speaker setup (XPR cables running up to each from my preamp.) At this sensitivity, they barely get warm and I must be very careful with the volume control lest I blow myself out of the room. So thinking they require super-efficient loudspeaker systems is not necessarily the case.

I agree with Ableza. I've got a Bifrost-footprint stack including Saga S + Gjallahorn (1x) running LS50 Metas, seated about 15 ft away for a TV setup. It's enough to annoy the neighbors if I wanted to, plenty of juice for normal use and it doesn't run hot.

 

[Luckyleo]

I have Roon installed on a headless 4-core i5 Dell running a stripped down Win10 and Fidelizer Pro to disable or minimize (set to lower priority) additional services not related to audio, etc., and to dedicate only 1 core to non-audio processes. I have an 8TB USB external drive housing all my local ripped music (FLAC) connected to the Dell Roon server. I have a full copy replicated to another 8TB HDD using a Robocopy and backup that local copy to cloud storage. Never had any issues with using my stripped/optimized Win10 Roon server -- even using Wi-Fi exclusively for connection to the router and home network. All this feeds two RopieeeXL Roon, Spotify Connect, and Airplay RPi-based endpoints controlled by an Android Phone w/ the Roon Remote app. (I was using an iPad, but had too many little annoying issues.) This setup has proven flawless for my use-case scenario.**

Love Roon and to me it is worth it. AFAIK, there is nothing better at blending local and streamed music under one interface and treating it all as part of your library and as part of music discovery/recommendation engine. To each their own, but to discount/disparage a product just because it does not meet your preferred use criteria does not mean that 1) the product is flawed, or 2) its subscribers/users are foolish or suckers.

** I'd like to try ROCK on a NUC system, but since mine has been problem free, I am really hesitant.

For me, Roon has changed my listening habits dramatically For the positive. If all Roon did was similar to Apple Music or Amazon Music, or Qobuz, etc, I would not pay extra $$ on top of the streaming service fee. YMMV based on your use case.

Leo

 

[Luckyleo]

If I may ask, where did you get those neat spacers on your Valhalla stack.

Got them on Etsy. 3D printed

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Magick3DS...sbkk5F74ina-w&eaid=81895248&x_eaid=d3ca879352

work great

Leo

 

[Raptor34]

Got them on Etsy. 3D printed

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Magick3DS...sbkk5F74ina-w&eaid=81895248&x_eaid=d3ca879352

work great

Leo

Just ordered two for my schiit stack. Thanks.

 

[PBraith]

Figured it out…

As long as MPLab X is running, it will prevent Roon from discovering any DACs on the USB bus, regardless of whether my PICKit5 is actually connected to that machine or not.

Shocker, I know, as both, Roon and MPLab X, are built on top of those flawless, perfect, always-being-good-citizens "code once, deploy everywhere" frameworks.

Kind'a gives me a temptation for them o'll spinning disks.

Ahhh, scratch, scratch, ahh, aren't these chairs just the best... Be back after my new year's nap.

Dam... what's that skipping noise?

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

Kind'a gives me a temptation for them o'll spinning disks.

Ahhh, scratch, scratch, ahh, aren't these chairs just the best... Be back after my new year's nap.

Dam... what's that skipping noise?

You should avoid that low quality playback gear.


JC