PC music server plus a small speaker shootout.
mantis
Posts: 17,233
What's up people?
I work with a guy who has been a Audiophile since the 70's. He has owned just about every cool speaker from then till now. His new thing is PC music servers. He has a PC he built with 1 TB hard drive internally, External DAC , Internal Soundcard from Soundblaster or some sorts etc etc etc.
He invited me to the store on Saturday to listen to this rig he built. It has every kind of music files you can think of including some that has been professionally ripped from Vinyl and has the pops from the needle. That was a cool experience to listen to digital music that sounds like a phono player.
We have a nice Bryston system which we bypassed and went directly to the amp out of his external DAC and used the computer as the preamp.
One thing I didn't like about the system is the software he uses you have to manually go out and get the CD info. Some you have to type in yourself. Not really fond of that but the rips are bit for bit and take awhile to burn as it checks each bit for accuracy. Sound quality was exactly the same as the CD and some of his purchased online HI REZ files sounded like SACD or better. They where master copies from studio cuts. Really cool.
I use iTunes but I don't get the same sound quality he does. I don't have to work hard to get my music in like he does but I agree it's worth the effort as it sound incredible.
We had the 3.6's in the room as well as the 1.7's and listened to them for a while. I wanted to bring in the Mythos STS to see how they would compare to the 3.6 and 1.7's for music on this server plus running an awesome Bryston amp. Wiring I used Kimber Kable 8tc and a nice pair of Cardos Cross links. IC was balanced.
Magnepan speakers are music speakers. They sound incredible with pretty good bottom end for a panel design speaker with no woofer. They don't play extremely loud and if you push them to hard they ****. But they have a huge tall music soundstage that is very inviting. If I went over to Bose and got them to make me a custom speaker prop so I can put the Magnepans inside , I would probably consider owning them. They to me are just about the ugliest speaker on the face of the earth. They look like some 70's wall panel with harry homemaker feet on the bottom. Terrible looking design and my wife would never allow me to put those things in my family room.
After listening to many cuts , I hooked up the STS's. I didn't expect them to compete that well as they are a home theater first speaker with built in subs. I didn't take a huge amount of time dialing them in as the subs can over power the room if you set them to high or load them. What I did experience was a very good sounding speaker that may not have the last word in detail and overall music presentation like the 3.6's did , but they did many things right and I was impressed the more I listened to them against the 3.6's. The Bass was much better on the STS's but at times seemed slightly un natural compared to the 3.6. The 3.6 didn't dig as deep but sounded very real. We had this one cut with a piano and it sounded like it was in the room. The STS didn't fool you to believe the piano was in the room but did a very good job making you enjoy the cut.
I'm sure this is not a very fair compare but it was fun nonetheless. To hear a theater speaker powered built in subwoofer of less money stand up to a music first panel speaks volumes to me. I was very impressed with the STS for this setup and I'm willing to bet with proper positioning and calibration integration into the room , I can get more out of them. I'm also believing the same with the 3.6. I'm no fan of Magnepan as they are just **** to look at but they are one fantastic sounding speaker. One who can get them into their home, single cats I'm thinking or a wife that doesn't go into the music room can enjoy one of the finest sounding speakers at that price point.
I really didn't talk to much about the 1.7's as once i got the 3.6's going they just sat on the right side of the room and didn't get any more playing time. They are in their own right a fantastic sounding speaker and much better looking then the oak 3.6 but they don't hold any candles to the 3.6.
In the future I should do a 1.7 vs STS shootout and give them a run. I'm willing to bet they will be at least as good as the Def techs on many things except bass. The are a tall speaker and put out a tall soundstage , the STS simply can't compete there.
Here is just a few **** pic's I snapped while I was sitting there.
The 3.6's are not where they where when I was listening to them. I moved them back to place the STS. I didn't have them side by side as I didn't like the room I had to do so. I liked it much better with one speaker at a time. When the 3.6's where up , the STS where in the back as the 3.6's are in the pic's.
I work with a guy who has been a Audiophile since the 70's. He has owned just about every cool speaker from then till now. His new thing is PC music servers. He has a PC he built with 1 TB hard drive internally, External DAC , Internal Soundcard from Soundblaster or some sorts etc etc etc.
He invited me to the store on Saturday to listen to this rig he built. It has every kind of music files you can think of including some that has been professionally ripped from Vinyl and has the pops from the needle. That was a cool experience to listen to digital music that sounds like a phono player.
We have a nice Bryston system which we bypassed and went directly to the amp out of his external DAC and used the computer as the preamp.
One thing I didn't like about the system is the software he uses you have to manually go out and get the CD info. Some you have to type in yourself. Not really fond of that but the rips are bit for bit and take awhile to burn as it checks each bit for accuracy. Sound quality was exactly the same as the CD and some of his purchased online HI REZ files sounded like SACD or better. They where master copies from studio cuts. Really cool.
I use iTunes but I don't get the same sound quality he does. I don't have to work hard to get my music in like he does but I agree it's worth the effort as it sound incredible.
We had the 3.6's in the room as well as the 1.7's and listened to them for a while. I wanted to bring in the Mythos STS to see how they would compare to the 3.6 and 1.7's for music on this server plus running an awesome Bryston amp. Wiring I used Kimber Kable 8tc and a nice pair of Cardos Cross links. IC was balanced.
Magnepan speakers are music speakers. They sound incredible with pretty good bottom end for a panel design speaker with no woofer. They don't play extremely loud and if you push them to hard they ****. But they have a huge tall music soundstage that is very inviting. If I went over to Bose and got them to make me a custom speaker prop so I can put the Magnepans inside , I would probably consider owning them. They to me are just about the ugliest speaker on the face of the earth. They look like some 70's wall panel with harry homemaker feet on the bottom. Terrible looking design and my wife would never allow me to put those things in my family room.
After listening to many cuts , I hooked up the STS's. I didn't expect them to compete that well as they are a home theater first speaker with built in subs. I didn't take a huge amount of time dialing them in as the subs can over power the room if you set them to high or load them. What I did experience was a very good sounding speaker that may not have the last word in detail and overall music presentation like the 3.6's did , but they did many things right and I was impressed the more I listened to them against the 3.6's. The Bass was much better on the STS's but at times seemed slightly un natural compared to the 3.6. The 3.6 didn't dig as deep but sounded very real. We had this one cut with a piano and it sounded like it was in the room. The STS didn't fool you to believe the piano was in the room but did a very good job making you enjoy the cut.
I'm sure this is not a very fair compare but it was fun nonetheless. To hear a theater speaker powered built in subwoofer of less money stand up to a music first panel speaks volumes to me. I was very impressed with the STS for this setup and I'm willing to bet with proper positioning and calibration integration into the room , I can get more out of them. I'm also believing the same with the 3.6. I'm no fan of Magnepan as they are just **** to look at but they are one fantastic sounding speaker. One who can get them into their home, single cats I'm thinking or a wife that doesn't go into the music room can enjoy one of the finest sounding speakers at that price point.
I really didn't talk to much about the 1.7's as once i got the 3.6's going they just sat on the right side of the room and didn't get any more playing time. They are in their own right a fantastic sounding speaker and much better looking then the oak 3.6 but they don't hold any candles to the 3.6.
In the future I should do a 1.7 vs STS shootout and give them a run. I'm willing to bet they will be at least as good as the Def techs on many things except bass. The are a tall speaker and put out a tall soundstage , the STS simply can't compete there.
Here is just a few **** pic's I snapped while I was sitting there.
The 3.6's are not where they where when I was listening to them. I moved them back to place the STS. I didn't have them side by side as I didn't like the room I had to do so. I liked it much better with one speaker at a time. When the 3.6's where up , the STS where in the back as the 3.6's are in the pic's.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
Post edited by mantis on
Comments
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Dan I dig your install and gear threads, and this one is no different.
But man use that enter key a bit more, it can be a tough read sometimes. :redface:
DaveOnce again we meet at last. -
Come on, man, the 3.6's aren't that ugly!
I do agree that they look outdated, as do the new 3.7's. I was suprised that the 3.7's didn't get more of a facelift, but hey, it's how they sound that matters, and they sound damn good.
2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's
Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses
Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's -
Did you have more info on the computer setup? What software was he using? What DAC? Details brotha, details...
