That could be easily found out. Monitor line-out and speaker-out (unloaded) simultanously. If they are seperate the speaker-out should clip way before the line-out.
As irksome as folk paying 100x the price for aesthetics alone is, I'm actually considering buying one of these purely due to the name. When is it out? VU meters?
That's why I said "under most listening conditions"
The LTS tests are very demanding and often focused on tiny details. And there have been a few other blind tests as well which have told amps apart, but also lots of blind tests where people can't tell any differences.
A little of topic, but: the cheapest dac LTS have tested in blindtesting, that couldnt be detected in the before/after listening test, was Yamaha wxc50 used as a dac , toslink in , ”playermode” without volume regulation , and the analog sound output from the RCA outputs.That's why I said "under most listening conditions"
The big question for me is more or less like this: If someone switched out my amplifier without me knowing, would I ever notice that? For most listeners, in most setups, I'm fairly sure that the answer would be no. Whereas the answer is probably yes for loudspeakers, headphones and room acoustics. But of course it's difficult to switch out those things without people noticing - this is just a thought experiment for me.
. So one can not do better than that regardless of price and it only cost 350 dollars, if all that you want is a good dac. The LTS measurements of the unit was good, but not outstanding in any way.
Let's not forget that many blind tests ar done with no pre-listening, getting to know both the music material and test objects. Plus often the listeners are sitting at diferent posisions in the room. That will give a null result almost every time unless the difference is huge.That's why I said "under most listening conditions"
The big question for me is more or less like this: If someone switched out my amplifier without me knowing, would I ever notice that? For most listeners, in most setups, I'm fairly sure that the answer would be no. Whereas the answer is probably yes for loudspeakers, headphones and room acoustics. But of course it's difficult to switch out those things without people noticing - this is just a thought experiment for me.
Thanks for your input, but I’m not familiar with “settling time.” Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is it? Thanks.
"Settling Time" (note the quotes) : Don't rush, take a break, rethink, etc.
Why is this relevant for the discussion and why are you asking, Bjørn?
That's not a valid use-case for this product and of course Hegel have failed to communicate this clearly.
I have some problems with the "valid use-case" style of reasoning, to me it sounds a bit like a late excuse that must be done for marketing purposes. Nothing personal, Klaus, just different approach.
Because of the claims you brought up. I'm wondering what they are based on. Actual testings you have done or something else.
I tend to agree... the main problem Hegel is facing here is marketing vs. reality.
I want that DAC
It's a global market. It's a bit strange to complain that you produce in/from an expensive country...
I don't see a problem with the test itself. It shows a specific flaw (or call it a feature if you want?) with the design. Now what might be lacking is an explanation of what's going on and possibly some further investigation. So I tend to agree with the thoroughness aspect of it. But also know that Amir probably relies on the forum to do some further digging. The issue with that is mainly that this information gets lost quite easily and doesn't make it back to the first post. That means people need to read a lot of stuff to actually figure out what's going on. Would be great to find a solution for this!
I mostly agree here, a bit more digging into the matter might be beneficial.
Sorry, but this makes no sense. Nobody expects this to break SOTA territory. We'd expect at least a quality product. In your example this amplifier would be comparable to buying a brand new116i and getting one with 1990 levels of performance. The amplifier part is mediocre and overpriced, but at least its not broken. The digital part however isn't even good enough for Redbook audio. It is worse than $600 surround receivers.
As discussed yesterday, there is no "usual 2V output level" for a line out. Especially not if the reference level isn't specified. All you can do is assume or wish for. Look at the recent NAD M10 and M33 amps. Also people complaining the line out level is insufficient to drive their subwoofers, and NAD making a v2 to fix it.
