Articles, Reviews and Measurements of Audio Products

S.M.S.L PO100, PO100 PRO & PO100 AK - Measurements (Digital Interfaces & DAC)

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S.M.S.L PO100, PO100 PRO & PO100 AK Measurements

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Hey folks,

It is time for my very last review of the year. A very special one, as there are three products to be measured today ! S.M.S.L released earlier this year the PO100, a tiny and fairly cheap USB to S/PDIF interface. Later in 2022, they launched the PO100 PRO and PO100 AK. The PO100 MSRP is 39$, but this one seems to be discontinued by the time of this writing. PO100 Pro costs 69$, while PO100 AK is priced at 89$ (a bit more expensive in EU for each). I will cover their respective features below. I bought all three myself on Amazon.

This review has two purposes, checking...​

Canton Vento 826.2 Speaker Review

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This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Canton Vento 826.2 2-way stand-mount speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs 1,000 Euros.
Canton Vento 826.2 standmount bookshelf speaker review.jpg

The German manufacturer knows how to deliver a high quality enclosure and finish that is required at this price point. Not much to see in the back:

Canton Vento 826.2 standmount bookshelf speaker back panel port binding posts review.jpg


I read that Canton was once again distributing speakers in US and Germany. But as of now, I could not find any sellers in US and hence the EURO pricing. Don't know if they changed their mind and they are no longer being sold here.

For the measurements you are about to see, the reference axis is the lower part of the tweeter ring. Using the tweeter center as I normally do, created a broad(er) dip in the middle of the measurement range. The grill was not used.

Canton Vento 826.2 Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:
Canton Vento 826.2 standmount bookshelf speaker frequency response measurements.png
...

Buckeye 3 Channel Purifi Amp Review

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This is review and detailed measurements of the Buckeye 3 Channel Purifi amplifier based power amp. It was kindly drop shipped to me by a member and costs US $1,699.
Buckeye 3 channel purifi amplifier balanced Review.jpg

As you see, the case is utilitarian. The amplifier is extremely light making you think there is nothing in the box! The back side shows the features you want, sans RCA inputs:
Buckeye 3 channel purifi amplifier balanced back panel Review.jpg

I like the three gain settings to let you get the best out of your sources. Full power is achieved nearly 2 volts in high gain letting you drive it with many AVRs. Low gain requires 6.5 volts or so.

Three channel configuration is naturally aimed at home theater applications for front left, right and center.

Update: the problem with rising distortion was identified and fixed in new sample. See the new review here...

Peachtree amp500 Amplifier Review

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Peachtree amp500 stereo amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,499.
Peachtree amp500 stereo amplifier balanced Review.jpg

The amp500 comes in the same packaging of many previous Peachtree products. I wish company would innovate here as the design looks kind of dated. Then again it is very unique. This amplifier comes with balanced inputs which I very much like:
Peachtree amp500 stereo amplifier balanced back panel Review.jpg


When I pushed the amp, the protection circuit naturally kicked it but unlike many other amps, recovered automatically without the need for a power cycle.

The back half of the box is empty so the amp module is small. And there is plenty of ventilation on top. There was only modest temperature rise in the case post all the testing I did which is admirable.

Peachtree amp500 Measurements
The amplifier was ready on power up:
Peachtree amp500 stereo amplifier balanced measurements.png


Dashboard measurement shows above average performance:
[ATTACH...

AV123 X-CS Encore Center Speaker Review

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This is a review, listening tests and measurements of the AV123-CS center speaker. It was kindly sent to me by a member:
AV123 X-CS Center Speaker X-CS Encore GR Research Kit Review.jpg


Speaker is long discontinued (reviews date back 2007). But it seems the designer (?) Danny Ritchie is selling a kit based on the same (GR Research X-CS Encore) for $239 (driver+xover only). Old prices I can find are just $139 for plain finish and $199 for the gorgeous sample I have:

AV123 X-CS Center Speaker X-CS Encore GR Research Kit old Review.png

As noted, the speaker weighs 33 pounds which is quite heavy. This is likely due to the very deep cabinet and heavy construction.

The grill is unusual: it is a very thick gage metal piece screwed to the cabinet using very long stand offs. Since it was fastened such, I assumed it was part of the design and performed my testing with it in place.

AV123 X-CS Speaker Measurements
As usual we start with our "spinorama"...

SMSL D400EX DAC Review

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the SMSL D400EX balanced DAC based on AKM4499EX chip. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $959.99
SMSL D400 EX high-end stereo USB balanced DAC DNR Measurements.jpg

The D400EX is quite attractive looking with the flush controls and the grills on the sides:
SMSL D400 EX high-end stereo USB balanced DAC back panel Review.jpg

The latter gives it a high-end look. Alas, I am not a fan of the rotary control. It is very hard to turn, and even harder to push to register a click. Fortunately the standard SMSL remote is included so you don't have to use it. The user interface is easy to navigate (with the remote) and is the same as other newer SMSL DACs.

Note that there is an ES version using ESS DAC chip.

Note: please excuse the mistaken label on the graphs: D400 ES instead of EX. Didn't realize which unit I was testing until I took the review picture. :)

SMSL D400EX Measurements
As usual let's start with our dashboard of 1 kHz tone:
SMSL D400 EX high-end stereo USB balanced DAC XLR Measurements.png

I expect...

Ladder Schumann R2R DAC Review

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Ladder Schumann "FPGA" (R2R) balanced DAC. It was sent to me by Shenzhenaudio and costs US $1,399.
Schumann Ladder R2R DAC USB Stereo balanced review.jpg

The box is solid and has fair bit of heft to it, likely due to power supply transformer. The interface is pretty simple with the exception of the "Mode" button which I could not figure out. There is no manual supplied in my sample (which came back in July), nor could I find one online. It seems to select one of a few oversampling modes (2X/4X/8X) but I could not figure out how to get it to do that (seems to do something in setup). There is a dedicated button and turns off oversampling and filtering.

The main notable thing on the back panel is inclusion of XLR balanced out which you don't always see on R2R DACs:

Schumann Ladder R2R DAC USB Stereo balanced back panel review.jpg


Ladder Schumann DAC...

Schiit Fulla E DAC & Amp Review

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Schiit Fulla E DAC, Headphone Amplifier and microphone input. A member kindly drop shipped one to me and costs US $109.
Schiit Fulla E Headphone DAC Amplifier USB Stereo DAC Review.jpg

I think the packaging and color are absolutely adorable! And I really like the feel of a volume control on top. Connectivity is rather rich despite the tiny package:

Schiit Fulla E Headphone DAC Amplifier USB Stereo DAC Toslink Review.jpg


You have Toslink in addition to USB-C input. No power supply is provided but you need one to use Toslink by itself (or use your computer's USB connection). A microphone input is provided to go with the gaming angle:
Schiit Fulla E Headphone DAC Amplifier USB Stereo DAC Microphone Review.jpg


During the testing I ran into a problem with the clock sync would get lost at times. I could not figure out what was going on. I contacted Schiit and they sent me another one with the same problem. You can see its manifestation here:
Schiit Fulla E Headphone DAC Amplifier Toslink Clock Instability at 44100 Clock Measurement.png


Source tone was 1 kHz so we should see a flat line but...

Marantz NR1510 AVR Review

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This is a review and detailed measurements of Marantz NR1510 5.2 4K slim Home Theater AV Receiver. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $799.
Marantz NR1510 Slim AV Surround Receiver Home Theater Review Dolby.jpg

I have been wanting to test a slim AVR for a long time as they much better fit under a TV in a living room than the monster that regular AVR line has become with so many channels that never gets used in this application (there is an NR170 with two more channels for Atmos). I also like the more traditional look of this Marantz compared to their regular line with the obscure porthole for the display and such. Here is the back panel:
Marantz NR1510 Slim AV Surround Receiver Home Theater Back Panel Review Dolby.jpg


During my testing, the unit hardly got warm to touch which again, makes it a great fit to stick in a cabinet below the TV.

Marantz NR1510 DAC Measurements
Let's start with our divide and concur test of the DAC subsystem using the pre-out and HDMI input with volume adjusted to get 2 volts out:
[ATTACH...

PS Audio Power Plant 3 AC Regen Review (Video)

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