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Beresford Caiman SEG Review (Stereo DAC)

musicforcities

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We have proven once again that fieldling with power sources, conditioners, etc. is of no value, just as fundamentals of electrical engineering indicates.

Perfectly stated!

ASR website needs a macro button that inserts this text instantly!

And maybe hats with it printed on the front.
 

pickyAudiophile

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I remember when there were few USB DACs available maybe 15 to 10 years ago, Beresford with it's products was a reasonable alternative to entry level "HiFi" DACs by brands like Rotel, Denon, Emotiva, Musical Fidelity and others. But such small (almost one man) companies like Beresford of course didn't have the resources to keep pace with developments of the last four to five years. Virtually they're out of business I think, unable to recover from their technical standstill which only resembles an around 2015 state of the art.
Sorry, Stanley, but eveything has it's time and I'm still grateful that until a decade ago I saved a lot of money with your products over mainstream brand gear.
 
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pickyAudiophile

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Perfectly stated!

ASR website needs a macro button that inserts this text instantly!

And maybe hats with it printed on the front.
I remember the defining moment which advocates of power conditioning made angry was the mass introduction of 5V powerbanks a decade ago. "C'mon, just take a power bank and double-check! Or just leave it in between as a buffer." With 12V, some people even did listening experiments with huge 120 Ah & high cranking amperage car batteries only to refute these baseless "fidelity" claims.
 

sq225917

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Weird happenings with the Dorado, must be the connection and the tiny supercaps they use. I have 3 supercaps, 3.5f on the rails of my Ian Canada 9038 dac board, 1 per rail. It runs for a good five minutes from the supercaps after I unplug the power.
 

Danddd

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I just joined this site recently and find the reviews pretty rewarding. But I do listening tests and look for a live performance from my system. That being said, the Beresford Caiman SEG to me sounded pretty good. I was auditioning a Rega and NAD DACs at the time and neither had the full or like-able sound of the Beresford. I've moved past the Beresford now and am hoping this Gustard X16 will be the new replacement.
 

NiagaraPete

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I just joined this site recently and find the reviews pretty rewarding. But I do listening tests and look for a live performance from my system. That being said, the Beresford Caiman SEG to me sounded pretty good. I was auditioning a Rega and NAD DACs at the time and neither had the full or like-able sound of the Beresford. I've moved past the Beresford now and am hoping this Gustard X16 will be the new replacement.

As an owner of a TC-7320 and TC-7335 (now sold and tested on this site) save your money and buy a cheaper model or save even more an buy a Apple Dongle.
 

pitadavespa

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Hi! This is my first post here.
Thanks for letting me in. :)

I bought one, 3 years ago, after reading about it for years on an UK forum.

Both DAC and Stan's lack of will to defend his product when I contacted him asking for help (because I wasn't expecting the SEG to be so bad and I thought it could be damaged or I was doing something wrong), were a huge disappointment for me.
I'm pretty sure some buyers who defend this product are blinded, don't want to see or simply don't know better. But this is not a good product, far from it...


Regards,
Luis
 

NiagaraPete

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Hi! This is my first post here.
Thanks for letting me in. :)

I bought one, 3 years ago, after reading about it for years on an UK forum.

Both DAC and Stan's lack of will to defend his product when I contacted him asking for help (because I wasn't expecting the SEG to be so bad and I thought it could be damaged or I was doing something wrong), were a huge disappointment for me.
I'm pretty sure some buyers who defend this product are blinded, don't want to see or simply don't know better. But this is not a good product, far from it...


Regards,
Luis
Hi, I bought one with the Dorado and sent it to Amir for testing. The results were horrible to say the least.

Take a breath, do some reading here. It’s eye opening.

I was lucky enough to sell my SEG mistake.
Cheers
 

JeyElDee

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The one I bought long ago was so good for me that I recommended it to a friend. His was not good with even lots of distortion while turning the volume knob. Swapping out the two devices shows there must have been a good quality batch and a very bad one. I consider myself lucky I had a good one. Anyway, it's replaced by a Topping DAC ant the Beresford lives in the past.
 

Danddd

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The one I bought long ago was so good for me that I recommended it to a friend. His was not good with even lots of distortion while turning the volume knob. Swapping out the two devices shows there must have been a good quality batch and a very bad one. I consider myself lucky I had a good one. Anyway, it's replaced by a Topping DAC ant the Beresford lives in the past.
The SEG I have is fine and use it in a secondary system which did improve the sound from an Apple Express. In my main system, i replaced it with Gustard X16, but now looking to go Denafrips ARES II.
 
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NiagaraPete

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The SEG I have is fine and use it in a secondary system which did improve the sound from an Apple Express. In my main system, i replaced it with Gustard X16, but now looking to go Denafrips ARES II.
I doubt it, the Airport Express is a hell of a good streamer and the DAC is transparent.
 

pseudoid

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NiagaraPete

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Mike4242

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I have a Caimen Seg/Dorardo bought after listening to it versus a Rega DAC and a friends loaned Q DAC. These are both more expensive than the Beresford combo but not a lot more. Whilst I know little about the measurement test that are being used on this site surely the point is what something sounds like to you ears or have I totally missed the point here about what you are trying to achieve. You just measure things but don’t listen apologies if I have missed something and got that wrong ? To my admittedly older ears ( nearly 61 when i bought Beresford and now heading to 63) the Beresford just sounded the best of the 3 and especially for longer listening sessions . A lot of modern equipment seems to be artificially bright and voiced to be impressive at a quick demo but then become tiring after a longer listen. The Beresford is a @ £240 combo and I would love to have heard it against the cheaper probably much better measuring Toppings and SMSL equivalents but it was not to be. To make sure I have not bought something I could easily have bettered for the same outlay I would love to have the opportunity of a blind listening test against these . So if anybody lived near Worcester UK own either equivalent priced Topping or SMSL and wants to prove to me they sound better I will be quite happy and will possibly sell on my Beresford . Rest of my system is respectable Croft amps and Beauhorn B2 loudspeakers ( these may not measure well either I suspect). This btw is a serious point I have no axe to grind and am not defending a product out of any blind loyalty. I always look for the best sound per pound as semi retired and have to watch the pennies. So please message me.
 

SIY

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I have a Caimen Seg/Dorardo bought after listening to it versus a Rega DAC and a friends loaned Q DAC. These are both more expensive than the Beresford combo but not a lot more. Whilst I know little about the measurement test that are being used on this site surely the point is what something sounds like to you ears or have I totally missed the point here about what you are trying to achieve. You just measure things but don’t listen apologies if I have missed something and got that wrong ? To my admittedly older ears ( nearly 61 when i bought Beresford and now heading to 63) the Beresford just sounded the best of the 3 and especially for longer listening sessions . A lot of modern equipment seems to be artificially bright and voiced to be impressive at a quick demo but then become tiring after a longer listen. The Beresford is a @ £240 combo and I would love to have heard it against the cheaper probably much better measuring Toppings and SMSL equivalents but it was not to be. To make sure I have not bought something I could easily have bettered for the same outlay I would love to have the opportunity of a blind listening test against these . So if anybody lived near Worcester UK own either equivalent priced Topping or SMSL and wants to prove to me they sound better I will be quite happy and will possibly sell on my Beresford . Rest of my system is respectable Croft amps and Beauhorn B2 loudspeakers ( these may not measure well either I suspect). This btw is a serious point I have no axe to grind and am not defending a product out of any blind loyalty. I always look for the best sound per pound as semi retired and have to watch the pennies. So please message me.
Can we assume uncontrolled comparison? Level matched and double blind so it’s truly just the sound and your ears, you might come to a different conclusion.
 

NiagaraPete

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I have a Caimen Seg/Dorardo bought after listening to it versus a Rega DAC and a friends loaned Q DAC. These are both more expensive than the Beresford combo but not a lot more. Whilst I know little about the measurement test that are being used on this site surely the point is what something sounds like to you ears or have I totally missed the point here about what you are trying to achieve. You just measure things but don’t listen apologies if I have missed something and got that wrong ? To my admittedly older ears ( nearly 61 when i bought Beresford and now heading to 63) the Beresford just sounded the best of the 3 and especially for longer listening sessions . A lot of modern equipment seems to be artificially bright and voiced to be impressive at a quick demo but then become tiring after a longer listen. The Beresford is a @ £240 combo and I would love to have heard it against the cheaper probably much better measuring Toppings and SMSL equivalents but it was not to be. To make sure I have not bought something I could easily have bettered for the same outlay I would love to have the opportunity of a blind listening test against these . So if anybody lived near Worcester UK own either equivalent priced Topping or SMSL and wants to prove to me they sound better I will be quite happy and will possibly sell on my Beresford . Rest of my system is respectable Croft amps and Beauhorn B2 loudspeakers ( these may not measure well either I suspect). This btw is a serious point I have no axe to grind and am not defending a product out of any blind loyalty. I always look for the best sound per pound as semi retired and have to watch the pennies. So please message me.
I was the one that sent the combo in for testing. After purchasing the SEG and Dorado I knew I’d made a mistake.
 

DSJR

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Dacs don't usually sound too 'bright,' it's the speakers quite often balanced that way!!!

I admit the Rega dac (hopelessly overpriced today) always 'communicated' the music in a very attractive manner, but looking at the Stereophile measurements, I suspect it's 'tailored' to sound that way, rather than accurately reproducing exactly what's there in the program material. Stan had a lot of input on the 'Art of Sound' forum and he lelped me out once, for which I'm still grateful. I *think* the whole thing about these products was largely subjective choice...
 

phoenixsong

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I have a Caimen Seg/Dorardo bought after listening to it versus a Rega DAC and a friends loaned Q DAC. These are both more expensive than the Beresford combo but not a lot more. Whilst I know little about the measurement test that are being used on this site surely the point is what something sounds like to you ears or have I totally missed the point here about what you are trying to achieve. You just measure things but don’t listen apologies if I have missed something and got that wrong ? To my admittedly older ears ( nearly 61 when i bought Beresford and now heading to 63) the Beresford just sounded the best of the 3 and especially for longer listening sessions . A lot of modern equipment seems to be artificially bright and voiced to be impressive at a quick demo but then become tiring after a longer listen. The Beresford is a @ £240 combo and I would love to have heard it against the cheaper probably much better measuring Toppings and SMSL equivalents but it was not to be. To make sure I have not bought something I could easily have bettered for the same outlay I would love to have the opportunity of a blind listening test against these . So if anybody lived near Worcester UK own either equivalent priced Topping or SMSL and wants to prove to me they sound better I will be quite happy and will possibly sell on my Beresford . Rest of my system is respectable Croft amps and Beauhorn B2 loudspeakers ( these may not measure well either I suspect). This btw is a serious point I have no axe to grind and am not defending a product out of any blind loyalty. I always look for the best sound per pound as semi retired and have to watch the pennies. So please message me.
Welcome to the forum! I used to love analogue sound (speakers were the Quad Classic 11L driven by a tube amp), until I found out that the entire system chain has to be objectively transparent for it to sound right (in the case of speakers, there are added things to take care of such as room damping and correction). If only one component is objectively transparent, it often reveals the objective flaws of other components in the chain, rendering the overall result unfavourable :)
 

Mike4242

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Yes of course if you are UK based nearish to Worcester and have a Topping or SMSL of similar price let’s do that . I bought my Seg after recommendation from people I trust who have decent systems. But I did listen to two others that I could easily compare to to make sure it was actually ok. I have never both any hi fi in the last 20 years without listening first that’s a mugs game tbh.
 

Mike4242

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Hi, I bought one with the Dorado and sent it to Amir for testing. The results were horrible to say the least.

Take a breath, do some reading here. It’s eye opening.

I was lucky enough to sell my SEG mistake.
Cheers
Can I ask a question did you seriously buy an item of hi fi without listening to it first in the context of your own system ?
 
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