Review and Measurements of the PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC

[Killingbeans]

@Bruce Morgen

 

[ahofer]

Exactly, and I can't imagine a magician just making random changes to his props until a trick emerges.

Don't see why audio reproduction should be any different.

Perfect

 

[Zibi]

Yet another, "The measurements suck, not recommended" review that fails to correspond to what is heard (Umm, he was too busy to actually listen to the SGC, but went ahead and published the review? That's totally irresponsible.). I have several AudioScienceReview "Not Recommended" components, and guess what, they sound stellar. I've been at this hobby for 45+ years, and if there's one thing I've learned it's ignore those graphs and charts. They serve as nothing more than rough indicators, and certainly not predicators of what you will hear, and enjoy. I can cite countless audio components that measure horribly, yet sound heavenly. The PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell is one of them.

If you like it - bless your heart. However, numbers do not lie.

 

[Killingbeans]

Was a troll. Long gone now.

Came to defend the honor of a single product through audio revelations, but instead managed only to cement facts that were already known.

 

[mlloyd1]

I saw an ad for PS Audio's Stellar earlier today. After reading, I thought, "hey this seems neat & interesting!" I did a search to look for internal pictures; I like to see the engineering that goes into stuff. Plus, I was curious; from the product descriptions, it sounds like they use transconductance stages (like at least one other company does) to avoid performing volume control using the usual signal attenuation pots. To do that well requires very good attention to lots of circuit design details, especially power supply impacts. So, I was disappointed to see potted modules. Next, I say "Oh well, let's see who's tested it and what they think..." I like reading test results, including ASR's so was pleased to see that amirm had tested it. I took a look and was a little disappointed again to see the results. But then, I looked at quite a bit of the discussion afterwards. Yes, I'm an engineer too; all I can say is "Wow" ....

 

[Bobby Brugal]

I bought a stellar gain cell some time ago for the convenience of DAC and preamp in one unit. Value seemed OK. When it works, it sounds very good to me...but I have had multiple issues requiring board replacements twice. Just got it back again, after 3 months in the shop, and it sounds good again. I have to wonder if the unit Amir measured had issues. I have some pretty good gear that measures very well (e.g MBL), and to me the PS Audio Gain Cell holds it own reasonably well...when it's working properly. That said, clearly significant quality control/reliability issues, at last based on my experience. They have been good about repairing at no charge, the second time about 7+ years after I purchased it. That said, I wouldn't have even considered it if I saw the measurements beforehand.

 

[Andolink]

I've owned several PS Audio components and, as many others have reported, I've had multitudes of reliability issues with each. If I had discovered this site before getting involved with PS Audio I'd have stayed away from them.

Sound quality of their gear hasn't been a problem for me either before or since losing most of the hearing in my left ear (SSNHL) 3 years ago.

 

[amirm]

I have to wonder if the unit Amir measured had issues.

When something breaks, it doesn't just break like this. But let's say it were. It would have been trivial for the company to test a good unit of theirs and post that in response to my review. Which they have not.